199 Years Ago Today, One Battle Ended the Ottoman Empire’s Grip on Greece
On October 20, 1827, the Greek Revolution nearly died before it could succeed. By that point, Greeks had been fighting for six years and were running out of men, money, and hope. The Ottoman Empire had called in Muhammad Ali's Egyptian forces to help crush the rebellion, and the combination was proving devastating.
Then came Navarino.
The Ottomans lost control of the sea and never recovered it.
The allied fleets of Britain, France, and Russia sailed into the Bay of Navarino, off the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese near Pylos, to pressure both sides into a ceasefire. The Ottoman-Egyptian fleet opened fire first. That decision cost them everything. British Admiral Sir Edward Codrington commanded the allied squadrons, and within hours their longer-range guns had shredded the Ottoman-Egyptian armada. The battle lasted less than a day. The Ottomans lost control of the sea and never recovered it.
Greece formally gained its independence in 1832, five years after Navarino. Without that battle, there is a serious argument the revolution would have collapsed.
Today, Pylos marks the 199th anniversary with a full day of events. A doxology at the Church of the Dormition opens the commemoration, followed by a memorial and wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument of the Three Admirals. A waterfront parade follows, with additional wreaths laid at monuments on Chelonisi, Sfaktiria, and Fanari. At 20:00, the Municipality of Pylos-Nestor is staging a reenactment of the battle on the waterfront. The navy ship ATLAS I is open to visitors in the port.
One afternoon in 1827, in a bay most people today can't place on a map, the fate of modern Greece was decided.
