162 Years Ago, Britain Gave Back Seven Greek Islands
On May 21, 1864, exactly 162 years ago today, Britain signed the London Treaty and handed the United Ionian State back to Greece. The seven islands, Corfu, Ithaca, Paxos, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Lefkada, and Kythera, had been under British protection since 1815, after passing through Ottoman, Russian, and French hands before that.
Britain had technically held the islands for nearly five decades, but the arrangement had become a political and financial headache. Lord Palmerston concluded in an 1862 cabinet meeting that the islands cost too much to maintain and held little strategic value. Queen Victoria supported the decision to hand them over.
The islands cost too much to maintain and held little strategic value — Lord Palmerston, 1862
The timing was no coincidence. Greece had just crowned a new king, Danish Prince George I, who was well known for his pro-British sympathies. In a November 1862 referendum, Greeks had actually voted for Queen Victoria's own son, Prince Alfred, as their king, hoping that would speed up the handover of the islands. The diplomatic gambit worked.
The treaty was signed by Greek representative Charilaos Trikoupis on March 29, 1864. British forces withdrew from the islands on May 2, and the seven islands were officially incorporated into the Kingdom of Greece as three provinces. Britain retained port access rights in Corfu as part of the final arrangement.
Historians have pointed to this as one of the earliest examples of voluntary decolonization by a European power, a peaceful transfer of territory driven by a combination of public pressure, economic calculation, and diplomatic maneuvering.
