Cretan State
| Cretan State | ||||||||||
| Κρητική Πολιτεία Kritiki Politia كريد دولتى Girit Devleti |
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| Autonomous state of the Ottoman Empire | ||||||||||
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Anthem Kritikos Ymnos Κρητικός Ύμνος "Cretan Anthem" |
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 Map of Crete (1861)
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| Capital | Chania | |||||||||
| Languages | Greek (official), Ottoman Turkish (recognised) | |||||||||
| Religion |
Greek Orthodox (prevailing religion), Sunni Islam (recognised), Judaism |
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| Political structure | Autonomous state | |||||||||
| High Commissioner | ||||||||||
| • | 1898–1906 | Prince George of Greece | ||||||||
| • | 1906–1911 | Alexandros Zaimis | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | ||||||||||
| • | 1910 | Eleftherios Venizelos | ||||||||
| Legislature | Assembly | |||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Proclamation | 9 December 1898 | ||||||||
| • | Theriso revolt | 10 March 1905 | ||||||||
| • | Unilateral union with Greece | 24 September 1908 | ||||||||
| • | Treaty of London | 30 May 1913 | ||||||||
| • | Union with Greece | 1 December 1913 | ||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||
| • | 1907 | 8,336 km² (3,219 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||
| • | 1907 est. | 310,000 | ||||||||
| Density | 37.2 /km² (96.3 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Currency | Cretan drachma | |||||||||
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The Cretan State (Greek: Κρητική Πολιτεία, Kritiki Politia; Ottoman Turkish: كريد دولتى, Girit Devleti), was established in 1898, following the intervention by the Great Powers (Britain, France, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia) on the island of Crete. In 1897, an insurrection in Crete led the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Greece, which led Great Britain, France, Italy and Russia to intervene on the grounds that the Ottoman Empire could no longer maintain control. It was the prelude of the island's final annexation to the Kingdom of Greece, which occurred de facto in 1908 and de jure in 1913.
The island of Crete, an Ottoman possession since the end of the Cretan War, was inhabited by a mostly Greek-speaking population, whose majority was Christian. During and after the Greek War of Independence, the Christians of the island rebelled several times against external Ottoman rule, pursuing union with Greece. These were brutally subdued, but secured some concessions from the Ottoman government under the pressure of European public opinion. In 1878, the Pact of Halepa established the island as an autonomous state under Ottoman suzerainty, until the Ottomans reneged on that agreement in 1889.
The collapse of the Pact heightened tensions in the island, leading to another rebellion in 1895, which greatly expanded in 1896–1897 to cover most of the island. Nationalist secret societies and a fervently irredentist public opinion forced the Greek government to send military forces to the island, provoking a war with the Ottoman Empire. Although most of Crete came under the control of the Greek forces, the unprepared Greek Army was crushed by the Ottomans, who occupied Thessaly. The war was ended by the intervention of the Great Powers (Great Britain, France, Italy and Russia), who forced the Greek contingent to withdraw from Crete and the Ottoman Army to stop its advance. In the Treaty of Constantinople the Ottoman Government promised to implement the provisions of the Halepa Pact.
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Wikipedia