First Archipelago Expedition

Orlov revolt

Major Greek-Russian (in green), isolated Greek (in blue) and Ottoman (in red) military developments

Date	February 1770 – 17 June 1771
Location	Mainly regions of Peloponnese, Central Greece and Epirus, at the time part of the Ottoman Empire (now Greece)
Result	Ottoman victory

Belligerents

Greeks

Russian aid

Ottoman Empire

Commanders and leaders

Panagiotis Benakis
Daskalogiannis †

Fyodor Orlov

Units involved

Russian force
Greek revolutionaries

Ottoman Muslim Albanian mercenaries

Strength

4,000+

15,000 Muslim Albanians

The Orlov revolt (Greek: Ορλωφικά, Ορλοφικά, Ορλώφεια) was a Greek uprising in the Peloponnese and later also in Crete that broke out in February 1770, following the arrival of Russian Admiral Alexey Orlov, commander of the Imperial Russian Navy during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), to the Mani Peninsula. The revolt, a major precursor to the Greek War of Independence (which erupted in 1821), was part of Catherine the Great's so-called "Greek Plan" and was eventually suppressed by the Ottomans.

The Ottoman Empire had its longest period of peace between 1739 (Treaty of Belgrade) and 1768, when it did not engage any of its European rivals. Europe was caught up in costly and bloody conflicts while the Ottomans stayed out and tended to economy and politics, and rebuilding social and administrative organization. This peaceful period came to an end on 23 October 1768, when war was declared on Russia. Causes were aggressive Russian foreign policy, interference in Crimea (an Ottoman vassal), and the power struggle in Poland-Lithuania. There were insignificant events in 1768–69, as both sides prepared for a long campaign.

Meanwhile, Greek rebels were readied. Wishing to weaken the Ottoman Empire and establish a pro-Russian independent Greek state, Russian emissaries had been sent to Mani in the mid-1760s to make a pact with the strongest local military leaders, and at the same time notable Greeks approached various Russian agents discussing the project for the liberation of Greece. In preparation of war, Russian agents promoted Greek rebellion to support military actions in the north. Russian artillery captain Grigorios Papadopoulos (or Georgios Papasoglu), a Greek, was dispatched to Mani. Georgios Papazolis, another Greek officer of the Russian army, cooperated with the brothers Grigory and Alexei Orlov for the preparations of the Greek insurrection in the Morea during the Russian military operations against the Ottoman Empire in 1769. The organization of the Greek rebellion was put under brothers Orlov, with Alexei being the Russian fleet commander.

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Wikipedia