Russian Party (Greece)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Russian Party (), presenting itself as the Napist Party ("Dell Party", ), one of the early Greek parties, was an informal grouping of Greek political leaders that formed during the brief period of the
First Hellenic Republic The First Hellenic Republic () was the provisional Greek state during the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire. From 1822 until 1827, it was known as the Provisional Administration of Greece, and between 1827 and 1832, it was known as ...
(1828–1831) and lasted through the reign of King Otto. The parties of that era were named after one of the three
Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...
who had together settled the
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...
in the
Treaty of Constantinople (1832) The Great Powers ratified the terms of the Constantinople Arrangement in connection with the border between Greece and the Ottoman Empire in the London Protocol of 30 August 1832, which marked the end of the Greek War of Independence and establi ...
. The three rival powers, the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
came together in order to check the power of the other two nations. The Russian Party had considerable power, enjoying privileged access to the Orthodox Church, the state machinery, military leaders, and
Peloponnesian The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge ...
political families; but it was also popular with a significant section of the common people who wanted a strong centralized government to crush the power of the Greek shipping magnates and the rest of the business class, which followed the
English Party The English Party (), was one of the three informal early Greek parties that dominated the political history of the First Hellenic Republic and the first years of the Kingdom of Greece during the early 19th century, the other two being the Russ ...
.


History and party development

The Russian Party was more philosophically-grounded than the other two parties. It represented more
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
elements in Greek society and was viewed as being more supportive of the primacy of the Orthodox church in Greek life. It received generous support from the Church and from several military commanders; but its greatest strength were the
Peloponnesian The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge ...
families of notables, that enjoyed privileged access to the state machinery.
Ioannis Capodistrias Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (; February 1776 –27 September 1831), sometimes anglicized as John Capodistrias, was a Greek statesman who was one of the most distinguished politicians and diplomats of 19th-century Europe. Kapodistrias's ...
, who had served as Foreign Minister in the Russian government, was selected as governor of the newly independent Greek state in 1827. His support came from the Russian representatives in Greece and those Greeks who wanted closer relations with their sister Orthodox country and this grouping was the first modern party in Greece, called the Russian Party. Meanwhile, Capodistrias' rule and attempts to centralize the government alienated a number of his fellow Greek leaders, most of whom were born in Greece and had fought to free Greece from Ottoman control. They began to form themselves into a rival
French Party The French Party (), presenting itself as the Constitutional Party (), was one of the three informal early Greek parties that dominated the early political history of Modern Greece, the other two being the Russian and the English Party. History ...
and
English Party The English Party (), was one of the three informal early Greek parties that dominated the political history of the First Hellenic Republic and the first years of the Kingdom of Greece during the early 19th century, the other two being the Russ ...
. Eventually, the rivalries led to the assassination of Capodistrias. After a period of renewed civil war, King Otto was selected by the three Great Powers to become King of Greece in 1833. During the early period of the monarchy, the three parties remained active, although Otto was an absolute monarch. When Otto arrived in Greece, he was a minor and thus a
regency council In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
made up of three Bavarians ruled in his name. The chief of the Council,
Josef Ludwig von Armansperg Josef Ludwig, Graf von Armansperg (; 28 February 1787 – 3 April 1853) served as the Interior and Finance Minister (1826–1828) and Foreign and Finance Minister (1828–1831) under Ludwig I of Bavaria, King Ludwig I of Bavaria in the government o ...
was a liberal Bavarian and he was perceived as being hostile to the Russian Party. In 1833, the leaders of the Russian Party, including
Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis (; 3 April 1770 – ) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt ...
, his son Gennaios and
Kitsos Tzavelas Kitsos Tzavelas (; 1800–1855) was a Souliotes, Souliot fighter and general of the Greek rebels in the Greek War of Independence. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece he entered Greek politics and served as Minister of Military Affair ...
, were implicated in a plot to seek Russian influence to remove von Armansperg and allow Otto to rule without a regent. They were arrested and imprisoned. Although eventually released, the leaders of the Russian Party were out of power and influence compared to the other parties until 1837. After this period of decline, the mantle of leadership was placed on Gennaios Kolokotronis,
Andreas Metaxas Andreas Metaxas (; 179019 September 1860) was a Greek politician, fighter of the Greek War of Independence and diplomat from Cephalonia. He was prime minister of Greece from 3 September 1843 to 16 February 1844. Some military leaders of the revo ...
and Konstantinos Oikonomos. The younger Kolokotronis served as a trusted aide-de-camp to King Otto, and began to rehabilitate the Russian Party in the Court. Once Otto was free of the influence of his regents, he began to favor both Kolokotronis and Kitsos Tzavelas and the period 1838-1839 was seen as a period of Russian ascendancy.John A. Petropulos; Politics and Statecraft in the Kingdom of Greece; Princeton University Press, 1968 In June 1839,
Nikitaras Nikitaras () was the nom de guerre of Nikitas Stamatelopoulos () (c. 17841849), a Greek revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence. Due to his fighting prowess, he was known as Turkofagos or Turkophagos (), literally meaning the "Turk-Eater" ...
, Georgios Kapodistrias and other members of Russian Party founded the Filorthodoxos Eteria secret society. Its aims included the promotion of the Christian Orthodox faith and the annexation of Ottoman controlled
Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
,
Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...
and
Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...
into the Greek state. In December 1839, Filorthodoxos Eteria's members decided to act upon their plans in anticipation of a rumored Russian army attack on
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. They decided to arrest Otto on 1 January 1840, during the new year's
liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...
and force him to either convert to Orthodoxy or abdicate. Soon after the decision to act was taken, one of the plotters Emmanouil Pappas gave the documents revealing the conspiracy's existence. On 23 December having gathered additional evidence, Greek authorities arrested Kapodistrias and Nikitaras. A trial of the plotters began on 11 July 1840, ending in their eventual acquittal. Otto's reaction was limited to replacing Russian Party member and Minister of Internal Affairs Georgios Glarakis with . He refused to publicly implicate Russia in the affair or purge Russian Party members from the political scene. Because doing so would reveal his unpopularity and cause animosity in Russia.


References


References

* * * * {{Reign of Otto (1832-1862) 1827 establishments in Greece Defunct political parties in Greece Greece–Russia relations Political parties established in 1827 Ioannis Kapodistrias Eastern Orthodox political parties Monarchist parties in Greece Defunct conservative parties Conservative parties in Greece Political parties disestablished in 1865 Right-wing parties in Europe Russophilic parties in Greece