Septinsular Republic
The Septinsular Republic (Greek: Ἑπτάνησος Πολιτεία, romanized: Heptanēsos Politeia; Venetian: Repubłega Setensułare; Italian: Repubblica Settinsulare) was an oligarchic republic that existed from 1800 to 1807 under nominal Russian and Ottoman sovereignty in the Ionian Islands (Corfu, Paxoi, Lefkada, Cephalonia, Ithaca, Zakynthos (Zante in English), and Kythira).
Republic of the Seven Islands | |||||||||
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| 1800–1807 | |||||||||
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The Republic's territory extended to the seven main islands plus the smaller islets of the Ionian Sea | |||||||||
| Status | Protectorate of the Russian and the Ottoman Empires1 | ||||||||
| Capital | Corfu | ||||||||
| Official languages | |||||||||
| Common languages | Italkian, Venetian, Yevanic | ||||||||
| Religion |
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| Government | Aristocratic/oligarchic republic | ||||||||
| Prince2 | |||||||||
• 1800–02 (first) | Count Spyridon Georgios Theotokis | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern | ||||||||
• Russo-Ottoman occupation | 1799 | ||||||||
| 2 April [O.S. 21 March] 1800 | |||||||||
• 1st constitution | 1 November 1800 | ||||||||
• 2nd constitution | 23 November 1803 | ||||||||
• 3rd constitution | 27 December 1806 (not implemented) | ||||||||
| 20 August 1807 | |||||||||
| 5 November 1815 | |||||||||
| Currency | Septinsular gazeta | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Greece | ||||||||
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The Republic was established after a joint Russo-Ottoman fleet captured the islands and ended a two-year rule by the French Republic. Although the islanders had hoped for complete independence, the new state was granted only autonomy, becoming tributary to the Ottoman Porte, and de facto under Russian domination. Nevertheless, it was the first time Greeks had been granted self-government since the fall of the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans in the mid-15th century. In 1807, the republic was ceded to Napoleon's French Empire, but the islands kept their institutions of government. The British gradually took control of the islands from 1809 on, and following the Treaty of Paris, the islands were formally organised into the United States of the Ionian Islands under British protection.