Δέν ειν’ ο περσινός καιρός . . . : Έλλη-νες κλεφταρματολοί καί Αλβανοί στασιαστές (1829–1831) [It’s not last year . . . : Greek militiamen-bandits and Albanian rebels (1829–1831)] by Basil K. Gounaris (Βασίλης Κ. Γούναρης)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Δέν ειν’ ο περσινός καιρός . . . : Έλλη-νες κλεφταρματολοί καί Αλβανοί στασιαστές (1829–1831) [It’s not last year . . . : Greek militiamen-bandits and Albanian rebels (1829–1831)] by Basil K. Gounaris (Βασίλης Κ. Γούναρης) John Athanasios Mazis (bio) Basil K. Gounaris (Βασίλης Κ. Γούναρης), Δέν ειν’ ο περσινός καιρός... : Έλλη-νες κλεφταρματολοί καί Αλβανοί στασιαστές (1829–1831) [It’s not last year... : Greek militiamen-bandits and Albanian rebels (1829–1831)]. Athens: National Institute of Research / Institute of Historical Research, 2019. Pp. 240. Paper €10.80. In 2021 Greece commemorated the 200th anniversary of the beginning of its War of Independence. While the year 1821 is well documented as the start of the war, less well documented is the date that Greece’s independence was finally established. Was it 1827 with the Treaty of London, when the three Great Powers of Great Britain, France, and Russia agreed to mediate and create an autonomous Greece subject to the sultan? Or maybe it was 1829, when Greek rebels fought their last battle against Ottoman troops and the sultan, after losing the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, was finally forced to agree to the terms of the London Protocol and signed the Treaty of Adrianople? Another London Protocol, this one in 1830, established Greece as an independent state, sans any allegiance to the sultan. The London Conference of 1832, and the Treaty of Constantinople which followed in the same year, applied the final touches by slightly changing the borders of the new state. The number of treaties mentioned above illustrates how thorny the Greek issue had become. But while the sophisticated “wise men” of Europe bargained and debated in London, attempting to solve the problem of Greece, less sophisticated individuals (at least by European standards) who were nonetheless wise men on their own [End Page 473] turf were attempting to negotiate life as it would be lived once Greece became independent and an international border cut across lands and peoples who were used to living and operating sans frontières. The complicated events and developments at the local level, away from the capital cities of Europe, constitute the subject of this work by Gounaris. On the one side we have Greek President Ioannis Kapodistrias, and on the other the Ottoman military commander and grand vizier Reşid Mehmed Pasha, better known as Kütahı. Both men, as Gounaris notes, were sophisticated and well acquainted with international diplomacy at the highest levels. On the other hand, the individuals who were the movers and shakers in the borderlands were neither sophisticated in international diplomacy nor were they firm in their allegiance. As Gounaris explains, the crux of the matter had to do with the pre-1832 designated borders for the new Greek state. As they were envisioned, they cut through mountainous areas which for years had been used by armed bands wishing to come and go from north to south without interference from the authorities (58–61). Now, in the post-independence era, an endless cast of characters attempted to safeguard their interests. There were Albanians from both the north and the south of Albania, members of different tribes and sub-tribes, both Christian and Muslim. Alongside them were Ottoman Turks—Muslims, but with little sympathy for the Albanians who were their coreligionists and had often been their comrades in arms. The story also features Greek Christians, many who had fought against the Ottomans and Albanians in the recent wars but also others who had fought alongside them and against their fellow Greeks. To complicate matters even more, a number of Greeks and Albanians were known to change sides and make private agreements (kapakia) with each other with no regard for religious and ethnic considerations. Many of these Albanian beys and Greek kapetans were looking after their personal safety and enrichment, often by attempting to receive salaries and positions from the Ottomans or the government of the newly established Greek state. Meanwhile, Kütahı and Kapodistrias attempted to solve these complicated and dangerous problems by any means at their disposal. At times they tried to placate the various interests while in other instances they tried to bring certain individuals under control. At the same time, both leaders, well-versed in international diplomacy, kept an eye on Western Europe and the deliberations there, not wanting their actions to draw the ire...