SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION «INTERCONF» | № 53

Sadraddinova Gulnara Eldar Doctoral Candidate, Baku State University, Republic of Azerbaijan

THE IMPACT OF THE CONFERENCE AND THE AKKERMAN AGREEMENTS ON THE GREEK REBELLION

Abstract. At the Congress of Verona, held by members of the in October 1822, Russia wanted to use it to carry out its insidious policy against the Ottoman state. Unable to do so, however, Tsarist Russia encouraged foreign powers to intervene in the Gr eek uprising. As a result, on October 7, 1826, the Akkerman Treaty was signed in an unfair political environment for the Ottoman state. This agreement represents an important stage in Ottoman-Russian political relations and in the formation of a map of the Balkans. However, this was a stage of development against the Turks and strengthened Russia's influence in the Balkans. Keywords: Congress of Verona, Akkerman Convention, Ottoman, Tstarist Russia, greek rebellion.

The , weakened for internal and external reasons in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, faced political confrontation during the Greek uprising that began in 1821. The situation of the Ottoman state became even more tense as the rebels, who took advantage of the privileges granted to the Greeks by the Ottoman government, relied on the help of European states. Although the rebellion was organized by the Filiki Etherya Society, its secret leader was Tsarist Russia. Tsarist Russia, through the newly independent Greek state, wanted to strengthen its position in the Balkans and realize its plans for the Mediterranean. The interference of European states in the Greek question, which sought to thwart Tsarist Russia's intentions, led to the development of international relations. In October 1822, the 4th Diplomatic Meeting of the Holy Alliance was held in Verona, Italy. The Verona Congress was attended by Tsar , Emperor Franz I of Austria, King Wilhelm III of Prussia, Italian officials and officials from other countries. It is clear from the British archives that the proposals put forward at the Vienna Conference on the Greeks were also put forward here. Greek rebels also sent representatives to the congress. They appealed to members of Congress to "get out of the power of the barbarians and build a motherland." Tsarist

343

INTERNATIONAL FORUM: PROBLEMS AND SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS

Russia, which took every opportunity to stand up to the Ottoman state, made proposals to the Greeks at the Verona Congress: 1. The Ottoman state had to agree with the European states to ensure the former status of the Greeks. 2. The right of the Greeks to worship freely should not be taken away from them. 3. The security of life and property of the Greeks must be ensured. 4. The Ottoman state must take very serious measures to ensure peace in the region. 5. The Ottoman state must withdraw all its military forces from Aflak and Bogdan. 6. The Ottoman government must come to an agreement with Russia [1]. Austria, Prussia and France have said they have accepted the proposals to ensure peace. Wellington, the representative of the British state in the Congress of Verona, stated that it was wrong to interfere in the internal affairs of the Ottomans [2, p.28]. In the spring of 1823, Russia invited all European states to a conference in St. Petersburg. In January 1824, meetings of representatives of the great powers began in St. Petersburg. Britain intended to take new diplomatic steps to act together with other European countries. However, Tsar Alexander I made it clear that he did not want to emerge as a powerful state with a plan to build a three-pronged, divided Greece. While protecting the Christian population in the Balkans, Russia wanted the Christians here to always be dependent on and in need of Russia [3, p.257]. The Greeks, who had turned their backs on Russia and Britain, turned to British Foreign Secretary Lloyd George and demanded Britain's support. They wanted Britain to send a leader who would wear the Greek crown and ascend the Greek throne. In this way, they would have escaped all kinds of pressure and attacks from the Ottoman state. The Greeks' inclination toward the British also encouraged Britain to intervene in the uprising. As a result of the efforts of Metternich and Bagot, Russia's plan was not accepted by the representatives of European countries (England, France, Prussia and 344

SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION «INTERCONF» | № 53

Austria) [4, p.106-107]. Finally, on April 7, 1825, certain decisions were made in St. Petersburg. According to these decisions, the Ottoman state had to give some privileges to the Greeks. However, representatives of the Ottoman state disagreed, saying that the sultan had decided to pardon the remorseful rebels and that there was no need to grant new privileges to the Peloponnese. However, seeing that the Turks did not retreat, the Russians decided to intervene directly in the Greek question. Thus, the Russo-Turkish war was approaching [5, p.149-169]. Canning first appealed to both sides in November 1825 to settle the dispute between Babiali and the Greeks. According to him, Russia's close involvement in the Greek issue by supporting the rebels was contrary to the principles of the Vienna Congress. If Russia's decisions in St. Petersburg were made, the Vienna Congress's Intervention System would be used for the first time to intervene militarily in the Balkans. Although Russia was reluctant to act alone, it became increasingly angry that its allies were blocking it. Stretford Cunning, who had previously served as Britain's ambassador to Istanbul before the Russians, wrote a note to Babiali in 1825 stating that Britain would not help the Turks if Russia attacked the Ottoman Empire. With this step, Britain wanted to bring the Ottomans to an agreement on the Greek issue. However, the harsh response of the Ottoman state to the Russian ultimatum given to the Turks after this note led to the threat of war. Concerned by Russia's growing pressure, Britain told Babiali that it wanted to mediate with the Russians. However, Sultan Mahmud II also rejected this mediation. Thus, this ultimatum, which called for the fulfillment of obligations to Russia under previous agreements, was unequivocally a diplomatic manifestation of the mutual interests of Britain and Russia [6]. While Russia continued to put pressure on the Ottoman state, Minchaki threatened Babiali in Istanbul that Russian troops would enter Bogdan if the Russian proposals were not accepted. Seeing its growing repression in the international political arena, the Ottoman state was forced to accept Russia's ultimatum for six weeks. The official answer was given on May 15, 1826, at the end of the term given by Russia. Sayyid Mammad Hadi Efendi, Kosa Ibrahim Efendi, Nafi Efendi as the first secretary, Najib Efendi 345

INTERNATIONAL FORUM: PROBLEMS AND SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS as the second secretary, Sirri Efendi, the translator of Divani Humayun as the first translator and Namik Efendi as the second translator formed a delegation of the Ottoman Empire to negotiate Russia's demands [7]. This delegation of the Ottoman Empire left for Vidin in early June 1826. It was decided to hold the conference on July 1, 1826, in Akkerman, at the beginning of the Dniester, in the lands of Bessarabia, which had previously belonged to Geneva and then to Bogdan, and later to Russia. The Russian government has given the task of participating in the talks to the Commissioner of Bessarabia, Vorontsov. Representatives of the Ottoman Empire demanded that the previous conditions not be changed when amending the Bucharest Peace Treaty before negotiations began. At the end of these meetings, in which most Russians had a political advantage, the Treaty of Ackermann was signed on October 7, 1826. This agreement, signed as a continuation of the Bucharest Agreement, consisted of 8 clauses and 2 additional documents. One of the documents belonged to Aflak and Bogdan, and the other to Serbia. The document on Aflak and Bogdan stated that the voivodes would be elected for a term of 7 years at a meeting organized by the boyars, and the result would be approved by Babiali. In the event of a dispute, the voivode would be appointed jointly by Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Taxes would be collected by the boyars and the Greeks would be allowed to trade freely. The terms of the agreement included a pardon for the Greek rebels [8]. Russia assured the Ottoman delegation during the Ackerman talks that it would not interfere in the Greek issue. The Ottoman representatives also conveyed this to Babiali. Decisions in favor of Russia were made by the Ottoman state only after that guarantee. Thus, one of Russia's main goals in excluding the Greek question from Ackermann was to be able to pass the decisions of the treaty to the Ottomans, while the others were not to take a political stand against Britain, not to violate the St. Petersburg Protocol and not to take any steps on the Greek question without Britain's consent. Arthur Wells Wellington, in turn, told Foreign Minister Cunningham that the main purpose of the agreement was not to interfere in the Greek uprising. Cunningham, who believed that the Ackerman agreement would avert the threat of war between the Ottomans and Russia, did not object to the agreement [9, p.173]. 346

SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION «INTERCONF» | № 53

Thus, the Ackerman Treaty was not an agreement between two equal states, but an agreement signed by a victorious state against a defeated state. However, in the absence of war or war, the Ottoman state accepted the terms of this agreement under the pressure of the general political situation. Nikolai Yorgan, one of the historians of the Ottoman period, interpreted the Akkerman Treaty as a treaty that Russia concluded without a drop of blood, using the political situation of that period cunningly [10, p.272]. Although the Ackerman agreement had nothing to do with the Greek uprising, Russia used the agreement to its advantage in the Greek issue. In particular, Russia's most important victory was that Russian merchant ships allowed free trade in the Ottoman inland waters and gained some advantages in the Balkans. Under Akkerman's agreement, he gained patronage over Russia, Aflak, Bogdan and Serbia. However, he was able to partially distance the Ottomans from Aflak and Bogdan, which he had been watching for many years. This agreement showed that the Ottomans were weakening and that Russia could accept its demands before starting a war with the Turks. Thus, the Greek struggle for independence gained the support of states that defined the political map of the world, such as Britain, Russia and France. As a result of the efforts of the European community, these countries began to take a closer interest in the Greek issue. The support of European volunteers to the Greeks by fighting and military equipment The propaganda work in Europe and the influence of Greek-lovers on European statesmen soon bore fruit. Not surprisingly, the Greeks, inspired by the support of the Europeans, named the three different political parties they created to control the uprising three major powers - "British", "French" and "Russian". In addition, Sultan Mahmud II's request for help from the Egyptian ruler to quell the revolt and the victorious struggle of the Egyptian military against the Greeks could not but worry European states. The new Russian tsar, Nicholas I, was an enemy of the Turks. Britain became the number one "leader" of the Greeks after the Russians' plan to create a Greece divided into three different parts. Although the British government did not respond positively to the Greek patronage proposals in the first years of the uprising, in the following years it began to 347

INTERNATIONAL FORUM: PROBLEMS AND SCIENTIFIC SOLUTIONS intervene in the Greek question. Moreover, the successful conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean by Ottoman-Egyptian forces as a result of the successful battles of Ibrahim Pasha, the son of the Egyptian ruler Mehmed Ali Pasha, was completely contrary to British Eastern policy and worried the British. Concerned about the Greeks' proximity to Britain, Russia, with an ultimatum to Babiali, managed to strengthen the Bucharest peace treaty with the Ackerman treaty. Although the Treaty of Ackermann was not directly related to the Greek uprising and was short-lived, it formed the main line of the Edirne Peace Treaty to be signed in 1829. With this agreement, Russia undermined the position of the Ottoman state and deprived it of its status as an important military-political power in the region. The reason for the Ottoman state to sign an unequal treaty like Akkerman was to prevent a war with Russia at a time when the Janissary army had just been disbanded. Although Austria and Britain did not openly protest, they were concerned about the signing of an agreement that would strengthen Russia's position in the Balkans and on the shores of the Mediterranean. However, all three states knew that in all cases they had to reckon with each other in Eastern politics.

References: 1. Abstarct of Proceedings in Greek Question. (A.P.G.Q.). Part I, 1822. s.1. Public Record Office Foreign Office. F.O. 421/2. 2. Tursan Nureddin. Yunan Sorunu. Ankara: 1987, 398 s. 3. Jorga Nicolae. Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Tarihi (1774-1912). c.V, çev. Nilüfer Epçeli. İstanbul: Yeditepe yaymı, 2005, 352 s. 4. Пряхин Юрий Дмитриевич. Греки в истории России XVIII-XIX веков. исторические очерки. Санкт-Петербург: Алетейя, 2008, 269 с. 5. Aslantaş Selim. Osmanlı-Rus İlişkilerinden Bir Kesit: 1826 Akkerman Andlaşması’nın Müzarekeleri. Uluslararası İlişkiler Akademik Dergisi. Cilt 9, Sayı 36. 2013, s.148-167. 6. Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi Hatt-ı Hümayun Tasnifi 43485A [2 S 1242] / (23 Ağustos) 5 Eylül 1826. 7. Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi Hatt-ı Hümayun Tasnifi 44392 [29 Z 1241] / (04 Ağustos 1826). 8. Федорович Феодосий Веселаго. Краткие сведения о русских морских сражениях за два столетия с 1656 по 1856 год. СПб.: Тип. Императорской Академии Наук,1871, 64 c. 348

SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION «INTERCONF» | № 53

9. Bayrak Meral. “Osmanlı Arşivleri İşığında Rum İsyanı Sırasında Avrupa Devletlerinin Tutumu.” Osmanlı Ansiklopedisi. C: II. Ankara: Yeni Türkiye Yayınları, 1999, 702 s. 10. Jorga Nicolae. Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Tarihi (1774-1912). c.V, çev. Nilüfer Epçeli. İstanbul: Yeditepe yaymı, 2005, 352 s.

349