Orlov Revolt

As Orlov Revolt or Orlofika (Greek Ορλωφικά ) are referred to the steps taken as a harbinger of the Greek Revolution riots of the Greeks against Ottoman rule in 1770. They are named after the brothers Orlov, Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov and Fyodor Grigoryevich Orlov.

Background

The background is made ​​up of the Russian - Turkish War ( 1768-1774 ). In order to weaken the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empress Catherine II recalled probably on the initiative Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov of her lover already under Peter the Great well maintained friendly relations with the Orthodox co-religionists in Greece and sent emissaries to the Greek regional leaders such as bishops, Klephts and dignitaries such as the Mavromichalis in Mani or Daskalogiannis in Crete. Many Greeks saw the Russians in the legendary " xanthone génos " ( γένος Greek ξανθόν blond race) that would bring them relief.

Course of the riots

1769 Catherine II sent a fleet of 14 warships under the command of Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov and his brother Fyodor Grigoryevich Orlov into the Mediterranean. She went in the spring of 1770 before Itylo anchor and encouraged the inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula and from Kalamata to rise. To support the insurgents on land but only a small force of Russian soldiers was deposed. Also in Epirus, in the Cyclades and Crete revolts were sparked.

In particular, in the Peloponnese, the rebels were initially successful. You could Navarino and Mystras are taking, including Messolonghi and Patras. However, when about 8,000 Greek insurgents, reinforced by 50 Russian soldiers, against Tripoli were advancing, they prepared 15,000 battle-hardened Albanians who had recruited to assist the Ottomans a crushing defeat, who joined a massacre in which thousands of Greeks were massacred; the spiritual leader of the Greeks were impaled. The siege of Koroni and Methoni was unsuccessful. Patras was re-conquered by the Ottoman- Albanian army and burned, as Mystras, so that the collection of Peloponnese collapsed after a few months. A similar fate befell the revolt in Crete under Daskalogiannis and the uprisings in other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the Russian fleet sailed further into the Aegean Sea and gained early July at the Battle of Çeşme an important victory against the Ottomans, which represented an important milestone on the road to peace of Küçük Kaynarca in which the Sublime Porte admitted defeat.

Results

So successful were the Orlofika for Russia, so they were disappointing from the perspective of the Greeks, the greater Russian support had hoped that as a result many cruel reprisals by the Ottoman rule were exposed and received nothing tangible in the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. As a contribution to South - expansion of Russia, which had become a protectorate for the people living in the Ottoman Empire Christians and become a power in the Mediterranean, and as a contribution to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, which marked its decline, the uprisings, however, had better conditions for the subsequent created struggles for freedom.

• Greek Revolution
• Uprising in Europe
• Conflict in 1770