Suppress or Support? Great Powers and Revolutionary Agency in the Greek War of Independence

Why was the Greek revolution tolerated by the status-quo-seeking Great Powers of the day, while other European movements were swiftly put down? We suggest that the initial decision of the Great Powers not to suppress the revolution was not a predestined outcome informed by civilizational affinity, humanitarian concerns, or on-the-ground military developments. It was rather the result of geopolitical calculations by the ideologically varied Great Powers and diplomatic maneuvering by heterochthonous Greek revolutionaries attuned to contemporary European politics. The latter made a conscious effort to distinguish their revolt from counter-establishment movements and signal their openness to input from the Great Powers. Revolutionary agency within a multipolar realpolitik context, rather than humanitarian or civilizational concerns, ultimately precluded suppression and ultimately elicited British support based on the conviction that Greece would become a liberal nation-state-with a neoclassical connection to Ancient Greek ideals, but also to Christianity-and a new financial market. Russia and France followed suit.