London Protocol grants Greece autonomy, ending the Greek War of Independence

Background. The Greek War of Independence began in 1821. The Great Powers intervened, notably at the Battle of Navarino in 1827. Ioannis Kapodistrias arrived in 1828 to govern the fledgling nation. The Poros Conference opened in September 1828 to discuss Greece's borders, and on 21 December 1828 the ambassadors meeting on Poros prepared a protocol proposing an autonomous state ruled by a monarch, whose authority was to be confirmed by a firman of the Sultan. The Sublime Porte rejected the Poros conclusions, but the London Protocol of 22 March 1829 accepted most Poros proposals.

Diplomatic Context. The first London Protocol in November 1828 created an autonomous state limited to the Peloponnese and Cyclades. The second protocol on 22 March 1829, signed by British, French, and Russian envoys, largely accepted the Poros Conference recommendations but drew borders farther south. It excluded Samos and Crete. The Ottoman Empire was forced to acknowledge this protocol following the Treaty of Adrianople, which concluded the Russo-Turkish War.

Signatories. The protocol was signed by the British Foreign Minister, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, and the envoys of France and Russia, Jules de Polignac and Christoph von Lieven. These diplomats represented the three Great Powers that had intervened in the conflict. Their agreement amended the first London Protocol, creating an internally autonomous but tributary Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty.