The Creation of Modern Greece 1830–1922

Following the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Turks (1821–32), Greece was recognized as an independent nation in 1832. Prince Otto of Bavaria was made king of Greece in 1833, ruling as an absolute monarch until 1843 when, in the face of armed insurrection, he created a constitution. To avoid renewed conflict with Greece and the Ottomans, the Anglo-French blockaded Piraeus during the Crimean War. In 1863–64 Britain ceded the Ionian Islands to Greece and in 1881, after over 450 years of Ottoman rule, Thessaly became part of modern Greece. In 1897, Greece lost a short war with the Ottoman Empire and ceded territories in Thessaly to the Ottomans. Crete was ceded to a temporary government made up of the Great Powers. After the Balkan Wars, Macedonia was split between Greece and Serbia. After World War I the Allies rewarded Greece with Thrace, which was returned to Turkey in 1922, after defeat in the Greco-Turkish war.