I've been reading about Gladstone's mission to the islands and he seems pretty dead set against the merging of the islands with Greece, what changed?
Were the Islands becoming too difficult to govern? Did Italian unification have any impact? The Suez canal was opened shortly before the islands were given away, why would Britain give away a base in the Mediterranean? Was there a change in the diplomatic situation in europe that meant they felt less at risk?
I'm finding it difficult to find reasons for them giving the islands away beyond 'philhellenism' and support for King George of Greece. There doesn't seem to be much in general histories of the era on the Ionian islands.
Can anyone help me out?
The British transfered the islands because they desired to support the new king of greece and generally bolster pro british factions in the greek government which had recently gained ascendency. The British government figured it was better to have a friendly greek government than a revanchist greek nationalist movement directed towards the british protectorate.
Strategically Britian was allied to the ottoman empire in opposing the russian designs against central asia and the middle east so combined with malta they were quite secure in the eastern mediterrenean, they would gain cyprus about 16 years later as a result of the 1878 conference cementing their power over the eastern meditereanean until the suez crisis.