Following the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774, Russia had seen itself as defender of Orthodox Christians living in Ottoman lands. The Crimea, under Russian protection since 1774 and later annexed in 1783, served as a base for anti-Ottoman resistance. Invited by Russia, Greek refugees from the Peloponnese settled there, manning fortresses and Greek merchant traffic increased in the Black Sea as well as in the Aegean and Adriatic. Educated Greeks paid attention to the revolutionary ideas and the new concepts of liberalism and nationality spreading out from America and Europe and tried to disseminate these ideas to their countrymen. The flourishing merchant communities in the diaspora funded new educational and religious institutions which were easier to establish outside Ottoman lands, which further aided the development of nationalism.

 

The first stirrings of a liberation movement among Greek intellectuals emanated from Odessa where a secret society, Philiki Etairia or the ‘Friendly Society’, was founded in 1814, dedicated to fostering Greek patriotism. It was influenced by the work of an İzmir-born scholar who passed more than half his life in France, Adamantios Korais, and a Hellenized Vlach, Rigas Velestinlis. Korais’s translations of Greek classics into a more demotic language brought the sense of an inspiring Greek past to his readers, while Rigas sought inspiration in the model of a new Byzantium with the governing institutions of republican France.^1

 

In the late 1700s, fierce wars against Austria and particularly Russia in the preceding century had ravaged the Balkans. This situation allowed the rise of a powerful few nobles and clans, who played a critical part in the war effort. Gathering power to themselves, these became quasi-rulers in their own right. Given their critical role in the war effort, the central government granted them economic independence but denied political power - which inevitably resulted in rebellions. Indeed, "the line between a brigand and a rebellious notable was often very finely drawn."^2 One of these was Tepedelenli Ali Pasha, who had seized control of Ioannina in 1788 and controlled - at the height of his power – most of Albania, western Greece and the Peloponnese. The economy of his territories was robust and brigandage and piracy were kept down. Despite having his own, often independent, trade and foreign policy, he had an appeasing stance towards Istanbul, which made the government leery of attacking him. Moreover, in discussions in 1819, some Ottoman officials scented rebellion in Euboea and the Peloponnese and therefore did not wish to divert forces at this time to subjugate the pasha.

Nevertheless, in 1820 – following lengthy councils – Sultan Mahmud labeled Tepedelenli Ali a rebel and sent forces against him. This led the pasha to foment an anti-Ottoman uprising in Greece and Albania. The imperial army’s campaign became drawn-out, but the government, contrary to advice from Hurşid Pasha (the commander in chief), ordered him to focus on this objective instead of sending forces to subdue the unrest in the Peloponnese – manifesting in attacks on Muslims, government symbols, and increased banditry. In these circumstances, uprising found fertile soil. On 25 March, in defiance of the Ottomans, the Cross was raised at Kalavryta, what is celebrated as Greece’s Independence Day today. Thus began the long war of independence.

Displeased at their reactions to the revolt, the sultan dismissed the grand vizier and sheikhulislam at the end of March. On 22 April, following a futile attempt by the government to use the Orthodox Church to excommunicate the rebels, the Orthodox Patriarch also met his end in Istanbul. The murder of Tepedelenli Ali in 1822 after his surrender – promises of mercy betrayed by the vizier Halet Efendi - was followed by the execution of the Sultan’s favorite, the selfsame Halet, accused of intrigue in the matter of reforming the military.

 

As to why the empire did not want to let Greece go, well, that is an odd question. States usually don’t give up chunks of their territory for nothing – especially given that the Ottomans had ruled Greece for three centuries. They will do their hardest to suppress secessionists/rebels.

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^1 Finkel, Caroline, Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire, Chapter 13

^2 Ibid. Chapter 12