PAPPAS : Greeks in Russian military service in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (előszó)
The origin, character and role of Greek forces on the Ionian Islands under the Russian protectorship (1798-1807) have not been given adequate attention by historians. This work is an attempt to fill that gap in historiography. Aside from a brief comment on Greek military tradition under Ottoman rule as irregular fighters and mercenaries in various foreign services, the purpose of this work is to trace the development of Greek molitary formations under Russian sponsorship, to assess their role in Russian operations in the Mediterranean, and to compare them with other Greek forces in Ottoman and foreign service. Another purpose of this study is to analyze why and how the military experience on the Ionian Islands affected the future Greek struggle for liberation against the Turks.
The core of the work is based upon archival material from the Vlachogiannes Collection housed in the General State Archives of Greece, together with voluminous unpublished and published sources. The introductory and concluding chapters of the study have been largely based on critical use of published material in Greek and several foreign languages, since they often suffered from the vagaries of the politics of the Eastern Question. It should be noted, however, that important work on Greco-Russian military relations has been done since the nineteenth century. The Greek role in the Russo-Turkish wars of Catherine II, for example, has been investigated by a number of Russian, Greek and western scholars, including R. Anderson, Auriant, E. Georgiou, T. Gritsopoulos, G. Kolias, P. Kontogiannes, A. I. Petrov, E. Protopsaltes, C. Rulhiere, S. M. Solov'ev, and E. V. Tarle. Likewise fine work on the Greek military colonies and units in Russia has been done by N. Korguev, G. Lampises, K. Palaiologos, S. Safonov, T. Teokharidi, and A. V. Viskovatov. Invaluable documentary materials on the role of Greeks in the Russian army and navy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the Greeks who served with the Russians on the Ionian Islands, have been published. Of special value are such collections as Arkhiv Grafov Mordvinovykh, Materialy dlia Istorii Russkago Flota, Russkii Arkhiv, Sbornik lmperatorskago Russkago Istoricheskago Obshchestra and Vneshniaia Politika Rossii XIX i nachala XX veka.
A few works, such as those by the Soviet scholars G. L. Arsh and A. M. Stanislayskaia have especially enriched our knowledge of Greeks in Russian service during the Napoleonic wars, as have the studies of Greek historians such as S. Loukatos and E. Protopsaltes. Many fragmentary materials and shorter works have appeared on the refugee armatoloi and klephtes (S. Asdrachas, S. De Viazes, N. Svoronos and others), on the historical significance of the Greek military formations on the Ionian Islands (K. Rados and D. Skiotis) and on Ionian military affairs in general. No one, however, has produced a systematic study of the Greek military activities on the Ionian Islands under the Russians. What does exist are widely scattered references to the Greek military formations, their names and activities, and the contribution they made toward preparing the military leadership of the Greek War for Independence. Herein rests the principal purpose of this study — a first systematic attempt to unravel the complex issues involving the genesis and development of Greek armed forces in Russian service and to present a meaningful synthesis of the history of that significant phenomenon in Greek history, showing how it stimulated the Greek resistance to the Turks and paved the way for the War of Greek Independence in 1821.
In the course of researching and writing this study on the Greeks in Russian military service, I have accumulated many debts of gratitude. I am very thankful to the Department of History of Stanford University for the Weter Grant, and the Center for Russian and East European Studies for travel grants. The financial assistance has made it possible to spend several months in the archives and libraries of Greece (Athens) and Yugoslavia (Dubrovnik and Kotor), and to visit historical institutes (Mesaionikon Archeion tes Akademias Athenon in Athens, Institut Balkanologije Srpske Akademije Nauke i Umjetnosti in Belgrade) and consult experts in modern Balkan history and the history of Russo-Balkan Relations.
I am particularly grateful to the staffs of the General State Archives, the Historical and Ethnological Society, the Gennadeion Library, the National Library, the Library of the Parliament and the Parnassos Society, all of them in Athens, for their valuable assistance. In addition I wish to express my gratitude to the committee of executors of the Giannes Vlachogiannes estate for granting me permission to use the Vlachogiannes archive. I also thank Drs. Leandros Vranouses and Vasileios Sphyroeras for their kind advice regarding my research. I wish to convey to all of my relatives in Greece my filial gratitude for their kindness, attention and hospitality.
During my follow-up research in the United States, I benefited from the aid and co-operation of several research centers, including the Hoover Institution Library, the Stanford University Libraries, the Libraries of the University of California, the University of Cincinnati Modern Greek Collection, and the New York Public Library. I thank the staffs of these institutions for making the materials of their collections available to me. I am also grateful to Telemachos Babson, Leslie Citron, and Marc Truitt for their help in using Turkish, Romanian and Albanian sources, since my facility in these languages is very limited. I also give thanks to the Departments of History at the University of Nevada, New Mexico State University, Norwich University, and Sam Houston State University for their support.
In the writing of the study, I am greatly indebted to my good friend, Constantine A. Lolos for his moral and material support in the preparation of the manuscript, and to his parents, Alex and Magda, for the attention and affection they accorded to me and my father.
I am also obliged to those who read parts of my manuscript and gave useful comments and suggestions. They are Dr. George Rentz, Diane Ghirardo, Colleen Dolan, Anna Fulop, Elvira Monroe, Nicholas Vucinich, Eric Terzuolo, Marc Truitt and Hugh Agnew. I likewise owe special thanks to Professors Terence Emmons and Jeffrey Mass, the departmental readers of the dissertation, for their helpful evaluations. My thanks also goes to Loraine Sinclair, graduate studies secretary of the History Department, for her aid in completing the paper work for my degree. In all, I am most grateful to my mentor, Wayne S. Vucinich, for his support, advice and patient guidance over the years.
Finally, I want to sincerely thank my family for their support in my years of study, research and writing. Thanks go my wife Lee, my sisters Pearl and Theoni, my brother John, and especially my late parents, my father James and my mother Frances, to whom I dedicate this work with love and respect.
Sam Houston State University
October 26, 1990
NICHOLAS CHARLES PAPPAS
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