French rule left Corfu isolated

Ionian enthusiasm for democracy ran into a French administration that expected local votes to endorse French decisions. The local demand for a political voice also had limits: the version of democracy described here restricted voting to people with sufficient property or income. Administrative disorder brought the islands close to bankruptcy, and incoming officials sought money in France and Italy before taking up their posts. Efforts to establish policing and a functioning administration recovered some order. By the time the Russo-Ottoman force arrived, the French commander had about six hundred troops against roughly six thousand. The small garrison was expected to hold despite that disparity.