The Greek revolt confronts Ottoman state power

A revolutionary Society of Friends had planned for years, but the revolt began in 1821 about a month before the intended Feast of the Annunciation date and lost the advantage of simultaneous risings. Ottoman forces could therefore move between outbreaks and apply the military, census, judicial, and administrative resources available to even a badly governed state. That state capacity contrasted with the rebels' fragmented coercive power and the violence that undisciplined participants could inflict on either side. Philhellenic campaigning gave intervention an attractive public rationale, while governments acted once support for Greece matched their strategic interests. Egyptian forces under Ibrahim Pasha amplified the imbalance and made outside intervention increasingly consequential.