Britain transferred the Ionian Islands to Greece in 1864, giving King George I a prestigious territorial gain. The islands also brought politicians and parties formed by decades of argument over promised democracy, restricted representation, and protectorate government. Their experience under the United States of the Ionian Islands produced a fiercely defended institutional identity rather than passive acceptance of rule from Athens. This was a difficult inheritance for the new king as well as a national achievement. Imperial administration had created durable institutions and parties that now shaped Greek domestic politics.
Notable Point · 1:04:25-1:05:59
Ionian political institutions enter Greece
Union with Greece transferred the islands and an Ionian political culture shaped by resistance to restricted rule under France and Britain.