The Greek War of Independence and the concept of Legitimacy

Resumen

In post-Napoleonic Europe, where the Holy Alliance was dominant, the dogma of the legitimacy of sovereign governments ensured the status quo. The question about the legitimacy of the Greek Revolution, which broke out in March 1821, was put forward for discussion at the Congress of Laibach (January - May 1821). There, the monarchies agreed that the Greek Revolution was illegal, and their penmen condemned it as an offspring of the French Revolution, the 'monster' that had declared an all-out war against all legitimacy, supporting at the same time the Sultan as the legitimate sovereign of the Greeks. The issue, however, did not end there. The debate about the legitimacy of the Greek War of Independence continued with recriminations among its supporters and its opponents, while the Greek revolutionaries pursued the legitimation of the Revolution having on their side as an ally the mass philhellenic movement which demonstrated its support. The aim of this study is to present the arguments about this issue, the political positions and the stakes of each side, as these were formulated in contemporary foreign and Greek texts: documents, pamphlets, correspondence, the press.