The Treaty of London for Greek Independence, July 6, 1827, excerpts
TREATY BETMEEN GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND RUSSIA, FOR THE
PACIFICATION OF GREECE. (LONDON) JULY 6, 1827
In the Name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. His Majesty the King of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty the King of France and Navarre, and His
Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, penetrated with the necessity of putting an end to
the sanguinary struggle which, while it abandons the Greek Provinces and the Islands of
the Archipelago to all the disorders of anarchy, daily causes fresh impediments to the
commerce of the States of Europe, and gives opportunity for acts of Piracy which not only
expose the subjects of the High Contracting Parties to grievous losses, but also render
necessary measures which are burthensome for their observation and suppression;
His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His
Majesty the King of France and Navarre, having moreover received from the Greeks an
earnest invitation to interpose their Mediation with the Ottoman Porte; and, together with
His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russians, being animated with the desire of putting a
stop to the effusion of blood, and of preventing the evils of every kind which the
continuance of such a state of affairs may produce;
They have resolved to combine their efforts, and to regulate the operation thereof, by
a formal Treaty, for the object of re-establishing peace between the contending parties,
by means of an arrangement called for, no less by sentiments of humanity, thlan by
interests for the tranquillity of Europe.
For these purposes, they have named their Plenipotentiaries to discuss, conclude, and
sign the said Treaty, that is to say; His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable John William Viscount Dudley, a Peer of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a Member of His said Majesty's Most
Honourable Privy Council, and his Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; His
Majesty the King of France and Navarre, the Prince Jules, Count de Polignac, a Peer of
Frlance, Knight of the Orders of His Most Christian Majesty, Marechal-de-Camp of his
Forces, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Maurice of Sardinia, &c., &c., and his
Ambassador at London; And His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, the Sieur
Christopher Prince de Lieven, General of Infantry of His Imperial Majesty's Forces, his
Aide-de-Camp General, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to His Britannic
Majesty, &c.; Who, after having communicated to each other their Full Powers, found to
be in due and proper form, have agreed upon the following Articles:
Offer of Mediation.
ART. I. The Contracting Powers shall offer their Mediation to the Ottoman Porte, with
the view of effecting a reconciliation between it and the Greeks. This offer of Mediation
shall be made to that Power immediately after the Ratification of the present Treaty, by
means of a joint Declaration, signed by Plenipotentiaries of the Allied Courts at
Constantinople; and, at the same time, a demand for an immediate Armistice shall be made
to the Two Contending Parties, as a preliminary and indispensable condition to the opening
of any negotiation.
Bases of Arrangement.
ART. II. The Arrangement to be proposed to the Ottoman Porte shall rest upon the
following bases:
Greece to be a Dependency of Turkey and Pay Tribute.
Appointment of Greek Authorities.
The Greeks shall hold under the Sultan as under a Lord paramount; and, in consequence
thereof, they shall pay to the Ottoman Empire an annual Tribute, the amount of which shall
be fixed, once for all, by common agreement. They shall be governed by authorities whom
they shall choose and appoint themselves, but in the nomination of whom the Porte shall
have a defined right.
Greeks to become Possessors of all Turkish Property on Payment of Indemnity.
In order to effect a complete separation between the individuals of the two nations,
and to prevent the collisions which would be the inevitable consequence of so protracted a
struggle, the Greeks shall become possessors of all Turkish Property situated either upon
the Continent, or in the Islands of Greece, on condition of indemnifying the former
proprietors, either by an annual sum to be added to the tribute which they shall pay to
the Porte, or by some other arrangement of the same nature.
Details of Arrangement and Boundaries to be settled by Negotiation.
ART. III. The Details of this Arrangement, as well as the Limits of the Territory upon
the Continent, and the designation of the Islands of the Archipelago to which it shall be
applicable, shall be settled by a negotiation to be hereafter entered into between the
High Powers and the Two Contending Parties.
Pacification of Greece.
ART. IV. The Contracting Powers engage to pursue the salutarv work of the Pacification
of Greece, upon the bases laid down in the preceding Articles. and to furnish, without the
least delay, their Representatives at Constantinople with all the Instructions which are
required for the execution of the Treaty which they now sign.
Equal Advantages to be Conferred on All Nations.
ART. V. The Contracting Powers will not seek, in these Arrangements, any augmentation
of territory, any exclusive influence, or any commercial advantage for their subjects,
which those of every other nation may not equally obtain.
Guarantee of Three Powers.
ART. VI. The arrangements for reconciliation and Peace which shall be definitively
agreed upon between the Contending Parties, shall be guaranteed by those of the Signing
Powers who may judge it expedient or possible to contract that obligation. The operation
and the effects of such Guarantee shall become ths subject of future stipulation between
the High Powers.
Ratifications.
ART. VII. The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the Ratifications shall be
exchanged in 2 months, or sooner if possible.
In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have
affixed thereto the Seals of their Arms. Done at London, the 6th day of July, in the year
of Our Lord, 1827.
(L. S.) DUDLEY.
(L. S.) LE PRINCE DE POLIGNAC.
(L. S.) LIEVEN.
ADDITIONAL ARTICLE
In case the Ottoman Porte should not, within the space of one month, accept the
Mediation which is to be proposed to it, the High Contracting Parties agree upon the
following measures:
Commercial Relations to be entered into with Greece in case of Turkish Refusal of
Mediation.
I. It shall be declared to the Porte, by their Representatives at Constantinople, that
the inconveniences and evils described in the patent Treaty as inseparable from the state
of things which has, for six years, existed in the East, and the termination of which, by
the means at the command of the Sublime Ottoman Porte, appears to be still distant, impose
upon the High Contracting Parties the necessity of taking immediate measures for forming a
connection with the Greeks.
It is understood that this shall be effected by establishing commercial relations with
the Greeks, and by sending to and receiving from them, for this purpose, Consular Agents,
provided there shall exist in Greece authorities capable of supporting such relations.
Measures to be adopted by Allied Powers in case of Non-Observance of
Armistice.
II. If, within the said term of one month, the Porte does not accept the Armistice
proposed in Article I of the patent Treaty, or if the Greeks refuse to carry it into
execution, the High Contracting Powers shall declare to either of the Contending Parties
which may be disposed to continue hostilities, or to both of them, if necessary, that the
said High Powers intend to exert all the means which circumstances may suggest to their
prudence, for the purpose of obtaining the immediate effects of the Armistice of which
they desire the execution, by preventing, as far as possible, all collision between the
Contending Parties; and in consequence, immediately after the above-mentioned declaration,
the High Powers will, jointly, exert all their efforts to accomplish the object of such
Armistice, without, however, taking any part in the hostilities between the Two Contending
Parties.
Immediately after the signature of the present Additional Article, the High Contracting
Powers will, consequently, transmit to the Admirals commanding their respective squadrons
in the Levant, conditional Instructions in conformity to the arrangements above declared.
Measures to be adopted in case of Refusal of Ottoman Porte.
III. Finally, if, contary to all expectation, these measures do not prove sufficient to
produce the adoption of the propositions of the High Contracting Parties by the Ottoman
Porte; or if, on the other hand, the Greeks decline the conditions stipulated in their
favour, by the Treaty of this date, the High Contracting Powers will, nevertheless,
continue to pursue the work of pacification, on the bases upon which they have agreed;
and, in consequence, they authorize, from the present moment, their Representatives at
London, to discuss and determine the future measures which it may become necessary to
employ.
The present Additional Article shall have the same force and validity as if it were
inserted, word for word, in the Treaty of this day. It shall be ratified, and the
Ratifications shall be exchanged at the same time is those of the said Treaty.
In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have
affixed thereto the Seals of their Arms.
Done at London, the 6th day of July, in the year of Our Lord, 1827.
(L. S.) DUDLEY.
(L. S.) LE PRINCE DE POLIGNAC.
(L. S.) LIEVEN.
Source:
From: Edward Hertslet, ed., The Map of Europe by Treaty, (London: Harrison and
Sons, 1891), Vol. I, pp. 769-774, reprinted in Alfred J. Bannan & Achilles Edelenyi, eds., Documentary History of Eastern Europe, (New York: Twayne Publishers,
1970), pp. 126-132.
Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton.
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