Alexandros Ypsilantis and the Greek Insurection in the Danubian Principalities in 1821: A Bicentenary Reappraisal

Why did Alexandros Ypsilantis choose the Danubian Principalities as a geographical area to declare the Greek Revolution? Did he get the consent of the dominant Eterists’ group for his decision? Did the leader of Filiki Eteria believe that his plan could trigger an extensive uprising in the Balkans? Did the Greek-controlled mercenary garrisons in Moldavia and Wallachia take up arms? Did Ypsilantis receive the help he expected from Giorgakis Olympios, the chieftain and “apostle” of the Filiki Eteria in Serbia and a former colonel of the Russian army? What role did the Greek chieftain Yiannis Pharmakis, the local Romanian commander Tudor Vladimirescu, and the former Ottoman warlord Savvas Kaminaris play in the Ypsilantis’ revolt? Why did the attempt of Serbian Prince Milos Obrenovic to support the Ypsilantis’ plan fail? How supportive were the peasant communities in the Principalities towards Greeks’ manifestations of the revolutionary movement, given that part of the local population considered the Phanariots’ rulers to be oppressors? And fi nally, why did Russia give the Ottoman Porte its consent to send powerful troops from Constantinople to crush Ypsilantis and his army? These are some of the questions which we try to answer.