The French Party ( el, Γαλλικό Κόμμα, Galliko Komma), presenting itself as the Constitutional Party ( el, Συνταγματικό Κόμμα), was one of the three informal

early Greek parties Early Greek parties were not features of the provisional and regional governments that were set up between 1821 and 1832. Nascent political parties were organized around a variety of interests and backgrounds, but regardless of these various factors ...

that dominated the early political

history of Modern Greece The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition by the Great Powers — United Kingdom, Britain, France and Russian Empire, Russia — of its Greek War of Independence, independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1828 ...

, the other two being the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and the

English Party The English Party ( el, Αγγλικό Κóμμα), was one of the three informal early Greek parties that dominated the political history of the First Hellenic Republic and the first years of the Kingdom of Greece during the early 19th century, ...

History and party development

The creation and evolution of these Parties was the effect of the interest that the three

Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power in ...

(the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

) displayed for Greek affairs. As a result, they counted on the hope that Greeks had, that by supporting them those countries would also help the

Greek Kingdom The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...

to fulfill its expectations for economic progress and territorial expansion. The French party began as a political faction founded by

Ioannis Kolettis Ioannis Kolettis (; died 17 September 1847) was a Greek politician who played a significant role in Greek affairs from the Greek War of Independence through the early years of the Greek Kingdom, including as Minister to France and serving twice ...

during the

Second National Assembly at Astros The Second National Assembly at Astros ( el, Βʹ Εθνοσυνέλευση στο Άστρος) was the second Greek National Assembly, a national representative body of the Greeks who had rebelled against the Ottoman Empire. It convened at As ...

in 1824. Kolettis was the most powerful political leader emerging from the assembly and that added strength to his faction. The parties were also defined by the so-called "Three Intrigues" by which each faction supported a post-revolutionary leader of the respective power. The French faction supported the

Duke of Nemours Duke of Nemours was a title in the Peerage of France. The name refers to Nemours in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. History In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Lordship of Nemours, in the Gatinais, France, was a possession of th ...

, second son of

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

, future king of France in 1830. The other factions responded by supporting others for the throne. During the Governorship of

Ioannis Kapodistrias Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (10 or 11 February 1776 – 9 October 1831), sometimes anglicized as John Capodistrias ( el, Κόμης Ιωάννης Αντώνιος Καποδίστριας, Komis Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias; russian: � ...

, the French party and English party were both opposed to the ruling Russian (or Napist) party. This coalition would continue under the rubric of demanding a written

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. By 1831 or 1832 as the new Bavarian monarch,

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

was being selected as king, the French party was firmly established by Kolettis.Petropulos, John, pp. 136 The party had support in

Central Greece Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...

, especially

Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...

, but was also strong among Peloponesian landowners, such as of the Deligiannis faction.

References

Sources

* * Defunct political parties in Greece France–Greece relations Political parties established in 1824 1824 establishments in Greece {{Greece-party-stub