Cretan State

The Cretan State (Greek: Κρητική Πολιτεία, romanized: Kritiki Politeia; Ottoman Turkish: كرید دولتی, romanized: Girid Devleti) was an autonomous state governing the island of Crete from 1898 to 1913, under de juresuzerainty of the Ottoman Empire but with de facto independence secured by European Great Powers. In 1897, the Cretan Revolt led the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Greece, which led the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Russia to intervene on the grounds that the Ottoman Empire could no longer maintain control. The Cretan State was the prelude to the island's final annexation to the Kingdom of Greece, which occurred de facto in 1908 and de jure in 1913 after the First Balkan War.