Treaty of London (1864)

See also: Treaty of London

The treated of London relates to the transfer of the Ionian islands with the Greece, on behalf of the the United Kingdom, which had them since the treated of Paris of 1815.

The islands in question were Corfou, Ithaque, Paxos, Céphalonie, Zakynthos and Lefkas, like Cythère, which is not strictly speaking an Ionian island, being located at the south of the peninsula of the Peloponnese.

Since Greece had obtained independence in 1832, the inhabitants of the Ionian islands had expressed their opposition to foreign sovereignty, and the decision to yield this territory to Greece was made at a meeting of the British government, in 1862, by the secretary with the Foreign affairs of the time, Henry John Temple, supported by the queen Victoria. To maintain control British on these islands appeared indeed too expensive compared to the strategic advantages which one could expect.

After long negotiations, the treaty of London was signed by the plenipotentiary Greek, Charilaos Trikoupis, the March 29th 1864. May 2nd, 1864, the British left the islands, which became three provinces of the kingdom of Greece. The the United Kingdom preserved the use of a port on the island of Corfou.

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