The Russians wanted to help fellow Christians long oppressed by Islamic rule, relegated to second class status, butchered for being Christians. They sent the best technology of the era and helped crush the forces arrayed against the ragtag Christians.
Some things do not change.
The Russians went to battle with British and French allies. Both nations shared the Russian concern for fellow Christians and a deep respect for the heritage of Greece. Leaders in Russia, France, and Britain understood and admired classical culture and had a shared confidence in the value of both philosophy and theology. As a result, Protestant Britain, Catholic France, and Orthodox Russia united to help bring liberty to Greece.
Some things do change.
The British retain a presence in the Mediterranean and the French have a relatively powerful navy. Americans are often surprised that both Britain and France remain some of the most powerful military forces in the world. The Russians, to nobody’s surprise, are a top three military power. Sadly, today it is hard to imagine them sending a combined fleet to help save a Christian people. The British could, but lack a unifying national philosophy. What is a British man? France has been at war over what it means to be French since the heroism of World War I gained a fruitless victory.
The churches of London and Paris are less full than the mosques.
What if Europe united? Could history be changed and liberty won?
Just off the coast of Greece on October 20, 1827, the allied nations did just that very job in the last great battle between wooden ships. The British, French, and Russians crushed a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet without losing a single vessel. While this did not immediately liberate Greece from Turkish misrule, the Ottomans were unable to sustain control of the Greeks after this naval humiliation and the Greeks won their independence.
Raise a toast to Sir Edward Codrington, shabbily treated by the United Kingdom but remembered as a hero in Greece. As commander of the combined forces, he did the right thing instead of the diplomatic thing. Consistently, the United Kingdom feared Christian Russia more than the Ottoman Empire and while she favored Greece in theory was content with the endless, bloody revolution. A free and sovereign Orthodox Greece and a weakened Islamic empire might make Russia too strong in the region: perfidious Albion is not always in the imagination.
Codrington represented the better side of English history, a faithful friend with heart of oak and wily mind. A hero of the wars against Napoleonic tyranny, his negotiating style could have served as a model for James T. Kirk of Star Trek. He hoped not to fight, but when the Turks and Egyptians decided to prop up the Caliphate’s control of Orthodox Greece, he sent the Turkish and Egyptian fleets to the bottom. The United Kingdom and the rest of Europe were forced to stop useless Byronic dreams of Greek liberty and actually accept a liberated Kingdom of Greece. Codrington gave the allies a victory, helped end the genocide of Greeks by the Turks, and went home unapologetic to continue service to his nation.
We must hope that the nation that gave us Condrington could still do so and pray for a revival in Britain. I never lose hope for France as long as prayers are said at Sacre Coeur.
The next time you are told that war doesn’t solve anything, ever, recollect the Battle of Navarino where Greek liberty was secured and a genocide ended. The next time you hear one man cannot make a difference, recall the bold Sir Edward Codrington who gave Britain what she wanted and not what the calculating clerks balancing the powers secretly desired.
Thank God for a free Greece and victory at the Battle of Navarino.
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