Modern Greek History Research Papers (original) (raw)

This essay attempts to integrate the local paradigm of the Ionian State into the general structures of the British Empire, while at the same time examines the institutional continuities deriving from the Venetian dominion. An overall plan of the Ionian State's administration, focusing on governmental practices from the institutional point of view, is also being undertaken. The essay was based on primary and secondary sources' elaboration, referring to the administrative organization and to the state system in the Ionian Islands under the British Rule. Reflecting that, the social structure of the local society was interconnected to administrative mechanism. From a methodological perspective, the use of administrative archives is instrumental in synthetic process, in an effort to portray social networks and to clarify the formation of both individual and collective identities. Developing, however, the empirical work in the factual context is deemed necessary. The text is arranged in two parts: the first refers to the local economic realities, as well as to the economic mechanisms shaped in the context of the British Rule. Both subject matters are examined in very general terms. Public finance, the banking sector and the monetary system are research objects, aiming at a grosso modo description of Ionian State's economic practices. In this framework, a special mention is made to the financial mission of Gladstone to the Ionian Islands. British Rule's economic policy is also being considered with regard to the changes in property rights: although the policy of the abolition of the feudal rural estate is not completed during the period of the Ionian State, it is nevertheless indicative of the market's transition to more liberal (or more monetarized) forms. Finally, the economic reforms taking place between 1834 and 1836 are analyzed, with special focus on the protection of local agricultural products. A reference to commercial and maritime activity is also included, with emphasis on government interventions to support (or not support) private initiative. The second part of the essay examines the gradual articulation of the state mechanism and the way this is reflected to the intended rationalization of legislative and executive authorities. In this context, the language used in administration (Italian, English, and then Greek) elucidates reforms and alterations of the State mechanism, and is also related to the emergence of a local identity. The statecraft of the Ionian State is also being examined, with a reference to the previous constitutional texts of the Septinsular Republic, as an encounter of both institutional continuity and discontinuity. Thus, the administrative mechanisms of the Ionian State are analyzed in their interaction with the local society, as an indicator of British colonial practices. Beyond the articulation of the executive, juridical and legislative authorities, as expressed in the Constitution of 1817 but also as reflected in the relevant archive material, the text contains an analysis of the reforms of 1848/1849 that basically correspond to a more proportional representation of the local population and to alterations concerning the executive authority expressed by the Commissioners, the Senate and local governors (prefects). Finally, as the administration is ran by individuals, a special reference to the relevant social network deriving from governmental practices is made: The State's administration staffing during the period of the British Rule constitutes a qualitative indicator for the social formation of the Ionian Islands and for social mobility, mainly in the context of the higher and middle-class bourgeoisie.