8
Wallachia.
12
These titles permitted Greek political representation in the distant provinces
of the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, in specific regions of the empire, the Greek people
enjoyed a high degree of self governance. These areas included the Dervenokhoria (the
seven villages in the Megarid plain), the Eleftherokhoria (the three confederations of
villages in Khalkidiki), Zagora, Sphakia, Mani, Ayvalik (Kydonies), Chios and the
Peloponnese.
13
Greek political representation under the Ottoman Empire, albeit limited,
existed under the Tourkokratia.
Greek mercantilism prospered under Ottoman rule during the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. Long before the achievement of Greek independence, the Greek
merchant class dominated Balkan trade and commerce.
14
The Greek language served as
the lingua franca of Balkan commerce and the Greek population constituted the largest
element of the Balkan merchant class. During this time, Greek mercantilism expanded to
regions throughout the Ottoman Empire and the Mediterranean, leading to the
establishment of Greek communities throughout Europe.
Newly created towns on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, such as Odessa,
Mariuopol, ad Taganrog, contained large Greek colonies, while Greeks were able to
trade under the Russia flag in the Black Sea after the Treaty of Kucuk Kynarca. The
bulk of commerce of the principal seaports of the Ottoman Empire such as
Constantinople, Thessaloniki, Patras, Smyrna and Alexandria, was shared between
Ottoman Greeks and foreign merchants. During the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, flourishing Greek communities developed throughout the Mediterranean in
Venice, Trieste, Livorno, Marseilles, Naples, etc.
15
12
Clogg, Struggle for Greek Independence, 10
13
Clogg, Struggle for Greek Independence, 2.
14
Clogg, Struggle for Greek Independence, 10.
15
A.G. Politis, L’Hellénisme et l’Egypte moderne (Paris, 1928) I, i-ii. As cited in Clogg, Struggle for Greek
Independence, 11.