In the eighteenth century, compared to the preceding two centuries, the eastern Mediterranean was no longer a hostile coast. Trade and commerce resumed, even if the “Sublime Porte” tended to favour a secular ally: France.

Although in decline, the Ottoman empire still dominated various European “peoples” who had not yet recognized themselves as sovereign states: but nationalism smouldered amidst the ashes and it would not be long before it exploded. Among them the Greeks.