Cretan Revolt of 1866

From 1866 to 1869, the Christian population of Crete rose up against Ottoman rule in a large uprising known as the Great Cretan Revolution. Crete had not been included in the Greek state created in 1832, and its Christian majority wanted union with Greece, known as enosis. The revolt began in 1866 after the Ottoman authorities rejected demands for reforms, including fairer taxes and more rights. Cretan assemblies declared union with Greece, and the fighting spread across the island. Volunteers from mainland Greece and from Europe joined the rebels, and ships ran the Ottoman blockade to bring supplies and weapons. The siege and destruction of the Arkadi Monastery in November 1866 shocked European public opinion and brought international attention to the revolt. The Ottoman Empire responded with a large army, and the fighting was brutal on both sides. Greece supported the rebels but was not strong enough to go to war with the Ottomans. By 1869, the revolt had been crushed. The Ottomans granted limited reforms in the Organic Law of 1868, but the Cretan struggle for union continued.