The Balkan policy of Napoléon Bonaparte: The examples of Albania and Morea

Although the French Revolution was initially perceived as an internal problem of France by the European states and the Ottoman Empire, the actions of Napoléon Bonaparte, who would leave his mark on world history with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen that emerged as a result of the revolution caused these states to go through difficult times. Napoléon captured the Seven Islands after the Treaty of Campo Formio was signed with Austria in 1797 as a result of the Northern Italian campaign. Thus, the Ottoman Empire and France became border neighbors for the first time in history. Napoléon, who saw the Ottoman Empire as a great power, would henceforth begin to think that the Ottoman Empire had completed its political life, and after captured the Seven Islands, he would turn to the Balkans to get a share of the spoils. Napoléon placed Hellenic nationalism, the political potential most ready to disrupt order, at the centre of his Balkan policy. He tried to win over the Hellenes under the yoke of the Ottoman Empire by using the ideology of freedom and equality that emerged in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Any action that Napoléon would take in the Balkans would pose a great threat to Russia and England due to the geographical importance of the Balkans. For this reason, they will not allow Napoléon to dominate the Balkans alone. Russia,which had a common religion and sect with the people living in the region, would begin to warn the Ottoman Empire after the Northern Italy campaign and would stand by the Ottoman Empire with all kinds of assistance. Thus, Napoléon's placing Hellenic nationalism at the basis of his Balkan policy caused security problems within the Ottoman Empire and posed a strategic threat to Russia and England, bringing these three states together