On 22 March, however, the Russian authorities invited assemblies of the nobles to undertake the governance of the Ionian Islands, thereby restoring the previous status quo.

[13][14] On the next day, the Great Council of Corfu was reconstituted; its very first action was a vote of thanks to the Allied rulers, the Ottoman Sultan, the Russian Emperor, and the British King.

[14] In Zakynthos, however, the local noble council preferred to direct its thanks exclusively to the British, an expression of the strong pro-British tendency on the island, due to the close commercial links centred on the currant trade.

[13] Orio's draft constitution comprised 28 articles and one addendum, and envisaged a thoroughly aristocratic regime, with each island headed by a Great Council composed of the nobles and the upper bourgeoisie.

[16] On 21 June 1799, the Senate sent a twelve-member delegation to Constantinople and Saint Petersburg, drawn from the upper classes of each island, to express its gratitude to the Sultan and Tsar and secure recognition of the new state's independence.

The delegates were also tasked with producing a draft constitution and submitting it for ratification, as well as press for the restoration of the Islands' maritime and land frontier with the withdrawal of Ali Pasha from Butrinto, Preveza, and Vonitsa.

[18] Once in Constantinople, however, the delegation quickly realized that the Porte was not interested in recognizing the Islands' independence, but rather in creating a vassal state under Ottoman suzerainty.

[21][23] This was a victory for the Sultan, and a disappointment for the Islanders, who had been promised the right to choose their own form of governance in the proclamations of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Gregory V, and the head of the Russian fleet, Admiral Fyodor Ushakov.

[21] The mainland exclaves of Parga, Vonitsa, Preveza, and Butrinto, on the other hand, would remain under Ottoman control but would enjoy a special status similar to that of the Danubian Principalities.

[25] At the same time, without consulting their colleagues in Saint Petersburg or the provisional government in the Islands,[23] Capodistrias and Sigouros Desyllas also composed a new constitution and designed the new flag of the state.

[28] The new constitution was strongly reactionary, reversing the gains of the bourgeoisie in particular, in favour of the old noble families; even the titles of nobility granted in 1799, after the French left, and which were mostly given to the wealthy commercial class, were rescinded.

[26] In keeping with the reactionary ideas embodied in the constitution was also the new flag, sporting the Venetian Lion of Saint Mark holding a bundle of seven arrows, symbolizing the islands, and a Bible; suggestions with more revolutionary overtones, such as the rising phoenix, were rejected.

[29] The mission of the Imperial Commissioners—Antonio Maria Capo d'Istria was soon replaced by his son, Ioannis Kapodistrias, the future first governor of Greece—quickly proved problematic: the reactionary nature of the new constitution, which limited political power to the nobility, immediately made it controversial, as the common people had grown used to the greater civic rights and liberties enjoyed during the French Republican rule.

Theotokis formed an 'Extraordinary Committee of Public Safety' (Commissione Estraordinaria di Pubblica Sicurezza) composed of Dimitrios Armenos, Stamos Chalikiopoulos, and Ioannis Kapadokas, but the rebellious lower classes refused to accept its authority.

[36] Events proceeded quickly: the draft constitution was sent to the Senate on 21 October 1801, and ten days later, the 'Honourable Deputation' demanded from Theotokis to appoint representatives of the nobility to form a common provisional government for Corfu.

[33] In a highly symbolic display of unity and class reconciliation, on 28 November the 'Honourable Deputation' joined with 14 representatives of the "so-called nobility", as they were termed, to take over power; on the next day, the nobles signed the new constitution.

The Porte charged Theotokis, who remained president of the Senate, to restore the previous status quo, until proper deliberations involving the Allied powers, the Imperial Commissioners, and the islanders could take place.

[37] The rural population was on the point of marching on Corfu city, but the warnings of the Ottomans to the 'Honourable Deputation', and the French consul, Romieu, who addressed the peasants, temporarily calmed matters.

[38][39] The new regime was quick to stamp out any sign of dissent or rebellion, and pro-French sentiment was frowned upon, particularly after the positive reception of a speech by the French general Sebastiani at Zakynthos.

[39] Furthermore, as the Russian plenipotentiary, Mocenigo was the most influential person in the state, with a decisive voice in all matters,[39] and soon began to undermine the constitution by creating extraordinary committees, bypassing the ordinary courts, and establishing a 'Sublime Police', staffed by his own nominees and controlled by him.

Souliot refugees were mobilized for an offensive, which was cut short when Ali Pasha learned of the Russian plans and an Ottoman naval squadron made an unexpected appearance off Corfu.

[39] Finally, when the Constitutional Assembly convened on 27 October, Mocenigo simply replaced the entire Legislative Council, which was to prepare the lists of the candidates for public office, with his own choices, and appointed Ioannis Kapodistrias as its secretary and rapporteur.

[60] It is still debated among historians whether the revisions incorporated in the 1806 constitution reflected an initiative of the Russian government, or whether it was driven by a small coterie of men around Mocenigo, aiming to concentrate power in fewer hands.

[60] Under Mocenigo's tutelage, the Ionian Senate on 17 June 1807 declared the end of the Republic's neutrality towards France, effectively bringing the islands into the War of the Fourth Coalition on the side of Russia.

[62][63] The defence of Lefkada soon attracted widespread support, and even klepht captains from the mainland rushed to join it, including Katsantonis, Kitsos Botsaris, Dimitrios Karaiskos, Georgios Varnakiotis, and most notably, Theodoros Kolokotronis.

[62] Ultimately, the fate of the Septinsular Republic would be decided in the battlefields and chanceries of Europe: in the Treaty of Tilsit in July, the Ionian Islands were ceded once again to Napoleonic France.

[63] On 20 August, French troops landed on Corfu, followed three days later by General César Berthier, who received control of the islands from the Russian admiral Dmitry Senyavin.

Finally, on 1 September, contrary to his instructions to preserve the Islands' constitution, Berthier as Governor-General declared the annexation of the Septinsular Republic to France.

[64] Indeed, in October 1809 a British expeditionary force under Brigadier John Oswald arrived at Zakynthos, and issued a proclamation promising to restore the Ionian Islands' liberty and independence.

The text of the constitution was prefaced by the report of the committee that drafted it, which stated that: "the noble, rich and harmonious Hellenic dialect, having been exiled by the Venetians, should be recalled to the dominion and become the language of administration and the interpreter of the active citizens.