100 YEARS FROM THE UNION OF CRETE WITH GREECE Blister

The history and fate of the ‘Great Island’ of Crete were always inextricably connected with those of mainland Greece. Strategically situated between Europe, Asia and Africa, Crete fell to a series of conquerors, from the Romans and the Saracens to the Venetians and the Ottomans. Union with the modern Greek state was hard won by the Cretans after several violent uprisings, including the Cretan Revolt of 1866 marked by the selfsacrifice of hundreds of besieged at the Arkadi Monastery. After the revolt of 1897-98, the island was declared an autonomous ‘Cretan State’, with Prince George of Greece appointed its High Commissioner. Crete was formally integrated into Greece under the Treaty of London in 1913, after the Balkan Wars of 1912-13.