French rule in the Ionian Islands blockade of the islands. In October 1809, British forces easily took Zakynthos, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Kythira, followed by Lefkada in April 1810. Only Corfu, Parga, and Paxoi held out, amidst a deteriorating supply situation, until the 1814 and the resignation of Napoleon. The Islands passed under British control, and were formed into the United States of the Ionian Islands. French rule in the Ionian Islands The French rule in the Ionian Islands ( "Gallokratía ton Eptaníson") lasted from June 1797 to March 1799. Following the Fall of the Republic of Venice in May 1797, the Ionian Islands, a Venetian possession,
Ionian Islands are found because Io swam across it. Latin transliteration, as well as Modern Greek pronunciation, may suggest that the Ionian Sea and Islands are somehow related to Ionia, an Anatolian region; in fact the Ionian Sea and Ionian Islands are spelled in Greek with an omicron (Ιόνια), whereas Ionia has an omega (Ιωνία), reflecting a classical difference in pronunciation. In Modern Greek omicron and omega represent the same sound, but the two words are still distinguished by stress: the western "Ionia" is accented on the antepenult (), and the eastern on the penult (). In English, the adjective relating to