French rule in 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, were occupied by the French Republic. The French instituted a new, democratic regime and, following the Treaty of Campo Formio, annexed the islands to France, forming the three departments of "Corcyre" (Corfu), "Ithaque" (Ithaca) and "Mer-Égée" (Aegean Sea). Originally widely welcomed, French rule began to grow oppressive to the islanders, and aroused the enmity of the Ottoman Empire and
United States of the Ionian Islands Cephalonia, where a great number of people had adopted Venetian Italian as their first language. The United States of the Ionian Islands was a federation. It included seven island states, each of which was allocated a number of seats in the parliament, the Ionian Senate: The British organised administration under the direction of a Lord High Commissioner, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the British government. In total, ten men served in this capacity, including William Gladstone as a Lord High Commissioner Extraordinary (in office 1858-1859). The Ionian Islands had a bicameral legislature, titled the "Parliament of