Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands individually and collectively, by various names. After Venice captured Cephalonia on 24 December 1500, the administration of the defense of all the islands was delegated to an official seated in Corfu. This official was being referred to as "the General ' of the Three Islands" (') and resided at the fortress of Angelokastro from 1387 to the end of the 16th century. The "Three Islands" refer to Corfu, Zante and Cephalonia. The Venetian equivalent for "Ionian Islands" is ', the Italian being ' and the Greek in Modern Greek and in . Below are the seven principal islands from north
Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands language they want and especially the Italian as it's the language with the greatest preference on the Ionian Islands". These cultural remnants of the Venetian period were the pretext of Mussolini's desire to incorporate the Ionian Islands into the Kingdom of Italy. Even before the outbreak of World War II and the Greek-Italian War, Mussolini had expressed his wish to annex the Ionian Islands as part of his wider plans for an Italian Empire centered around the Mediterranean Sea. On 15 October, in a meeting in the Palazzo Venezia, he made the final decision to invade Greece. His initial goal