Ithaca had been under Venician control until defeat by Napoleon in 1797, when it transferred to French rule. The French were subsequently succeeded by the Russians and Turks in 1798. In 1809, Ithaca was then subject to English rule under the auspices of the "United States of the Ionian Islands" plan. It was thus governed by a Constitution imposed in 1817. During English occupation, the Ithacecians participated in the War of Independence of 1821, joining the Hellenic Revolutionary fleet against the Turks.