Early Greek parties

History

• Regional identity, especially whether the person or family was from territory that was free of Ottoman control, sometimes called autochthones, or were from areas still under Turkish suzerainty, such as Constantinople, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, Crete, the Dodecanese, Asia Minor, Pontus, and Cyprus, or under British control in the Ionian Islands, who were called heterochthones.
• Social status, including whether the person was a landowner like the Mavromichalis clan of Mani or naval captains like the Miaoulis family of Hydra, were an armed force like the Kolokotronis family of Arcadia or were wealthy Phanariotes from Constantinople was another factor in political groupings.
• Education: Greeks educated in one of the Great Powers—Britain, France or Russia—would often identify with the country of their education.
• Family relations: either marriage or longstanding enmity would drive individuals into political alliances.

  Parties

• The Russian Party was a philorthodox and socially conservative party. Some of the Greek leaders of that era who were affiliated with the Russian party include: Constantine Kanaris, Theodoros Kolokotronis, Kitsos Tzavelas, Andreas Metaxas;
• The French Party was a more liberal grouping which was born out of the struggle in 1828-31 over the adoption of a constitution and which was most closely identified with Ioannis Kolettis, but also counted Ioannis Makriyannis, Dimitrios Voulgaris, Nikolaos Kriezotis among its most well-known members;
• The English Party was also socially liberal, supportive of a constitution and allied with the British legate Lord Lyons. Its most well-known exponents were Alexander Mavrokordatos, Kostas Botsaris, Andreas Miaoulis, Spyridon Trikoupis, Andreas Zaimis.