On this day, 205 years ago, the Greek Revolution is officially declared. Prince Alexander Ypsilantis crosses river Prut with his army, entering the Danubian Principalities. He calls for all Greeks and Christians in the Balkans to raise against the Ottomans, beginning the revolution. Thoughts?

Here's some facts: Amongst his officers were Hadzi Prodan the veteran of the Serbian Revolution, Dimitrie Macwdonski and Ince Voyvoda veterans of the Bulgarian Uprising of the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, and the Greco-vlachs (not confused with those of Wallachia) Georgios Olympios and Ioannis Pharmakis, veterans of the Greek uprising of 1798, and 1806. The rebels inspired by veterans of the Napoleonic Wars attempted to try to use line infantry tactics to which they failed as everybody else had failed to use line infantry tactics within the Ottoman-held territory. The Wallachians also uprose, but they split into the anti-phanariote faction that wanted the restoration of the old regime in Wallachia and the pro-pan-balkan-revilution faction. Vladimirescu was initially the leader of the Wallachian uprising and was not taking a decisive position amongst these two options. The Austrians also played an important role on sabotaging the rebels, fabricating also a supposed betrayal of Vladimirescu, leading to his execution by his own men. Fochianos, one of Vladimirescu's officers sided with the Ottomans, and others like Diamantis Tzouvaras were convinced to surrender. The Ottomans being in the early stages of the war, they launched an offensive that crushed both uprisings. The Russians did not join the war until 1828 when Tzar became the much rebel-friendly Nikolas. The revolution sparked in many more places, usually in Greece, andany Orthodox peoples of the Balkans joined the side of the rebels. The war was the bloodiest war in the entire history of the Balkans with more than 700k dead, in accordance to the census publications of John Kapodistrias, the accounts of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828, and the estimations made in during the treaties. War crimes were also very commonly committed by both sides, but mostly as reprisals against the rebels or regions that were suspected to soon rebel. The Ottoman war machine collapsed, and between 1826 and 1828 the Old Regime army was transformed into the Army of the Tanzimat Era. The deliler were abolished, the sipahis were transformed into European-like cavalry, and the janissaries were abolished after 10k were executed in 1826. The Ottoman army and state was secularified (i.e., it stopped being a religious body governed by dervishes and kadis) which led to never again achieving a major victory. Greece became a country as a result of the war, and it is considered the oldest country in the Balkans, given Serbia was recognised later, and Turkey is supposed to be a different country than the Ottoman Empire. Initially, the Greek Revolution was a holy war supposedly representing all Orthodox Christians. However, after the death of important non-Greek leaders, the failure of the uprisings in the continental Balkans, and the rise of various ambitious Greek politicians, the war turned also a national uprising, and since 1822 many letters were sent in Europe asking for support. The Battle of Navarino is considered the end of the war, however, the Battle of Petra was the one driving the Ottoman amry out of Greece a year later, where the brothers of Ypsilantis, Dimitrios led the Greek forces to victory. Also, Mahmud II refused to sign any treaties until the general of the Russian army, Zabalkansky, reached Adrianople. The leader of the fleet in Navarino, Edward Codrington was put to trial for treason fot opening fire against the Turks, however, he was declared innocent as it was proven that Ibrahim's men opened fire first (they did not think much about it as it seems). The British did not want Greece to win too much lands so the balance of power would not be disturbed, and also that they could much easier manipulate the politics of the small state of Greece. France was also supporting the British interests, but basically after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, France was a British puppet. Many Greek stubborn generals were assassinated or imprisoned in order to maintain stability of this new political status, and British officers, like Cochrane and Church were placed at the head of the Greek army and fleet. Of course, no word for the other Orthodox nations, as giving them full independence would disturb the balance of power even more, and Russia would get potentially new allies in the Balkans. The revolution actually began 13 days later, because back then they were using the Orthodox calendar, not the Western common calendar.