Editing Peloponnese (section)

===Modern Greece===
{{See also|Greek War of Independence}}
[[File:Navarino.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Navarino]], in October 1827, marked the effective end of Ottoman rule in Greece.]]
[[File:20090728 palamidi96.jpg|thumb|Panoramic view of [[Nafplion]], the first capital of modern Greece]]
[[File:Antirio F28-18.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Rio–Antirrio bridge]], completed in 2004, links the western Peloponnese with mainland Greece.]]
[[File:Monemvasia - Rock.jpg|thumb|The rock of [[Monemvasia]]]]

The Peloponnesians played a major role in the [[Greek War of Independence]] – the war began in the Peloponnese, when rebels took control of [[Kalamata]] on March 23, 1821. After the arrival of Ypsilantis's emissaries, local people rose under the leadership of [[Petros Mavromichalis|Mavromichalis]]. Greek and [[Albanians|Albanian]] insurgents organised in units of armed civilians took control of most of the fortresses.<ref name="Isabella 2023 p. 129">{{cite book | last=Isabella | first=Maurizio | title=Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2023 | page=129}}</ref> The Greek insurgents made rapid progress and the entire peninsula was under Greek control within a few months, except for a few coastal forts and the main Turkish garrison at [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripolitsa]].<ref name="Clogg2002">{{cite book|author=Richard Clogg|title=A Concise History of Greece|pages=35–42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5pyUIY4THYC|date=20 June 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-00479-4}}</ref> The fighting was fierce and marked by atrocities on both sides; eventually the entire Muslim population was either massacred or fled to the forts. The [[Siege of Tripolitsa|capture of Tripolitsa]] in September 1821 marked a turning point. Short of men and money, the Ottoman state turned to hiring Albanian tribesmen to fight the Greeks, and by 1823, the bulk of the Ottoman forces in Greece were Albanian mercenaries hired for a campaigning season rather than the Ottoman Army.<ref name="Brewer2003">{{cite book|first=David|last=Brewer|year=2003|orig-date=2001|title=The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation|page=188|publisher=Overlook Press|isbn=1585673951}}</ref> Rivalries among the insurgents eventually erupted into civil war in 1824, which enabled the Ottoman Egyptian vassal [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt|Ibrahim Pasha]] to land in the peninsula in 1825.<ref name="Clogg2002"/>

The Peloponnese peninsula was the scene of fierce fighting and extensive devastation following the arrival of Ibrahim's Egyptian troops. Partly as a result of the atrocities committed by Ibrahim, the UK, France, and the Russian Empire decided to intervene in favor of the Greeks. The decisive naval [[Battle of Navarino]] was fought in 1827 off Pylos on the west coast of the Peloponnese, where a combined British, French and Russian fleet decisively defeated the Turko-Egyptian fleet.<ref name="Clogg2002"/> Subsequently, a [[Morea expedition|French expeditionary corps]] cleared the last Turko-Egyptian forces from the peninsula in 1828. The city of Nafplion, on the east coast of the peninsula, became the first capital of the [[First Hellenic Republic|independent Greek state]]. By the conclusion of the war, the entire Muslim population of the newly independent Greek state, including the Peloponnese, had been exterminated or had fled.<ref>William St Clair, That Greece Might Still Be Free, Open Book Publishers, 2008, p.104-107 [https://books.google.com/books?id=NphFnF2RRKUC&dq=greeks+killed+turks&pg=PA104 ebook]</ref>

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the region became relatively poor and economically isolated. A significant part of its population emigrated to the larger cities of Greece, especially [[Athens]], and other countries such as the United States and Australia. It was badly affected by the Second World War and [[Greek Civil War]], experiencing some of the worst atrocities committed in Greece during those conflicts. Living standards improved dramatically throughout Greece after the country accedes to the [[European Union]] in 1981.

The [[Corinth Canal]] was completed in the late 19th century, linking the Aegean Sea with the Gulf of Corinth and the Ionian. In 2001, the [[Rio-Antirio Bridge]] was completed, linking the western Peloponnese to western Greece. In late August 2007, large parts of Peloponnese [[2007 Greek forest fires|suffered from wildfires]], which caused severe damage in villages and forests and the death of 77 people. The impact of the fires to the environment and economy of the region are still unknown. It is thought to be one of the largest environmental disasters in modern Greek history.