Editing Crete (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Crete}}
[[File:AMI - Stierrhyton.jpg|thumb|250px|Minoan [[rhyton]] in the form of a bull, [[Heraklion Archaeological Museum]]]]
[[File:Minoan fresco depicting a bull leaping scene, found in Knossos, 1600-1400 BC, Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete (30547636456).jpg|alt=|thumb|250px|Minoan fresco from [[Knossos]], [[Heraklion Archaeological Museum]]]]
[[File:Knossos Westbastion 05.jpg|250px|alt=|thumb|[[Minoan palace]] of [[Knossos]]]]

In the later Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, under the Minoans, Crete had a highly developed, literate civilization. It has been ruled by various ancient Greek entities, the [[Roman Empire]], the [[Byzantine Empire]], the [[Emirate of Crete]], the [[Republic of Venice]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. After a brief period of independence (1897–1913) under a provisional Cretan government, it joined the Kingdom of Greece. It was occupied by [[Nazi Germany]] during the [[Second World War]].

===Prehistory===
{{Main|Prehistoric Crete}}
Stone tools suggest that [[archaic humans]] may have visited Crete as early as 130,000 years ago, but there is no evidence of permanent settlement of the island until the [[Neolithic]], around 7,000 BCE.<ref>{{Citation |last=Day |first=Jo |title=Crete, Archaeology of |date=2018 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_1434-2 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology |pages=1–18 |access-date=2023-05-08 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_1434-2 |isbn=978-3-319-51726-1}}</ref> Settlements dating to the [[aceramic]] Neolithic in the 7th millennium BC, used [[cattle]], [[Domestic sheep|sheep]], [[Domestic goat|goat]]s, [[pig]]s and [[dog]]s as well as domesticated [[cereal]]s and [[legume]]s; ancient [[Knossos]] was the site of one of these major Neolithic (then later Minoan) sites.<ref>C. Michael Hogan. 2007 [http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes Knossos fieldnotes] The Modern Antiquarian</ref> Other neolithic settlements include those at [[Kephala]], [[Magasa, Crete|Magasa]], and [[Trapeza, Crete|Trapeza]].

===Minoan civilization===
{{Main|Minoan civilization}}

During the [[Bronze Age]], Crete was the centre of the [[Minoan culture|Minoan civilization]], notable for its [[Minoan art|art]], its writing systems such as [[Linear A]], and for its massive building complexes including the palace at [[Knossos]]. Its economy benefited from a network of trade around much of the [[Mediterranean]], and Minoan cultural influence extended to [[Cyprus]], [[Canaan]], and [[Egypt]]. Some scholars have speculated that [[Greek mythology|legends]] such as that of the [[minotaur]] have a historical basis in Minoan times.

===Mycenaean civilization===
{{Main|Mycenaean Greece}}
In 1420&nbsp;BC, the Minoan civilization was subsumed by the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean civilization]] from mainland Greece. The oldest samples of writing in the Greek language, as identified by [[Michael Ventris]], is the Linear B archive from Knossos, dated approximately to 1425–1375&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web|first=Cynthia|last=Shelmerdine|title=Where Do We Go From Here? And How Can the Linear B Tablets Help Us Get There?|url=http://www2.ulg.ac.be/archgrec/IMG/aegeum/aegaeum18(pdf)/34%20Shelmerdine.pdf|access-date=27 March 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003195005/http://www2.ulg.ac.be/archgrec/IMG/aegeum/aegaeum18%28pdf%29/34%20Shelmerdine.pdf|archive-date=3 October 2011}}</ref>

=== Archaic and Classical period ===

After the [[Bronze Age collapse]], Crete was settled by new waves of Greeks from the mainland. A number of city states developed in the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]]. There was limited contact with mainland Greece, and [[Greek historiography]] shows little interest in Crete, as a result, there are few literary sources.

During the 6th to 4th centuries BC, Crete was comparatively free from warfare. The [[Gortyn code]] (5th century BC) is evidence for how codified [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] established a balance between aristocratic power and civil rights.

In the late 4th century BC, the aristocratic order began to collapse due to endemic infighting among the elite, and Crete's economy was weakened by prolonged wars between city states. During the 3rd century BC, [[Gortyn]], Kydonia ([[Chania]]), [[Lyctus|Lyttos]] and [[Polyrrhenia]] challenged the primacy of ancient Knossos.

While the cities continued to prey upon one another, they invited into their feuds mainland powers like [[Macedon]] and its rivals [[Rhodes]] and [[Ptolemaic Egypt]]. In 220 BC the island was tormented by a [[Lyttian War|war between two opposing coalitions of cities]]. As a result, the Macedonian king [[Philip V of Macedon|Philip V]] gained [[hegemony]] over Crete which lasted to the end of the [[Cretan War (205–200 BC)]], when the [[Rhodes|Rhodians]] opposed the rise of Macedon and the [[Roman Republic|Romans]] started to interfere in Cretan affairs.

In the 2nd century BC Ierapytna ([[Ierapetra]]) gained supremacy on eastern Crete.

===Roman rule===
{{Main|Crete and Cyrenaica}}
Crete was involved in the [[Mithridatic Wars]], initially repelling an attack by Roman general [[Marcus Antonius Creticus]] in 71&nbsp;BC. Nevertheless, a ferocious three-year campaign soon followed under [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus (died 55&nbsp;BC)|Quintus Caecilius Metellus]], equipped with three legions. Crete was conquered by Rome in 69&nbsp;BC, earning for Metellus the title "''Creticus''". [[Gortyn]] was made capital of the island, and Crete became a Roman province, along with [[Cyrenaica]] that was called [[Creta et Cyrenaica]]. Archaeological remains suggest that Crete under Roman rule witnessed prosperity and increased connectivity with other parts of the Empire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jane Francis and Anna Kouremenos |title=Roman Crete: New Perspectives |date=2016 |publisher=Oxbow |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1785700958}}</ref> In the 2nd century AD, at least three cities in Crete (Lyttos, Gortyn, Hierapytna) joined the [[Panhellenion]], a league of Greek cities founded by the emperor [[Hadrian]]. When [[Diocletian]] redivided the Empire, Crete was placed, along with Cyrene, under the [[diocese of Moesia]], and later by [[Constantine I]] to the [[diocese of Macedonia]].

===Byzantine Empire – first period===
{{Main|Byzantine Crete}}

[[File:Crete MoniArkadiou1 tango7174.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Arkadi Monastery]]]]

Crete was separated from Cyrenaica {{circa|297}}. It remained a province within the eastern half of the Roman Empire, usually referred to as the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire after the establishment of a second capital in Constantinople by Constantine in 330. Crete was subjected to an attack by [[Vandals]] in 467, the great earthquakes of [[365 Crete earthquake|365]] and 415, a raid by [[Slavs]] in 623, Arab raids in 654 and the 670s, and again in the 8th century. In {{circa|732}}, the Emperor [[Leo III the Isaurian]] transferred the island from the jurisdiction of the [[Pope]] to that of the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]].{{sfn|Gregory|Kazhdan|1991|p=546}}

===Arab rule===

{{Main|Emirate of Crete}}

[[File:The Cretan Saracens defeat the Byzantines under Damianos.jpg|thumb|250px|The Byzantines, under the general Damian, attacked Crete but were defeated by the Saracens, {{circa|828}}, as depicted by [[John Skylitzes|Ioannes Scylitzes]] (see [[Skylitzes Chronicle]]).]]

In the 820s, after 900 years as a Roman island, Crete was captured by Andalusian [[Muwallad]]s led by [[Abu Hafs (pirate)|Abu Hafs]],<ref name="Iberia">Reinhart Dozy, ''Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne: jusqu'à la conquête de l'Andalousie par les Almoravides'' (French) pg. 711–1110, Leiden, 1861 & 1881, 2nd edition</ref> who established the [[Emirate of Crete]]. The Byzantines launched a campaign that took most of the island back in 842 and 843 under [[Theoktistos]]. Further Byzantine campaigns in 911 and 949 failed. In 960–61, [[Nikephoros II|Nikephoros Phokas]]' [[Siege of Chandax|campaign]] restored Crete to the Byzantine Empire, after a century and a half of Arab control.

===Byzantine Empire – second period===
{{Main|Byzantine Crete}}

In 961, [[Nikephoros II Phokas|Nikephoros Phokas]] returned the island to Byzantine rule after expelling the Arabs.{{sfn|Panagiotakis|1987|p=XVI}} Extensive efforts at conversion of the populace were undertaken, led by [[John Xenos]] and [[Nikon the Metanoeite|Nikon "the Metanoeite"]].{{sfn|Gregory|Kazhdan|1991|pp=545–546}}{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=495}} The reconquest of Crete was a major achievement for the Byzantines, as it restored Byzantine control over the Aegean littoral and diminished the threat of [[Saracen]] pirates, for which Crete had provided a base of operations.

In 1204, the [[Fourth Crusade]] seized and sacked the imperial capital of [[Constantinople]]. Crete was initially granted to leading Crusader [[Boniface of Montferrat]]{{sfn|Panagiotakis|1987|p=XVI}} in the partition of spoils that followed. However, Boniface sold his claim to the [[Republic of Venice]],{{sfn|Panagiotakis|1987|p=XVI}} whose forces made up the majority of the Crusade. Venice's rival the [[Republic of Genoa]] immediately seized the island and it was not until 1212 that Venice secured Crete as a colony.

===Venetian rule===
{{Main|Kingdom of Candia}}

[[File:I Creta - Buondelmonti Cristoforo - 1420.jpg|thumb|250px|right|upright|Fifteenth century map by [[Cristoforo Buondelmonti|Buondelmonti]].]]

From 1212, during [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]'s rule, which lasted more than four centuries, a [[Renaissance]] swept through the island as is evident from the artistic works dating to that period. Known as [[The Cretan School]] or [[Post-Byzantine Art]], it is among the last flowerings of the artistic traditions of the fallen empire. This included the painter [[El Greco]] and the writers [[Nicholas Kalliakis]] (1645–1707), [[Georgios Kalafatis (professor)]] ({{circa|1652}}–1720), [[Andreas Musalus]] ({{circa|1665}}–1721) and [[Vitsentzos Kornaros]].<ref>{{Cite book|author1=Tiepolo, Maria Francesca |author2=Tonetti, Eurigio |title=I greci a Venezia| publisher=Istituto veneto di scienze|year=2002|page=201|isbn=978-88-88143-07-1 |quote= Cretese Nikolaos Kalliakis}}</ref><ref name=" Boehm, Eric H. 1995 755 ">{{cite book | author= Boehm, Eric H. |title= Historical abstracts: Modern history abstracts, 1450–1914, Volume 46, Issues 3–4 |publisher= American Bibliographical Center of ABC-Clio |year= 1995 |page=755 |oclc= 701679973 |quote= Between the 15th and 19th centuries the University of Padua attracted a great number of Greek students who wanted to study medicine. They came not only from Venetian dominions (where the percentage reaches 97% of the students of Italian universities) but also from Turkish-occupied territories of Greece. Several professors of the School of Medicine and Philosophy were Greeks, including Giovanni Cottunio, Niccolò Calliachi, Giorgio Calafatti... }}</ref><ref name=" Accademia nazionale dei Lincei 1977 429 ">{{cite book |title=Convegno internazionale nuove idee e nuova arte nell '700 italiano, Roma, 19–23 maggio 1975 |publisher=Accademia nazionale dei Lincei |year=1977 |page=429 |oclc= 4666566 |quote= Nicolò Duodo riuniva alcuni pensatori ai quali Andrea Musalo, oriundo greco, professore di matematica e dilettante di architettura chiariva le nuove idée nella storia dell’arte.}}</ref>

[[File:Bell tower of church Megali Panagia -2.jpg|thumb|right|250px|View of the Old Venetian Town of [[Rethymno]].]]

[[File:Kreta - Iraklion - Venezianische Loggia.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Venetian Loggia, [[Heraklion]].]]

Under the rule of the Catholic [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]], the city of [[Heraklion|Candia]] was reputed to be the best fortified city of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]].<ref name="Greene">M. Greene. 2001. Ruling an island without a navy: A comparative view of Venetian and Ottoman Crete. ''Oriente moderno'', 20(81), 193–207</ref> The three main forts were located at [[Gramvousa]], [[Spinalonga]], and [[Fortezza Castle|Fortezza]] at Rethymnon. Other fortifications include the [[Kazarma fortress]] at Sitia and [[Frangokastello]] in Sfakia.

[[File:Aerial view of the Old Venetian Harbour in Chania, Greece.jpg|thumb|right|250px|View of the Old Venetian Harbour of [[Chania]].]]

In 1492, Jews expelled from Spain settled on the island.<ref>A.J. Schoenfeld. 2007. Immigration and Assimilation in the Jewish Community of Late Venetian Crete (15th–17th centuries). ''Journal of Modern Greek Studies'', 25(1), 1–15</ref> In 1574–77, Crete was under the rule of [[Giacomo Foscarini]] as Proveditor General, Sindace and [[Inquisitor]]. According to Starr's 1942 article, the rule of Giacomo Foscarini was a Dark Age for Jews and Greeks. Under his rule, non-Catholics had to pay high taxes with no allowances. In 1627, there were 800 Jews in the city of Candia, about seven percent of the city's population.<ref>Starr, J. (1942), Jewish Life in Crete Under the Rule of Venice, ''Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research'', Vol. 12, pp. 59–114.</ref> [[Marco Foscarini]] was the Doge of Venice during this time.

===Ottoman rule===
{{Main|Ottoman Crete|Cretan Turks|Cretan Revolt (1866–1869)}}

[[File:Vue du siege de Candie en 1669.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Siege of Candia]], regarded as one of the longest sieges in history, lasted from 1648 to 1669.]]
[[File:A-3-37-68-Crete.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Nicolas Sanson]]. Crete in 1651]]
[[File:Crete - ethnic map, 1861.jpg|thumb|250px|Ethnic makeup of the island in 1861 {{legend|#4b8ab2|[[Greek Orthodox]]}} {{legend|#b43a3e|[[Cretan Muslim]]/[[Turkish people|Turkish]]}}]]
[[File:Mosquée Kara Musa Pasha.JPG|thumb|250px|[[Kara Musa Pasha]] mosque, [[Rethymno]]]]

The Ottomans [[Cretan War (1645–1669)|conquered Crete]] (Girit Eyâleti) in 1669, after the [[siege of Candia]] with the last Venetian strongholds off Crete falling in the last [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718)|Ottoman–Venetian War]] in 1715. Many Greek Cretans fled to other regions of the [[Republic of Venice]] after the [[Ottoman–Venetian Wars]], some even prospering such as the family of [[Simone Stratigo]] (c. 1733 – c. 1824) who migrated to [[Dalmatia]] from Crete in 1669.<ref name="Carlo Capra, Franco Della Peruta, Fernando Mazzocca 2002 pp.200">{{cite book |last1=Capra |first1=Carlo |title=Napoleone e la repubblica italiana: 1802–1805 |last2=Peruta |first2=Franco Della |last3=Mazzocca |first3=Fernando |publisher=Skira |year=2002 |isbn=978-88-8491-415-6 |location=Milan |page=200 |language=it |trans-title=Napoleon and the Italian Republic: 1802–1805 |quote=Simone Stratico, nato a Zara nel 1733 da famiglia originaria di Creta (abbandonata a seguito della conquista turca del 1669)}}</ref>

[[Islamic]] presence on the island, aside from the interlude of the [[Emirate of Crete|Arab occupation]], was cemented by the [[Ottoman wars in Europe|Ottoman conquest]]. Most [[Cretan Muslims]] were local Greek converts who spoke Cretan [[Greek language|Greek]], but in the island's 19th-century political context they came to be viewed by the Christian population as Turks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Tziovas |first=Dimitris |title=Greece and the Balkans: Identities, Perceptions and Cultural Encounters Since the Enlightenment |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7546-0998-8 |location=London }}</ref>{{pages needed|date=November 2024}} Contemporary estimates vary, but in 1830, as much as 45% of the population of the island may have been Muslim.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Yale |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.537153 |title=The Near East: A Modern History |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1958 |location=Ann Arbor |pages=129–145 |chapter=IX: Trouble in Crete and the Balkans |lccn=58-62524 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> A number of [[Sufi]] orders were widespread throughout the island, the [[Bektashi]] order being the most prevalent,<ref name="Morrow2019–28">{{Cite book |last=Morrow |first=John Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LTWEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 |title=Finding W. D. Fard: Unveiling the Identity of the Founder of the Nation of Islam |date=2019 |publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-5275-2489-7 |page=28 |language=en |quote=...Cretan Muslims used Greek to express their Bektashi Islamic sentiment. After all, Islam in Crete was profoundly influenced by the Bektahi Sufi Order.}}</ref> possessing at least five [[tekkes]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} Many Cretan Muslims fled Crete because of sectarian violence, settling in Turkey, Rhodes, Syria, Libya and elsewhere.<ref name="Ionian">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Michael Llewellyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4OuoSFztt8C&pg=RA1-PA86 |title=Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919–1922 |date=1998 |publisher=Hurst |isbn=978-1-85065-368-4 |pages=87–88}}</ref> By 1900, 11% of the population was Muslim. Those remaining were relocated in the 1924 [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]].<ref name=":0" />{{pages needed|date=November 2024}}

During the [[Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)]], a revolt against Ottoman rule in Crete was started by [[Daskalogiannis]], a shipowner from [[Sfakia]] who was promised support by the Russian navy which never arrived. Daskalogiannis eventually surrendered to the Ottoman authorities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Detorakis |first=Theocharis |title=Κρήτη: Ιστορία καί Πολιτισμός |publisher=Vikelea Municipial Library |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-00-797002-5 |editor-last=Panagiotakis |editor-first=Nikolaos M. |volume=II |location=Heraklion |pages=333–436 |language=Greek |trans-title=Crete: History and Culture |chapter=Η Τουρκοκρατία στην Κρήτη |trans-chapter=Turkish Rule in Crete}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/31933094/Dictionary-of-Wars |title=Dictionary of Wars |publisher=Infobase |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4381-2916-7 |editor-last=Kohn |editor-first=George C. |edition=3rd |location=New York |pages=155 |access-date=2024-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109192640/http://www.scribd.com/doc/31933094/Dictionary-of-Wars |archive-date=2013-11-09 |via=Scribd}}</ref> On 17 June 1771 Daskalogiannis was, in the full daylight of publicity, tortured, skinned alive and then beaten to death, an ordeal that he endured in complete silence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Papoutsakis |first=Niko |date=2001-05-22 |title=Daskalogiannis: Skinned Alive by the Turks |url=http://stigmes.gr/br/brpages/articles/daskalogiannis.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010522034644/http://stigmes.gr/br/brpages/articles/daskalogiannis.htm |archive-date=2001-05-22 |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=Stigmes Online}}</ref> Today, [[Chania International Airport]] is named after him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hatzipanagos |first=George |title=Ioannis Daskalogiannis International Airport |url=http://www.hcaa-eleng.gr/hania.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217165602/http://hcaa-eleng.gr/hania.htm |archive-date=17 December 2010 |access-date=28 December 2010 |website=Greek Airports |publisher=[[Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority]]}}</ref>

During the [[Greek War of Independence]], Sultan [[Mahmud II]] granted rule over Crete to Egypt's ''de facto'' ruler [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]] in exchange for his military support. Crete was subsequently left out of the new Greek state established under the [[London Protocol of 1830]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dodwell |first=Henry |url=https://archive.org/details/founderofmoderne0000dodw |title=The Founder of Modern Egypt: A Study of Muhammad Ali |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1967 |edition=2nd |pages=242–258 |chapter=VIII: Muhammad Ali's Government in Crete and Syria |isbn=978-0-404-12036-8 |lccn=31-22265 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Its administration by Muhammad Ali was confirmed in the [[Convention of Kütahya]] of 1833, but direct Ottoman rule was re-established by the [[Convention of London (1840)|Convention of London]] of 3 July 1840.<ref name=":1" />

Heraklion was surrounded by high walls and bastions and extended westward and southward by the 17th century. The most opulent area of the city was the northeastern quadrant where the elite were gathered. The city had received another name under the rule of the Ottomans, "the deserted city" following its destruction after the [[Siege of Candia]]. The urban policy that the Ottoman applied to Candia was a two-pronged approach.<ref name="Greene"/> The first was the religious endowments. It made the Ottoman elite contribute to building and rehabilitating the ruined city. The other method was to boost the population and the urban revenue by selling off urban properties. According to Molly Greene (2001) there were numerous records of [[real-estate]] transactions during the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule. In the deserted city, minorities received equal rights in purchasing property. Christians and Jews were also able to buy and sell in the real-estate market.

The [[Cretan Revolt (1866–69)|Cretan Revolt of 1866–1869]] or Great Cretan Revolution ({{langx|el|links=no|Κρητική Επανάσταση του 1866}}) was a three-year uprising against Ottoman rule, the third and largest in a series of revolts between the end of the Greek War of Independence in 1830 and the establishment of the independent Cretan State in 1898. A particular event which caused strong reactions among the liberal circles of western Europe was the ''Holocaust of Arkadi''. The event occurred in November 1866, as a large Ottoman force besieged the [[Arkadi Monastery]], which served as the headquarters of the rebellion. In addition to its 259 defenders, over 700 women and children had taken refuge in the monastery. After a few days of hard fighting, the Ottomans broke into the monastery. At that point, under orders from the [[hegumen]] (abbot) of the monastery, the Cretans blew up barrels of gunpowder, choosing to sacrifice themselves rather than surrender. The subsequent explosion resulted the death of most of the rebels and the women and children sheltered there.<ref name="Provatakis75">{{harvp|Provatakis|1980|p=75}}</ref> Thirty-six insurgents had found refuge in the refectory, near the ammunitions. Discovered by the Ottomans, who forced the door, they were massacred.<ref name="Provatakis75"/>

===Cretan State and union with Greece===
{{Main|Cretan State|Theriso revolt|Candia massacre|International Squadron (Cretan intervention, 1897–1898)}}
[[File:Revolutionnaires therissos.jpg|thumb|250px|Revolutionaries at [[Theriso]]]]

Following the repeated uprisings in 1841, 1858, 1889, 1895 and 1897 by the Cretan people, who wanted to join Greece, the [[Great powers#History|Great Powers]] decided to restore order and in February 1897 sent in troops. The island was subsequently garrisoned by troops from Great Britain, France, Italy and Russia; Germany and Austro-Hungary withdrawing from the occupation in early 1898. During this period Crete was governed through a committee of admirals from the remaining four Powers. In March 1898 the Powers decreed, with the reluctant consent of the Sultan, that the island would be granted autonomy under Ottoman [[suzerainty]] in the near future.<ref>Pinar Senisik, ''The Transformation of Ottoman Crete, Revolts, Politics and Identity in the Late Nineteenth century'' p. 165. I. B. Tauris, 2011.</ref>

In September 1898 the [[Candia massacre]] in Candia, modern Heraklion, left over 500 Cretan Christians and 14 British servicemen dead at the hands of Muslim irregulars. As a result, the Admirals ordered the expulsion of all Ottoman troops and administrators from the island, a move that was ultimately completed by early November. The decision to grant autonomy to the island was enforced and a High Commissioner, [[Prince George of Greece]], appointed, arriving to take up his post in December 1898.<ref name=Holland>Robert Holland and Diane Markides, ''The British and the Hellenes: Struggles for Mastery in the Eastern Mediterranean 1850–1960''. p. 81. Oxford University Press, 2005.</ref> The flag of the [[Cretan State]] was chosen by the Powers, with the white star representing the Ottoman suzerainty over the island.

[[File:Flag of Cretan State.svg|thumb|250px|Flag of Cretan State]]

In 1905, disagreements between Prince George and minister Eleftherios Venizelos over the question of the ''[[enosis]]'' (union with Greece), such as the Prince's autocratic style of government, resulted in the [[Theriso revolt]], one of the leaders being [[Eleftherios Venizelos]].

Prince George resigned as High Commissioner and was replaced by [[Alexandros Zaimis]], a former Greek prime minister, in 1906. In 1908, taking advantage of domestic turmoil in Turkey as well as the timing of Zaimis's vacation away from the island, the Cretan deputies unilaterally declared union with Greece.

With the outbreak of the [[First Balkan War]], the Greek government declared that Crete was now Greek territory. This was not recognised internationally until 1 December 1913.<ref name=Holland/>

===Second World War===

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 141-0864, Kreta, Landung von Fallschirmjägern.jpg|thumb|250px|German paratroopers landing on Crete during the [[Battle of Crete]]]]
[[File:Kandanos Mahnmal.jpg|thumb|250px|War memorial in [[Kandanos]]]]
{{Main|Battle of Crete|Cretan resistance}}

During World War II, the island was the scene of the [[Battle of Crete]] in May 1941. The initial 11-day battle was bloody and left more than 11,000 soldiers and civilians killed or wounded. As a result of the fierce resistance from both Allied forces and civilian Cretan locals, the invasion force suffered heavy casualties, and [[Adolf Hitler]] forbade further large-scale [[paratroop]] operations for the rest of the war.

During the initial and subsequent occupation, German firing squads routinely executed male civilians in reprisal for the death of German soldiers; civilians were rounded up randomly in local villages for the mass killings, such as at the [[Massacre of Kondomari]] and the [[Viannos massacres]]. Two German generals were later tried and executed for their roles in the killing of 3,000 of the island's inhabitants.<ref>[http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/warcrimgenrls.htm "Some Noteworthy War Criminals"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401143013/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/warcrimgenrls.htm |date=1 April 2012 }}, Source: ''History of the United Nations War Crimes Commission and the Development of the Laws of War'', United Nations War Crimes Commission. London: HMSO, 1948, p. 526, updated 29 January 2007 by Stuart Stein (University of the West of England), accessed 22 January 2010</ref>

Following the collapse of fronts elsewhere in Europe, German forces evacuated most of Crete in October 1944 leaving an area including Chania under occupation. The following year the day after [[VE Day]] the remaining Germans under Generalmajor [[Hans-Georg Benthack]] surrendered at [[Knossos]] to British Major-General [[Colin Callander]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Crete: The Battle and the Resistance |first=Antony |last=Beevor |author-link=Antony Beevor |page=176 |publisher=John Murray |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7195-6831-2}}</ref>

===Civil War===
In the aftermath of the [[Dekemvriana]] in Athens, Cretan leftists were targeted by the right-wing paramilitary organization National Organization of Rethymno (EOR), which engaged in attacks in the villages of Koxare and Melampes, as well as Rethymno in January 1945. Those attacks did not escalate into a full-scale insurgency as they did in the Greek mainland and the Cretan [[ELAS]] did not surrender its weapons after the [[Treaty of Varkiza]]. An uneasy truce was maintained until 1947, with a series of arrests of notable communists in Chania and Heraklion. Encouraged by orders from the central organization in Athens, KKE launched an insurgency in Crete; marking the beginning of the [[Greek Civil War]] on the island. In eastern Crete the [[Democratic Army of Greece]] (DSE) struggled to establish its presence in [[Dikti]] and [[Psilorites]]. On 1 July 1947, the surviving 55 fighters of DSE were ambushed south of Psilorites, the few surviving members of the unit managed to join the rest of DSE in [[Lefka Ori]].{{sfn|Margaritis|2006|pp=441–447}}

The [[Lefka Ori]] region in the west offered more favourable conditions for DSE's insurgency. In the summer of 1947 DSE raided and looted the [[Maleme Airport]] and motor depot at Chrysopigi. Its numbers swelled to approximately 300 fighters. The rise of DSE numbers compounded with crop failure on the island created serious logistical issues for the insurgents. The communists resorted to [[Cattle raiding|cattle rustling]] and crop confiscations which solved the problem only temporarily. In the autumn of 1947, the Greek government offered generous amnesty terms to Cretan DSE fighters and mountain bandits, many of whom opted to abandon armed struggle or defect to the nationalists. On 4 July 1948, government troops launched a large scale offensive on [[Samariá Gorge]]. Many DSE soldiers were killed in the fighting while the survivors broke into small armed bands. In October 1948, the secretary of the Cretan KKE Giorgos Tsitilos was killed in an ambush. By the following month only 34 DSE fighters remained active in Lefka Ori. The insurgency in Crete gradually withered away, with the last two hold outs surrendering in 1974, 25 years after the conclusion of the war in mainland Greece.{{sfn|Margaritis|2006|pp=447–452}}