Editing Ithaca (island) (section)

===French era===
[[File:Port Bathy and Capital of Ithaca.jpg|thumb|left|Ithaca by [[Edward Dodwell]] (1821).]]

A few years after the [[French Revolution]], the Ionian area came under the rule of the [[First French Republic]] (1797–1798), and the island became the honorary capital of the [[French departments of Greece|French ''département'']] of [[Ithaque]], comprising Cephalonia, Lefkada, and part of the mainland (the prefecture was at [[Argostoli]] on Kefalonia).

[[File:Flag of the Septinsular Republic.svg|thumb|Flag of the [[Septinsular Republic]]]]
The population welcomed the French, who took care in the control of the administrative and judicial systems, but later the heavy taxation they demanded caused a feeling of indignation among the people. During this short historical period, the new ideas of system and social structure greatly influenced the inhabitants of the island. At the end of 1798, the French were succeeded by [[Russian Empire|Russia]] and Turkey (1798–1807), which were allies at that time. Corfu became the capital of the [[Septinsular Republic]], and the form of government was democratic, with a fourteen-member senate in which Ithaca had one representative.

The Ithacan fleet flourished when it was allowed to carry cargo up to the ports of the [[Black Sea]]. In 1807, according to the [[Treaties of Tilsit]] with Turkey, the Ionian Islands once again came under French rule (1807–1809 AD). The French quickly began preparing to face the British fleet, which had become very powerful, by building a fort in Vathy.