The French party

One of the foreign parties that developed active action in the political life of Greece in the 19th century was the French. It was introduced during the work of the National Assembly in Astros in 1824. By Ioannis Kolettis and was the occasion for discussions both positive and negative. In modern history the French Party has remained a party of corruption and autocracy. He imposed, as some historical essays claim, a "parliamentary" dictatorship.

Most of what is written about it is inaccurate.

The reason why both the French Party and Ioannis Kolettis came under so much "political attack"? Their attempt to introduce new innovative ideas into the deeply conservative Greek political system.

It cannot be denied that mistakes were made during the rule of the country by the French Party. Many of which are indeed important, but they are not sufficient to characterize a party as a whole as corrupt.

Most of what is written is based on specific points, which were turned into an object of exploitation by those who were offended by the reforms that the French Party had announced and the principles on which it was founded.

The newly established Greek state was controlled by specific families and interest groups. Groups which the French Party affected with the policy it wished to implement. But apart from the interests with which he necessarily had to clash, he found himself in confrontation with the King's attempt to remove from the "political" scene those politicians who he believed could endanger his power.

This combination contributed not only to the removal of Colettis from power but at the same time to him remaining in history as the "corrupt" and arrogant politician. The majority of historical sources conceal not only the principles of the French Party but also the contribution of this particular politician to the liberation of Greece during the Greek Revolution.

The French Party adopted certain conceptions which either willfully or unwittingly became identified with certain socialist ideas.

First of all, Coletti's party was based on the principles of the French Revolution. This is where the name of the party came from, as well as the majority of the positions that characterized it. Its radical character was therefore based on the uprising of the people of France in 1789.

The goal of granting a Constitution by the King, in which certain individual and social rights would be included, just as had happened in France, was directed in this direction. Given that the King had the support of the Great Powers it was impossible to support the despotic republic. This was also one of the factors that cannot make him a socialist leader. As the most basic principle of the socialist ideology is the defense and continuous improvement of the democratic state.

But this fact did not prevent him from maintaining contacts with radical organizations in France, such as the Sensimonists. The latter had been persecuted by the French government for their ideas and had been invited to Greece by Ioannis Kolettis.

The latter had common understandings with them on many issues. The French Party supported the redistribution of national lands but also the abolition of large farms. He wanted the abolition of Greek feudalism. A principle that we find both in the principles of utopian socialism and later in the Marxist ones from 1840 onwards, which can give the French Party some "early" socialist characteristics as the Greek prime minister acted long before Marx.