Venizelos was born and brought up in Crete under Ottoman rule, and the island shaped his early career. The author gives an account of Ottoman government of Crete in the 19th century, and how Greek independence attracted the Cretans. Crete's mixed populations of Christians and Muslims developed at different speeds. Uprisings by Christians in 1821, 1866 and later aimed at securing Crete's union (enosis) with Greece. The Great Powers, especially Britain, France, and Russia, had helped secure Greek independence, while delaying Cretan union, so as to preserve the integrity of the Ottoman empire. This was the Cretan Question, part of the wider Eastern Question. The 19th century saw the development of the Great Idea (megali idea) of incorporating in the Greek kingdom as many Greek communities from outside as possible. Civil society was developing in Crete in the second half of the19th century, and as the Cretan Christians increased in wealth and population, the Muslims were largely left behind.
