The Citadel, Corfu The Island of Corfu, in the Ionian Sea, fell into the hands of the French in 1766, on the overthrow of hte Venetian Republic, to which it had been attached since 1386. In 1799, it was re-taken by the combined squadrons of Russia and Turkey, and in 1800 the Emperor Paul declared the Ionian Islands, a seperate State under the protection of Turkey. But Nelson foresaw that Napoleon would endavour to regain them as stepping-stones to the East: and during his Mediterranean command was much troubled by the privateering which went on here unchecked, through fear of Napoleon. The islands were, in fact restored to France by the Treaty of Tilsit 1807; but all except Corfu fell to a British squadron in 1810. Corfu was blockaded; and in 1815 by the Treaty of Paris, both it and the other Ionian Islands were again declared a free and independent State; this time however, under he protection of Great Britain. They were ceded to Greece in 1864.