Greek civil wars of 1824 – 1825 The Greek War of Independence was marked by two civil wars , which took place in 1824 – 1825 . The conflict had both political and regional dimensions , as it pitted the Roumeliots ( the people of Continental Greece ) against the Peloponnesians or Moreots . It divided the young nation , and seriously weakened the military preparedness of the Greek forces in the face of the oncoming Egyptian intervention in the conflict . Background . By the end of March 1821 , the Peloponnese was in open revolt against the Turks and by October 1821 the Greeks under Theodoros Kolokotronis had already captured Kalamata and Tripolitsa . After the fall of Kalamata , the Messenian Senate , the first of the Greeks ' local governing councils , held its inaugural session . At almost the same time , the Achean Directorate was summoned in Patras . With the initiative of the Messenian Senate , a Peloponnesian assembly convened , and elected on May 26 a Senate . Assemblies convened also in Central Greece ( November 1821 ) under the leadership of two Phanariots : Alexandros Mavrokordatos in the western part , and Theodoros Negris in the eastern part . These assemblies adopted two local statutes , the Charter of Western Continental Greece and the Legal Order of Eastern Continental Greece . The statutes provided for the creation of two local administrative organs in Central Greece , an Areopagus in the east , and a Senate in the west . The three local statutes were recognized by the First National Assembly , but were later dissolved by the Second National Assembly . The First National Assembly was formed at Epidaurus in late December 1821 , consisted almost exclusively of Peloponnesian notables . The Assembly composed the first Greek Constitution and appointed the members of an executive and a legislative body that were to govern the liberated territories . Mavrokordatos saved the office of president of the executive for himself , while Ypsilantis , who had called for the Assembly , was elected president of the legislative body , a place of no significance . Military leaders and representative of Filiki Eteria were marginalized , but gradually Kolokotronis ' political influence grew , and he soon managed to control , along with the captains he influenced , the Peloponnesian Senate , which was not dissolved by the National Assembly . The Senate actually governed Peloponnese , while the central government was too weak to exercise its power . Seeing the impasse and the growing power of the Peloponnesian captains , Mavrokordatos and the Hydriots proposed the dissolution of the Senate and its incorporation into the National Assembly . Mavromichalis accepted the proposal , but the military leaders rejected it . After the rejection of the proposal , the central administration tried to marginalize Kolokotronis who controlled the fort of Nafplion . In November 1822 , the central administration promulgated the law for the election of representative for the new National Assembly , but Kolokotronis defied the law , and declared that Peloponnese will organize its own assembly for the elections of the new members of the Senate . First civil war . The provisional government decided that the National Assembly would take place in Nafplio , and asked Kolokotronis to return the fort to the government . Kolokotronis refused , and proposed that the Assembly take place in Nafplion , while the city remained under his control . His stance divided his supporters and weakened him politically . Most of the members of the Peloponnesian Senate obeyed the decisions of the government , and the captains were forced to negotiate their participation in the Assembly . Finally , the Second National Assembly was gathered in March 1823 in Astros . Central governance was strengthened at the expense of regional bodies , a new constitution was voted , and new members were elected for the executive and legislative bodies . Trying to coax the military leaders , the central administration proposed to Kolokotronis to participate in the executive body as vice - president . Kolokotronis accepted , but his actions caused a serious crisis when he prevented Mavrokordatos , who had been elected president of the legislative body , from assuming his position . His attitude towards Mavrokordatos caused the rage of the members of the legislative body , which was controlled by the Roumeliotes and the Hydriots . Both Kolokotronis and his president in the executive , Petros Mavromichalis , were harshly criticized by the members of the legislative body . The crisis culminated when the legislative overturned the executive and dismissed its members . Kolokotronis and most of the Peloponnesian notables and captains supported Mavromichalis , who remained president of his executive in Tripolitsa . However , a second executive , supported by the islanders , the Roumeliotes , some Achaean notables — Andreas Zaimis and Andreas Londos were the most prominent — and others , such as Papaflessas , was formed at Kranidi with Kountouriotis as president . The war started in early March 1824 , when the government asked Panos Kolokotronis to surrender Nafplion . Panos denied and the government decided to besiege the city . In 22 March 1824 , the forces of the new executive besieged Tripolitsa , and after two weeks of fighting an agreement was reached between Kolokotronis , from the one side , and Londos and Zaimis , from the other . The old executive was finally dissolved , and Kolokotronis fled the city . In 22 May the first phase of the civil war officially ended . Most members of the new executive however wanted a complete victory over their opponents , and were thus displeased by the moderate terms of the agreement that Londos and Zaimis brokered . Kolokotronis and Mavromichalis retreated , but they intended to regroup their forces and launch a new offensive . Additionally , Panos Kolokotronis agreed to surrender Nafplion only to Londos and Zaimis , an arrangement which again resulted in the intensification of the mistrust of the government towards the two Achaean notables , who were still allies of the central administration . Second civil war . During this period the two first instalments of the English loan had arrived , an event which strengthened the position of the government ; but the infighting was not yet over . Zaimis and the other Peloponnesians who supported Kountouriotis came into conflict with the executive body when they were excluded from most government posts after the elections of 3 October 1824 . Prominent persons from both sides proposed negotiations and the convening of a new National Assembly , but most members of the executive ( especially Papaflessas and Ioannis Kolettis ) wished the complete subjugation of the Peloponnesians . The military conflict resumed when Kolokotronis roused the residents of Tripolitsa against the local tax collectors of the government . Papaflessas and Yannis Makriyannis failed to suppress the rebellion , which spread throughout the Peloponnese , but neither Kolokotronis nor Londos or Zaimis attempted to occupy Tripolitsa . Kolokotronis remained inactive for some period because of an additional reason : he could not overcome the death of his son , Panos , killed by his opponents . While the Peloponnesians were undecided about their further moves , the government regrouped its armies , which now consisted mainly of Roumeliotes and Souliots , several of whom previously served the Peloponnesians . The plan of the government was implemented by Kolettis , who ordered two bodies of Roumeliotes and Souliots to invade the Peloponnese . In 23 November , the first of these bodies under Gouras occupied Corinth and raided the province . The second body under Georgios Karaiskakis , Kitsos Tzavelas and others , attacked in Achaea Londos and Zaimis , who retreated and then fled to Kalamos . In January 1825 , a Roumeliote force , led by Kolettis himself , raided once again Peloponnese , and arrested Kolokotronis , Deligiannis ' family and others . The next month Mavrokordatos assumed the position of the president of the executive . In May 1825 , under the pressure of the Egyptian intervention of Ibrahim Pasha , those imprisoned were released and granted amnesty .