The Greek Liberation of Crete was a short war waged by the Kingdom of Greece, which recently gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, against the Egypt, which at the time was experiencing a civil war between pro-Ottoman forces and the Mamluk army. Taking advantage of the chaos, Greece declared war on Egypt in 1839 to liberate the largely ethnic Greek island of Crete, which was part of Egypt at the time. They landed troops and quickly occupied the island, but the Royal Hellenic Navy was defeated in a naval battle by the numerically superior Egyptian fleet. However, as Greece built up its navy and Egypt was unable to deploy troops to Crete due to internal trouble, they were forced to capitulate to the Greek government's demands in 1840.
The campaign was overseen by Admiral Augustinos Kondylis, the commander-in-chief of the Greek navy, and General Charilaos Kolokotronis, the commander of the Army of Epirus. The success of the war, with the exception of the Egyptian victory in the Battle of the Sea of Crete, was credited largely to their abilities and work in coordination between the land and naval forces.