Pacifico incident

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The Pacifico Incident concerned a Portuguese Jew, named David Pacifico (known as Don Pacifico), who was a trader and the Portuguese consul in Athens during the reign of King Otto. Pacifico was born in Gibraltar, a British possession. He was therefore technically a British subject. In 1847 his business was attacked and vandalised by an anti-Semitic mob which included the sons of a government minister, whilst the police looked on and took no action. After he unsuccessfully appealed to the Greek government for compensation for his losses, he brought the matter to the attention of the British government in 1848.

Liberal British Foreign Secretary Palmerston, a philhellene and supporter of the Greek War of Independence 1828-1829, took unilateral action in support of Pacifico by sending a Royal Navy squadron into the Aegean in 1850 to seize Greek ships and property equal to the value of Pacifico's claims. The squadron eventually blockaded the port of Piraeus, the main port of the capital, Athens.

The blockade lasted two months, and caused great tensions between Britain, on the one hand, and France and Russia, on the other. Since Greece was a state under the joint protection of the three powers, Russia and France protested against its coercion by the British fleet, and the French ambassador temporarily left London, which promptly led to the termination of the affair. The damage to the reputation of King Otto in Athens was considerable. The affair ended only when the Greek government agreed to compensate Pacifico after Greek ships were seized by the Royal Navy.

The issue was taken up in the British Houses of Parliament with considerable energy. After a memorable debate on June 17, 1850, Palmerston's policy was condemned by a vote of the House of Lords. The House of Commons was moved by John Arthur Roebuck to reverse the sentence, which it did (June 29) by a majority of 46. Palmerston delivered a famous five-hour speech in which he sought to vindicate not only his claims on the Greek government for Don Pacifico, but his entire administration of foreign affairs. "As the Roman, in days of old, held himself free from indignity, when he could say, Civis Romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen], so also a British subject, in whatever land he may be, shall feel confident that the watchful eye and the strong arm of England will protect him from injustice and wrong."^[1]

This principle of military intervention (or Gunboat Diplomacy) to protect the rights of British subjects became a defining characteristic of Victorian foreign policy and was followed by both Liberal and Conservative governments. It has since become a controversial and often maligned action and Don Pacifico is sometimes used as a watchword for inappropriate military intervention against a sovereign nation.^[2]