Following the Venetian acquisition of Corfu in 1386, there was a significant amount of immigration from Venice itself, especially by the richer families. They brought with them cultural improvements such as opera and educational academies. The opera then made its way to mainland Greece. Catholicism became the dominating religion and much of the current food tastes originate from the Venetians.
Corfu vineyard
The Treaty of Campo Formio, following Napoleon’s Italian campaigns, gave ownership of Corfu to the French briefly before the Russians laid siege to the island and gained it in 1799. The Treaty of Tilsit returned it to the French in 1807 but by this time the British had taken an interest. By 1809 they controlled all the other Ionian islands but could not capture Corfu until 1815 when it was passed to them by the Treaty of Paris.
As the United States of the Ionian Islands, the British ruled the group until 1864, unpopular with the locals but presiding over an improvement in the standard of living. The Treaty of London in 1864 returned all the Ionians to Greece.
Monument to Corfu Jews
Corfu was not invaded again until 1923 when, during a diplomatic spat with Greece, Italy bombed and then invaded and occupied the island. The recently set-up League of Nations arbitrated and Greece regained its property. Italy invaded again in 1941 during the Second World War and this time kept hold of them until 1943 when the Italian fascists fell. They were replaced by the Germans who destroyed a significant portion of the infrastructure by bombing runs before occupying the island. It was at this point that a significant resistance movement developed on the island (and the Greek mainland) which attempted to protect and shelter some of the Jews which had escaped the Nazi’s attention.
Towards the end of the war, in October 1944, the British liberated Corfu from the Germans and spent almost two years sweeping the Corfu channel for mines before declaring it safe. Post-war, Corfu’s economy has grown in tune with the rest of Europe; much of its income now derives from tourism, viniculture and olive farming.