Although much of modern Greece had been independent since the 1820s, Crete remained in Ottoman hands. A Greek force arrived to annex the island in 1897 and the Great Powers acted, occupying the island and dividing it into British, French, Russian and Italian areas of control. Here some of those the troops from these 'Great Powers' can be seen - British in the middle (in pith helmets and tartan trousers (!), Russians on the left, French on the right and a row of Italian soldiers at the rear (lower troops only).