Ypsilanti served as a general in the Russian army and was elected leader of the Philike Hetairia, a secret organization that sought Greek independence from the Ottoman empire. In 1821 he raised a revolt in Moldavia, proclaiming the independence of Greece, but he lacked the support of Russia or Romania and was defeated by the Turks and imprisoned in Austria. Together with the successful Greek rebellion in the Peloponnese, his uprising marked the beginning of the Greek War of Independence.