The attitude of the local population to these changes in rule varied according to period. Some inhabitants of Rhodes and Crete decided to follow their defeated masters and resettle in new countries, while other Cretans stayed behind and incorporated themselves into the new administration. Their attitude was by and large determined by previous experience, and the hope for privileges and power, or conversely the fear of the loss of privileges under the new status quo. The case of the Peloponnese, (which after a period of Venetian rule lasting until the end of the 15th century, passed into Ottoman hands until the end of the 17th Century, whereupon it returned to Venetian control from 1686-1718) is particularly interesting, not only in terms of local attitudes, but also in terms of how these changes influenced behaviour and social organization. These changes, together with foreign political conditions, were to play a major role in the shaping of a national identity.