Chios massacre
Chios massacre | |
---|---|
Part of Massacres during the Greek War of Independence | |
Location | Chios, Ottoman Empire |
Coordinates | 38°21′50″N 26°03′47″E / 38.3640°N 26.0630°E |
Date | April–August 1822 |
Target | Greeks on the island of Chios |
Victims | Up to 100,000 killed or enslaved. At least:
|
Perpetrators | Ottoman Empire |
No. of participants | 30,000 |
The Chios massacre (in Greek: Η σφαγή της Χίου, Greek pronunciation: [i sfaˈʝi tis ˈçi.u]) was a catastrophe that resulted in the death, enslavement, and flight of about four-fifths of the total population of Greeks on the island of Chios by Ottoman troops, during the Greek War of Independence in 1822.[1][2][3] It is estimated that up to 100,000 people were killed or enslaved during the massacre, while up to 20,000 escaped as refugees.[4] Greeks from neighboring islands had arrived on Chios and encouraged the Chiotes (the native inhabitants of the island) to join their revolt. In response, Ottoman troops landed on the island and killed thousands. The massacre of Christians provoked international outrage across the Western world, and led to increasing support for the Greek cause worldwide.
Background
For over 2,000 years, merchants and shipowners from Chios had been prominent in trade and diplomacy throughout the
The island's ruling classes were reluctant to join the Greek revolt, fearing the loss of their security and prosperity.[5] Furthermore, they were aware that they were situated far too close to the Turkish heartland in Anatolia to be safe.[5] At some points, Chios is only 6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi) from the Anatolian mainland.
Massacre
In March 1822, as the Greek revolt gathered strength on the mainland, several hundred armed Greeks from the neighbouring island of Samos landed in Chios. They attacked the Turks, who retreated to the citadel. Many islanders also decided to join the revolution.[5] However, the vast majority of the population had by all accounts done nothing to provoke the reprisals, and had not joined other Greeks in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire.[6]
Reinforcements in the form of a Turkish fleet under the
Reaction and commemoration
There was outrage when the events were reported in Europe
A draft of this painting, created under the supervision of Delacroix in his lab by one of his students, is in display in the
Victor Hugo's collection of poems Les Orientales, published in 1829, include the poem "L'Enfant" ("The Child") devoted to the massacre of Chios. The American poet William Cullen Bryant published the poem "The Massacre at Scio" in 1824.
During a session of the Permanent Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece in Athens on July 14–15, 2021, at the proposal of Metropolitan Markos of Chios, Psara and Oinousses, the Holy Synod glorified Metropolitan Plato of Chios, and 43 others, who were martyred by Ottoman troops in the Chios Massacre on Holy Friday in 1822.[15][16] The list included priests, deacons, hieromonks and monks, to be commemorated on the Sunday of the Paralytic each year.[17]
Greek response
After the Chios massacre, the Greek revolutionary government managed to gather a significant amount of money in order to outfit its ships and attack the Ottoman fleet.[18]
At the end of May, the Greek captains from
Gallery
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Ottoman admiral Nasuhzade Ali Pasha, who led the Chios massacre.
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Human skeletal remains of the massacre in Nea Moni of Chios.
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Ibrahim Edhem from the Skaramanga family and sons.
-
Georgios Stravelakis, a survivor at the age of five of the massacre, was sold into slavery.[22] He eventually became Prime Minister of Tunis, from 1837 to 1873.[23]
See also
- List of massacres in Greece
- Massacres during the Greek Revolution
- Navarino massacre
- Tripolitsa massacre
- Destruction of Psara
- Chios expedition
- Ottoman wars in Europe
Footnotes
- ISBN 1-56000-389-8.
- ^ a b Brewer 2011, p. 165: "The final toll on the suffering island could now be assessed. Before the catastrophe there were between 100,000 and 120,000 Greeks living on Chios, and by the end their numbers were reduced to some 20,000. Gordon's even more shocking figure of only 1,800 survivors on the island is almost certainly wrong, perhaps a mistake for 18,000, though he may be right to say that 'the most populous villages had only twelve indwellers'. The number of Greeks killed was put at 25,000 and of those enslaved at 45,000; that is, the catastrophe left about a quarter of the population dead and nearly half taken into slavery. Probably between 10,000 and 20,000 escaped, some to return, some to settle on other Aegean islands, some to continue the great family names of Chios – Ralli, Rodocanachi, Argenti, Vlasto – as they found fortune or fame abroad."
- ^ a b Shirinian 2021, p. 175: "The Turkish response came in April 1822 with the plunder, massacre and enslavement of the Greek inhabitants of the island of Chios. Whereas there had been approximately 100,000 to 120,000 Greeks living on Chios before the massacre, there were only approximately 20,000 after – about 25,000 had been killed, 45,000 enslaved, and 10,000 to 20,000 had escaped. At the same time, the Aegean coastal town of Kydonies (Ayvalık), north of Chios, was also destroyed, with many of the inhabitants fleeing to Greece, along with the refugees from Chios."
- ^ ISSN 0950-3471.
As many as 100,000 inhabitants were either killed or enslaved, while 20,000 escaped as refugees. ... The exact number of Chiots enslaved or massacred remains generally unknown, with different estimations given. Argenti stated that "before the massacre the total resident population of Chios was 120,000, after the massacre it was but 30,000." Long cited 41,000 Chiots being exported as slaves, which can be seen from the customs authority records, as well as 15,000 escapees from the island prior to the Kapudan Pasha's arrival. The historians St Clair and Brewer relatively echoed Long's number of slaves being brought to Anatolia, as did the Philhellene Thomas Gordon, who estimated 45,000. Brandt suggested "those slaughtered ran upward of 50,000, with an equal number enslaved." Rodogno reasoned that "Before the massacre between 100,000 and 120,000 Greeks had been living on Chios; by the end of it there were 20,000; many had perished, others fled or became slaves."The Times asked rhetorically: "Who can, without shuddering, read of the total ruin, the universal desolation of our famed and once happy isle (Scio); the destruction of all its inhabitants, nearly one hundred thousand"?
- ^ ISBN 0-19-215194-0.
- JSTOR 1875872.
- ^ Brewer 2011, p. 157: "The kapitan pasha, Kara Ali, was ordered to Chios with a powerful fleet and with orders to convey 15,000 men to Chios from Chesme, where 30,000 had now gathered. Many were volunteers, including it was said a whole infantry regiment of Muslim priests, and most were simply attracted by the riches of Chios. The British consul at Smyrna reported that 'we have got rid of all our ruffians, who have gone to take part in the plunder of Scio'. Strangford, Britain's ambassador in Constantinople, was worried about the control of such large numbers of unruly troops."
- ^ "Revolution – The massacre of the island of Chios". chioshistory.gr. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
- Galignani's Messenger (Paris), 26 July 1822, p. 1.
- ^ "The Chios Massacre Of 1822". Queens Gazette. Archived from the original on 2018-11-11. Retrieved 2013-03-26.
- ^ Brandt, Anthony (2016). "Tears of Chios". World History Group. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
- OCLC 10173561.
- ISBN 9781107075511. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- .
- ^ (in Greek) Δελτία Τύπου της Ιεράς Συνόδου: Δεύτερη συνεδρία της Δ.Ι.Σ. για το μήνα Ιούλιο. Διαρκούς Ιεράς Συνόδου της Εκκλησίας της Ελλάδος (ECCLESIA.GR). Αθήνα, 15 Ιουλίου 2021.
- ^ GREEK CHURCH CANONIZES DOZENS OF MARTYRS, ECCLESIASTICAL TEACHERS. Orthodox Christianity. Athens, July 16, 2021. Retrieved: July 17, 2021.
- ^ (in Greek) Αγιοκατάταξη Ιερομάρτυρος Πλάτωνος και των συν αυτώ. ΡΟΜΦΑΙΑ (Ι.Μ. Χίου). 15/07, 15:17. Retrieved: July 17, 2021.
- ^ Sfyroeras 1975, pp. 246–247.
- ^ Sfyroeras 1975, pp. 247–248.
- ^ Sfyroeras 1975, pp. 248–249.
- ^ Anderson 1952, pp. 487–488.
- ISBN 0-02-897062-4.
- ISBN 0-582-78377-1.
References
- Brewer, David (November 2011) [2001]. "Chios". The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression. ISBN 978-1468312515.
- Shirinian, George N. (2021). "Collective State Violence against Greeks in the Late Ottoman Empire, 1821–1923". In Astourian, Stephan H.; ISBN 978-1789204513.
- OCLC 1015099422.
- Sfyroeras, Vasileios (1975). "Σταθεροποίηση της Επαναστάσεως 1822-1823" [Stabilization of the Revolution 1822-1823]. Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους (in Greek). pp. 212–286.
Further reading
- Christopher A. Long – The Series of Events.
- The Massacres of Chios Described in Contemporary Diplomatic Reports, edited and with an introduction by Philip P. Argenti (London: John Lane the Bodley Head Ltd., 1932).
External links
- "The Sisters of Scio" is a poetic response to the massacre by Felicia Hemans, first published in The Literary Souvenir annual for 1830, with an engraving by Henry Rolls of a painting by A. Phalipon.