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The Modernist Imagination: A 19th Century Conflict

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The Greek-Turkish Conflict in the Aegean

Part of the book series: New Perspectives on South-East Europe Series ((NPSE))

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Abstract

The origins of the Greek-Turkish conflict can be found in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The spark was the French Revolution with its call for popular sovereignty, republican rule, civil rights and the principle of nationalities.

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Notes

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  12. For the concept of internal colonialism, see Michael Hechter (1975), Internal Colonialism: The Celtic Fringe in the British National Development (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul).

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  19. Frazee, op. cit., pp. 13–7; Prousis, op. cit., pp. 26–8; Papageorgiou, op. cit., pp. 87–93; H. Şükrü Ilicak (2009), ‘The Revolt of Alexandros Ipsilantis and the Fate of the Fanariots in Ottoman Documents’, in Petros Pizanias (ed.), I Elliniki Epanastasi tou 1821: ena evropaiko gegonos [The Greek Revolution of 1821: A European Event] (Athens: Kedros and Ionian University History Department), pp. 227–8, 321–3.

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  20. Russia denied any involvement and it is clear that there was no Russian conspiracy against the Ottoman Empire with the Greeks at the forefront. However, it is obvious that there was some limited support to Ypsilantis and the Etairists at a lower level by Russian officials. See Prousis, op. cit., pp. 8–26; Ilicak, op. cit., p. 324. Interestingly, Kemal Karpat supports Mahmûd’s line, claiming that there is documentary evidence that the Russians organised Ypsilantis’s revolt, though they later disavowed it for fear of international complications. See Kemal H. Karpat (2002), Studies on Ottoman Social and Political History: Selected Articles and Essays (Leiden: Brill), p. 417.

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  21. Ilicak, op. cit., pp. 321–5, 328–30. See also Vitali Sheremet (1992), ‘The Greek Revolution of 1821: A New Look at Old Problems’, Modem Greek Studies Yearbook (University of Minnesota), 8, pp. 41–55 Resolution: Golbal

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  23. The bibliography of the Greek War of Independence is legion, particularly in Greece. For recent books, see Papageorgiou, op. cit., pp. 79–284; and Petros Pizanias (ed.) (2009), I Elliniki Epanastasi tou 1821: ena evropaiko gegonos [The Greek Revolution of 1821: A European Event] (Athens: Kedros and Ionian University History Department).

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  24. In English see in particular, Douglas Dakin (1973), The Greek Struggle for Independence, 1821–1833 (London: B.T. Batsford)

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  31. Ibid., pp. 281–2, 284–5. For the reforms along the more traditional Ottomanist line, that is, without mentioning the Greek Revolution as the triggering event, see B. Lewis, op. cit., pp. 78–9, 100–1; Geoffrey Lewis (1974), Modern Turkey (London: Ernest Benn Limited), pp. 42–4; Zürcher, op. cit., pp. 53–4; Hanioğlu, op. cit., pp. 60–71, 77.

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  33. Alexis Alexandris (1983), The Greek Minority of Istanbul and Greek-Turkish Relations (Athens: Centre for Asia Minor Studies), pp. 24, 32–3, 36.

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  35. Michael Herzfeld (1982), Ours Once More: Folklore, Ideology, and the Making of Modern Greece (Austin: University of Texas Press), pp. 3–4.

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  37. Roderic Davison (1963), Reform in the Ottoman Empire, 1856–76 (Princeton: Princeton University Press); Berkes, op. cit., pp. 144–200; B. Lewis, op. cit., pp. 105–28; G. Lewis, op. cit., pp. 44–5

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  39. Clogg, ‘The Greek Millet in the Ottoman Empire’, op. cit., p. 195; Sia Anagnostopoulou (1997), Mikra Asia, 19os aionas-1919. Oi ellinorthodoxes koinotites [Asia Minor, 19th Century-1919. The Greek-Orthodox Communities] (Athens: Ellinika Grammata), pp. 190–204 and passim.

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  40. Paschalis Kitromilides (1990), ‘Greek Irredentism in Asia Minor and Cyprus’, Middle Eastern Studies, 26, 1, p. 4.

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  41. Şerif Mardin (2000) [1962], The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press); Berkes, op. cit., pp. 201–22; Zürcher, op. cit., pp. 71–4; Hanioğlu, op. cit., pp. 103–4

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  42. Elli Skopetea (1988), To ‘Protypo Vasileio’ kai i Megali Idea [The ‘Prototype Kingdom’ and the Great Idea] (Athens: Polytypo), pp. 257–9.

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  43. Skopetea, op. cit., pp. 269–324; Michael Llewellyn Smith (1973), Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor (London: Allen Lane), p. 4.

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  44. Domna Donta (1973), I Ellas kai oi Dynameis kata ton Krimaikon Polemon [Greece and the Powers during the Crimean War] (Thessaloniki: IMXA).

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  46. At this point a striking vignette is worth injecting, which is illustrative of the level of Ottoman-Ottoman Greek relations. Cleanthi Scalieri, an Ottoman Greek and high ranking Freemason, was close to the Ottoman heir, Mûrad and initiated him into the Freemason’s lodge. The aim was to bring about the much needed liberalisation and democratisation of the Empire with Mûrad (well-known for his intellect and liberal views) as sultan. When Mûrad was deposed, a committee was formed under Scalieri and Aziz Bey in order to reinstate Mûrad by a coup. When this venture failed, Scalieri and other Freemasons, mainly Greeks, lobbied for the next few decades in Western capitals to get assistance for the reinstatement of Mûrad to the throne (apparently Mûrad, who was held all along at Çirakan Palace, had recovered completely). See M. Şükrü Hanioglu (1995), The Young Turks in Opposition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 34–6.

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  48. Alexandris, op. cit., p. 32. On the rise of Turkish ‘economic nationalism’ against the Ottoman Greeks, see Ayhan Aktar (1996) ‘Economic Nationalism in Turkey: The Formative Years, 1912–1925’, Bogazici Journal: Review of Social, Economic and Administrative Studies, 10, 1–2, pp. 265–9.

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  51. Berkes, op. cit., pp. 321–2. For the different social backgrounds between the liberal and conservative Young Turks (the former upper class, cosmopolitan and fluent with foreign languages, the latter lower middle class), see Feroz Ahmad (1993), The Making of Modern Turkey (London: Routledge), pp. 34–5.

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  1. Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece

    Alexis Heraclides (Professor of International Relations and Conflict Resolution)

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Heraclides, A. (2010). The Modernist Imagination: A 19th Century Conflict. In: The Greek-Turkish Conflict in the Aegean. New Perspectives on South-East Europe Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230283398_3

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