On ports like these hundreds of thousands of Greek refugees arrived from Anatolia
here in Greece. It was part of the population exchange which was agreed
upon during the Treaty of Lausanne that concluded the Greco-Turkish War.
Why was there a population exchange? That's what you are gonna learn today!
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The population transfer of 1923 was a result of the Treaty of Lausanne,
that concluded the Greco-Turkish War, here in Greece also known as the Asia Minor Campaign
that ended with the so-called 'Catastrophe'. Why was this war fought and why did Greece lose?
After the First World War Greece and Italy belonged to the victorious nations. Italy
wanted to expand but was left frustrated by its limited results. Therefore the kingdom had its
eye on the now defeated Ottoman Empire. To end Italy's imperial ambitions the Allied leaders
promised Greece access to the coastal city of Smyrna (now: Izmir) and its surroundings. For
Greek prime-misister Eleftherios Venizelos this was an opportunity to realize the Greek
Great Idea (Megali Idea): establishing a Greek state, which would include all Greek populations.
On 15 May 1919 Greek troops landed at Smyrna. Soon a confrontation with Turkish soldiers stationed
there spiraled out of control and resulted in a Greek pogrom of the Turkish quarter.
Around the same time Mustafa Kemal (a former Ottoman officer that had fought at Gallipoli
during WW1) arrived in northern Anatolia and realized his country would be partitioned by
the victorious Allies. He convinced himself and others he would act as Turkey's saviour.
“It is no exaggeration to say that without Kemal’s audacity, Turkey might not exist today and
certainly not within its current borders. Instead, it would have been carved up in accordance with
the Treaty of Sèvres, which was finally signed on 10 August 1920, just south of Paris.”
It bolstered the Turkish nationalists and Kemal started to build an army. If the Greeks wanted to
subdue this threat they had to go into the Turkish interior. The British encouraged this. Ironically,
did you know that then Colonel Ioannis Metaxas (future dictator of Greece) warned Venizelos not
to go through with this. Venizelos was soon voted out of office but the campaign continued. As the
Greek Army advanced atrocities against muslim civilians were carried out. On the flipside:
Turkish forces also targetted Pontic Greeks who lived in the north of Anatolia. Killings
of Greeks by Ottoman forces already occured before this war. By the end of 1921 the Greek
advance began to tire and they weren't able to deliver a fatal blow to Kemal's forces. Around
the same time the French (who also occupied a part of Anatolia) pulled out and this would
release thousands of Turkish soldiers to fight the Greeks. The Hellenic Army commenced a withdrawel,
which turned out to be a rout. While retreating they razed many villages to the ground. Greeks
living in the area withdrew with them out of fear of Turkish reprisals. A dramatic
climax took place in the city were it all began: Smyrna. The city cought fire and countless Greek
and Armenian civilians threw themselves in the water to escape the flames and escape the Turkish
army. The whole disaster in Greece is known as the Asia Minor Catastrophe or just: the Catastrophe.
Under the auspices of the newly formed League of Nations peace talks were held
in the Swiss town of Lausanne in 1922. Several things were decided:
international recognition for the Republic of Turkey. The most pressing issue was how to deal
with the humanitarian crisis that was caused by the conflict. By the end of 1922 around 800,000
Greeks had fled from Anatolia. Some 250,000 were leaving Eastern Thrace. The Turkish government
made clear the refugees weren't welcome to return. So the following was agree upon:
“As from 1st May, 1923, there shall take place a compulsory exchange of
Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion established in Turkish territory,
and of Greek nationals of the Moslem religion established in Greek territory.
These persons shall not return to live in Turkey or Greece respectively without the
authorization of the Turkish Government or of the Greek Government respectively.”
So basically the Turks that were living in Greece had to go to Turkey. And the Greeks
that were living in Anatolia had to come to Greece. This distinction was made on religion:
islam and christianity. Some exceptions were made: the Greeks in Constantinople (now Instanbul)
could remain. And also the muslims living in Western Thrace did not have to go to Turkey.
As for the others they to go. And they were not asked for their opinion. They were forced to.
During a two-week period in early 1923, some 750,000 Greek refugees were dumped
like cattle from all kinds of vessels at the harbours at Piraeus and Thessaloniki.
From eastern Thrace tens of thousands more came westwards,
bringing their belongings with them. The League of Nations refused to give loans
for the accomodation for over a million Greek refugees from Anatolia and Thrace. The Red Cross,
its American Committee established a Regufee Commission to take care of the relief. They
closed down their operation in June 1923 and worked almost entirely on donations. Greece
was bankrupt. Apart of economic problems there were social ones too. The Red Cross reported:
‘[T]he refugees, coming from different parts of Asia Minor and the shores of the Black Sea,
exhibited . . . a variety of characteristics and attitudes’. […] [Those] ‘from inner Anatolia,
living in the midst of Turks and Kurds,
had the characteristics of Asiatic peoples, being “backward, submissive and timid.”’
People from hundreds of different communities had, apart from their christian faith and vague
affinity to Greece not much in common. The Greek authorities divided the semi-barren land in tiny
plots and the region around Thessaloniki became a centre of this plan to tranform
swampy ground in farmland. Even by Balkan standards the first years of the newcomers
were very miserable. They also experienced resentment that lingers till this very day.
Turkey experienced also its hardships but that's something for another video.
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for watching and best wishes from Thessaloniki in Greece.