Chios massacre

The Chios massacre (in el, Η σφαγή της Χίου, ) was a catastrophe that resulted to the death, enslavement, and refuging 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. 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 Black Sea, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean. The Ottoman Empire allowed Chios almost complete control over its own affairs as Chioten trade and the very highly valued mastic plant, harvested only on Chios, were of great value to the Ottomans. The cosmopolitan Chiotes were also very prominent in Constantinople. Following the massacre, however, the island never regained its commercial prominence.

The island's ruling classes were reluctant to join the Greek revolt, fearing the loss of their security and prosperity. Furthermore, they were aware that they were situated far too close to the Turkish heartland in Anatolia to be safe. At some points, Chios is only 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. 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.

Reinforcements in the form of a Turkish fleet under the Kapudan Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha arrived on the island on 22 March. They quickly pillaged and looted the town. On , orders were given to burn down the town, and over the next four months, an estimated 30,000 Turkish troops arrived.: "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." In addition to setting fires, the troops were ordered to kill all infants under three years old, all males 12 years and older, and all females 40 and older, except those willing to convert to Islam. The British warship HMS ''Seringapatam'' was on duty in the Mediterranean under the command of Captain Samuel Warren. On 7 May she passed the island of Chios (then called Scio in English), saw it in flames, and received signals from Greek ships asking for help, but being under orders to ''observe strict neutrality'' in the Greek War of Independence the ship gave no assistance and proceeded on her way."Great-Britain", '' Galignani's Messenger'' (Paris), 26 July 1822
p. 1
/ref> Approximately four-fifths of the total population of 100,000 to 120,000 prior of the catastrophe, were killed, enslaved, or had to take refuge outside of Chios; it is estimated that 25,000 were killed, 45,000 enslaved, and 10,000 to 20,000 refuged.: "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.": "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." Tens of thousands of survivors dispersed throughout Europe and became part of the Chian diaspora. Some young Greeks enslaved during the massacre were adopted by wealthy Ottomans and converted to Islam. Some rose to levels of prominence in the Ottoman Empire, such as Georgios Stravelakis (later renamed Mustapha Khaznadar) and Ibrahim Edhem Pasha.

Reaction and commemoration

There was outrage when the events were reported in Europe and French painter Eugène Delacroix created a painting depicting the events that occurred; his painting was named '' Scenes from the Massacres of Chios''. Thomas Barker of Bath painted a fresco of the massacre on the walls of Doric House, Bath, Somerset.

A draft of this painting, created under the supervision of Delacroix in his lab by one of his students, is in display in the Athens War Museum. In 2009, a copy of the painting was displayed in the local Byzantine museum on Chios. It was withdrawn from the museum in November 2009 in a "good faith initiative" for the improvement of Greek-Turkish relations. However, the Greek press protested its removal. The copy is now back on display in the museum.

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. The list included priests, deacons, hieromonks and monks, to be commemorated on the Sunday of the Paralytic each year.

Gallery

File:Khazdadar.JPG, Georgios Stravelakis, a survivor at the age of five of the massacre, was sold into slavery. He eventually became Prime Minister of Tunis, from 1837 to 1873.
File:Ibrahim edhem sons.png, Ibrahim Edhem karamanga familyand sons
File:ΛΕΙΨΑΝΑ ΣΦΑΓΗΣ ΧΙΟΥ.jpg, Human skeletal remains of the massacre in Nea Moni of Chios

See also

* Chios expedition
* Destruction of Psara
* List of massacres in Greece
* Massacres during the Greek Revolution
* Navarino massacre
* Ottoman wars in Europe
* Tripolitsa massacre

Footnotes

References

*
*

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

* 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.

{{Greek War of Independence, state=collapsed

1822 in Greece
Amphibious operations
Battles of the Greek War of Independence
Conflicts in 1822
Massacres committed by the Ottoman Empire
Massacres during the Greek War of Independence
Massacres in Greece
Massacres in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Chios
Persecution of Greeks in the Ottoman Empire before the 20th century
Sieges involving Greece
Sieges involving the Ottoman Empire