HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS ON THE AEGEAN A SYNOPTICAL REVIEW FROM ANCIENT TIMES T0 THE PRESENT By Nicholaos L. Moraitis, Ph.D. International Relations The Aegean: Ancient echoes in the Greek subconscious are sprung from that Hellenic Sea called Aegean. There, before times, gods dwelt in splendid, fathoms-deep palaces, while on the billowing, sparkling surface there were wafted the many-sailed ships of heroes described by Homer and Hesied and Pindar. Unto these elect spirits the Aegean was their closed Greek lake, even 3,000 years since, even as it remains to the Greeks today. And this "closed Greek lake" impression was also felt by Socrates, who pithily observed that the Aegean was "a marsh around which the Greeks live in the manner of frogs." Aegean. Precisely what is meant by the term? Geologists believe that the site carne into existence a million years ago. Solid earth which covered the present area, offshoot of the ancient, maternal Aegida. Subsequent to the action of violent underground forces, it was
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HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS ON THE AEGEAN
A SYNOPTICAL REVIEW FROM ANCIENT TIMES T0 THE PRESENT
ByNicholaos L. Moraitis, Ph.D.
International Relations
The Aegean: Ancient echoes in the Greek subconscious are
sprung from that Hellenic Sea called Aegean. There,
before times, gods dwelt in splendid, fathoms-deep
palaces, while on the billowing, sparkling surface there
were wafted the many-sailed ships of heroes described
by Homer and Hesied and Pindar. Unto these elect
spirits the Aegean was their closed Greek lake, even
3,000 years since, even as it remains to the Greeks
today.
And this "closed Greek lake" impression was also felt
by Socrates, who pithily observed that the Aegean was
"a marsh around which the Greeks live in the manner
of frogs."
Aegean. Precisely what is meant by the term? Geologists
believe that the site carne into existence a million
years ago. Solid earth which covered the present area,
offshoot of the ancient, maternal Aegida. Subsequent
to the action of violent underground forces, it was
-2-
cleft and sundered and was plunged into the depths of
the great Tithyida Ocean. Thus the churning, rushing
waters inundated crevices and ravines and breaches
and various other expanses. Divers peaks and mountains
which form the picturesque islets of today, and
which even then made up an attractive multitude of
islands of the Aegean Sea, were hidden from view.
In very general outline, that comprises the history
of the Aegean Sea.
Etymology of the Name, Aegean: With reference to its
name, many conjectures and etymologies are advanced.
Perhaps the most plausible is that the prefix aig is
of Indo-European derivation denoting rapid and forceful
movement. Aegean, therefore describes a turbulent sea,
tempest-tossed and lashed by gales.
The advance of man in the Aegean region has been
documented from most ancient of times, and is
accompanied by a medley of myths, which have survived to
this day. The most widely-known and most characteristic
is the splendid legend of Theseus.
Theseus: According to this account, in the ancient city
-3-
of Troezene there dwelt a youth, who was named Theseus.
The lord of that region, King Pittheas, was his grand-
father. His mother was called Aethra. The boy had never
known his father, Aigaias, who was a monarch who so
involved himself with the affairs of state that he had
no time for family life. That was the explanation
his mother, Aethra, gave young Theseus whenever he would
ask. She would add that his father, Aigaias, reigned
in Attica, and that he lived in Athens, which was the
most renowned city of that period.
To his importuning that he be permitted to go to
Athens to meet his father, Aethra objected, saying that
he was not yet mature enough to undertake the journey.
But in truth such was the command of Agaias, that the
mother must not permit the son to come to Athens before
he was a mature and stalwart man. But finally the
moment arrived, and Theseus departed for Athens.
That first journey was historical; for according to
the directions of his grandfather, Pittheas, he was to
travel by sea. En route he relieved Epidavros of the
notorious malefactor Perifitis, Corinth of the dreadful
-4-
Sinen, Megara of the thief Skeiron, and Attica in the
vicinity of Daphne of the malefactor Prokroustis.
His meeting with his aged father was both stirring
and moving. In an emotion-filled atmosphere Aigaias
acknowledged his son.
At that same period it was the practice of Athens
annually to send youths and maidens to the Island o~
Crete, to be devoured by the Minotaur, a dreadful
monster, half-man, half bull, kept by King Minoas,
instigator of the yearly slaughter. And this he had
begun, for when he had sent his son, Androgeon, to
Athens to participate in the Attic games, the youth
had triumphed. Subsequently, however, the youth was
lost to his father, for in the course of a hunt in
Attica he was slain by a wild bull.
Thereupon Minoas declared was against the Athenias,
and the Minotaur's yearly devouring of Athenian youths
and maidens selected by lot ensued in memory of the
lost Androgeon. On the day of their departure for
Crete the weeping and the wailing may well be imagined.
-5-
When Theseus witnessed that tragic scene and learned
of the Minotaur, and of the grisly practice, which was
already in its third year, he informed his father,
Aigaias, that he would embark for Crete, there to
slay the Minotaur, and to relieve Athens of that
dreadful calamity.
As was natural, Aigaias attempted in various ways to
dissuade his son, but at length gave in. Theseus
thereupon directed that six youths be selected; he
himself would be the seventh.
As the ship was about to depart, Aigaias instructed
his son that should he indeed slay the Minotaur, he
change the ship's black sails to white, so that
the distraught father, seeing them from the shore,
would know that Theseus was returning alive and
victorious.
Theseus sailed to Crete, slew the monster Minotaur,
but in the moment of triumph he forgot to raise the
white sails. From Sounion of Attica King Aigaias saw
the return of the black-sailed ship. Overcome by grief, he
cast himself into that which ever since has borne his
name, the Aegean.1
-6-
The Gods: The Aegean Sea was both homeland and
dwelling-place of many gods of ancient Greece. In the
extremist depths, in the very center of the Aegean,
Poseidon, the god of the seas, had established at
watery Aegas his splendid and eternal palace, which,
as Homer has described, was built of effulgent gold.
Aphrodite, goddess of beauty and of love, sprang up
from the Aegean foam. Apollo, god of light, of poetry,
and of music was born in the island of Delos, that
isle sacred to the Greeks.
The depths of the Aegean were crowded with gods of
the sea. Triton and Neron accompanied the Greek ships
in order to protect them from both tempests and pirates.
Jason: But the Aegean was not alone the abode of gods.
For upon it there sailed the greatest heroes of ancient
Greece----Hercules, Jason, and Theseus, thus to
effect their greatest achievements. Indeed, on a first
-7-
Journey, Hercules sailed upon the Aegean in order to
bring unto Mycenae the sash of Hyppolita, Queen of the
Amazons in Asia Minor; on a second journey he sailed it
to punish the King of Troy, Laomedon, whose city he lay
waste.
Jason led the Argonaut expedition to Colchis of the Euxine
Sea, in the successful attempt to seize the golden fleece.
Compelling as they are, rich in detail, certainly all
of the above descriptions are myths. And yet, under the
guise of mythical mantle, many of these accounts cover
remote and dimly-remembered occurrences harking back
to prehistoric struggles of earlier inhabitants of the
Greek mainland, their efforts toward the conquest of
the Aegean, and through it of their expansion toward
adjacent lands for the purpose of colonization and
commerce.2
The Age of Antiquity: The mythological ages were
succeeded by the age of antiquity, in the course of
which there were created three great Greek nations,
following the struggles of the ancient Greeks against
Karyes, the Leleges, the Phoenicians, and the Persians.
They established the nautical kingdom of Crete, the
-8-
Achean nation of Mycenae, the nautical hegemony of Athens,
each of which produced its own civilization.
And they were the Minoan or Cretan, the Mycean or Achean,
and the Ionic or classical, all of which left their
unique imprint on the history of this world.
Hegemony of Athens: From among these nations the maritime
Hegemony of Athens emerged as the product of the triumphant
wars of Greece against the attacking might of the Persian
Empire. Thus Greece, with its capital in Athens, embraced
most of the cities of mainland Greece, all of the Aegean
with its innumerable islands, and the populous communities
of Macedonia, Thrace, and Asia Minor. Then, indeed was
the Aegean Sea a Greek lake.
At length the Hegemony of Athens became embroiled with
the great power of Sparta, and the struggle continued
for 27 whole years. This was the Peloponnesian War known
to the students of ancient Greek history. I~ resulted
in the dissolution of the Hegemony of Athens, following
the complete destruction of its fleet in the Aigos,
River near the Hellespont.
There followed the Hegemony of Sparta, which in turn
was succeeded by the Hegemony of Thebes. The outcome
-9-
of this civil war was to prompt the reappearance of
the Persians in Phoenician ships, which from the time
of Kimon had been repulsed by the Athenian fleets.3
Alexander the Great: This situation did not endure
for long, for Alexander the Great created the Helleno-
Macedonian Empire, and utterly destroyed the maritime
Persian might. Thus the Aegean again became a Greek
sea.4
The Roman Empire : But now a new situation arose in
the Aegean. Greece, including Macedonia, and Asia Minor
became Roman provinces.
When the Capitol of the Roman Empire was transferred
to Constantinople, the Aegean assumed an especial
significance, becoming, as it were, the courtyard of
the Capitol, whence all routes of the far-flung Roman
Empire were terminated.5
Greek the Official Language of the Byzantine Empire :
From the 6th century A.D., when the Eastern part of
the Roman Empire once again became homogeneous----
that is, Greek, and austerely Orthodox, the Greek
-10·-
Byzantine Empire-------the Aegean again became a Greek
Sea. Characteristic of that period was the action taken
by the Emperor Justinian, who abolished the use of the
Latin of the West, and who established Greek as the
official language of the Greek Byzantine Empire.
The Crusaders Destroy Constantinople: From 1202-1204 A.D.
their attempt to retrieve the Holy Land from the
Mohammedan conquerors frustrated, the
Crusaders instead the fell upon and sacked Christian
Constantinople. Fifty years later it was retrieved by the
Byzantines. But their maritime power was vanished. The
city itself, the Queen of Cities, was irrevocably
despoiled, ruined, and debilitated. In 1453 the
enfeebled, wraith-City was captured by the Turks.6
Greece Walks with History: Enslaved or free, Greece
has always walked hand in hand with its history. Late in
time, even now, Turkey----whence prompted no one knows---
questions the Hellenism of the Aegean. Through various
ruses and paths it endeavors to present purported
established facts. Witness the Cypriot tragedy of
1974. And the grim situation persists, despite
-11-
the international outcry, the vote of the Assembly
of the United Nations, and the decisions on the part
of the Security Council.
But those accomplished facts are a stigma upon the
civilization of the 20th century. Turkey,
violating all sense of justice and logic, has
seized approximately 40 of the Cypriot territory,
which it retains to this day, colonizes it, and attempts
to call the Cypriot land its own. For 200,000 indigenous
Greek Cypriots remain as refugees upon their own soil,
in Southern Cyprus.
We consider this reference necessary, because the
Aegean crisis involves political motives, and they are
related to and planned with the Cypriot crisis. They
present the initial examples of Turkish expansion in
that volatile part of the globe.
The Aegean Historically Greek: Following the sudden
ambitious Turkish claims upon the Aegean, there arose
the question: To whom does the Aegean belong today?
Certainly if we follow the acknowledged provisions of
-12-
international justice, whereby the indigenous people,
the nation, forms the sovereign factor in determining
the ownership of an area, indubitably simple logic
reveals that from the dawn of history the Aegean
has belonged to the Greeks. We must not forget that
the history of the colonization of the Aegean is very
ancient; it surely did not begin scarcely four years
ago upon the whim of the Turkish Government.
The Neolithic Colonization: For we may say that while
the Paleolithic peoples have left but rare traces in
this vicinity, traces of its Neolithic colonization
are very numerous. In Thessaly such articles discovered
are dated back to 7,000 B.C. Later On various peoples
appeared, to whom the Greeks gave the name of Pelasgians,
Leleges, and others, and while there is no unanimity~
of opinion, these are generally considered Pre-Hellenic,
that is, unrelated to the Hellenes, who began to
appear concretely in 3,000 B.C., to spread over that
area as sovereign entities, having subjugated and
absorbed the Pre-Hellenic peoples, both on the western
shores as well as On the shores of Asia Minor, and in
the numerous intervening islands. Thus, with conviction,
-13-
we may safely say that by 1,500 B.C. the Aegean had
become a Greek Lake. For either Greeks from the
mainland crossed over and settled in Asia Minor; or, as
some historians insist, the opposite occurred. And
then again other historians believe both movements
simultaneously descended upon the Aegean area by using
both routes.
Thus in this Greek area from the Neolithic period
there was located a branch of the Mediterranean race,
which succeeded in assimilating and in absorbing races
which had invaded and which had sett led in that region.
Concisely then the Greeks of today are lineal
descendants of those ancient inhabitants. Thus the
Hellenic roots do not reach to depth of a mere 3,000
years since, but to a vastly more remote period, or as
we have seen above, those roots go back at least 7,000
years, that is, to the initial Neolithic men, traces
of whom we most frequently find.7
Therefore the Aegean had indeed been a Greek Sea from
that dim period in history. And the Aegean civilization,
which developed beginning with the Bronze Age, a
-14-
resplendent branch of which was the Minoan, and another
the Mycenaen civilization, is a purely Greek
civilization. Yet, independently from whether it is or
is not a correct assertion, at least by 1,500 B.C. the
Aegean was already the center of Hellenism It formed
a horseshoe of shores inhabited solely by Greeks,
surrounding that narrow Sea of such vital import. The
opening of the horseshoe is described by Crete, a land
also Hellenic. And the interior of the Sea was also
filled by mightily Hellenic houses, situated in those
countless islands. Such was the ethnological
composition of the Aegean.
It should be especially emphasized that the Aegean is
a Sea situated between the Mediterranean and the Black
Sea, even as it is between Europe and Asia. It was
always a bridge, which connected those two important
Seas and the two continents. For that reason, from
ancient times, it has been the crossroads of peoples
and of civilizations.8
Mercantile and Strategic Aegean Importance; Even
more noteworthy is the mercantile and strategic
importance of the Aegean. Commercially it connects
Asia Minor with Europe. At the same time it is crossed
-15-
by that maritime route, which brings the products
of the Black Sea to the East and to the Western
Mediterranean. From thence, by way of Suez and of Gibraltar
onto the oceans.
Strategic Importance of the Aegean: The strategic
importance of the Aegean is incomparable. For it is
a fact that whoever has the Aegean under his control can
impede and interrupt the commercial route of the Black
Sea and the Mediterranean. He can also check the great
arteries of the Suez and Gibraltar. It also arises before
the Dardanelles, and is in a position to negate their
strategic significance. The Straits of the Dardanelles truly
comprise a most strategic water route of communication
for Russia with the Mediterranean and the Oceans! 9
The Aegean Historically as a Scene of Rivalry : However,
the Aegean is capable of nullifying the strategic
potentiality of the Dardanelles, for it is able to play a
similarly strategic role. For that reason such strategic
and commercial importance of the Aegean Sea has always
been an apple of discord among the various countries
which have great interests in the Mediterranean and the
Middle East.
-16-
Precisely for that reason, from ancient times unto this
day it has always been the site of conflicts and of
rivalry. The very fact of its commercial and strategic
importance has, from time to time, prompted the appearance
of competitors and of claimants. Oftentimes they have
been able to place the area under their own control.
However, after a long or a short interval the Greek
sovereignty is re-established. In general terms, then,
let us refer ourselves unto the historical course of the
Aegean Sea.
On of the first rival powers to sail upon it was Troy.
They appeared about 1,200 B.C. for, indeed, despite the
bitter, destructive war, as Homer and other historians
have pointed out, they, too, were Hellenes. On the other
hand, the attacking Greeks played a most decisive role,
for with the Trojan War they established in that locale
a strong bridge leading to Asia Minor, by which means
they spread out to Ionia, (Even some 200 years before the
Trojan war Greek colonists from Mycenae had fought and
conquered the Hittite armies in their attack from eastern
Asia Minor against the Acheans in Lycia and other parts
of the Southeastern Asia Minor}. On the other hand, the
Trojans, dominating the Hellespont through which their
ships sailed from the Black Sea, wished to impose their
own commercial and strategic control upon the Aegean. But
-17-
the Panhellenic campaign of the Trojan War relieved the 10
Greek Sea of that threat and freed the Straits.
The Persians formed a second force, for, having conquered
all of Asia Minor, by the fifth century they had
reached the shores of the Aegean. They conquered Ionia,
but they were not able to alter its ethnological makeup.
When they sought to control all of the sea, also having
seized its eastern coast, they were defeated in the
Medean Wars. Later on Alexander the Great drove them from
the Eastern shore. In that manner, the Aegean again
became a Greek lake.11
The Romans comprised a third power, for-they placed
the Aegean under their control for five centuries. Still,
ethnologically, it never ceased being Greek.12
The Byzantine period, which, as we have already pointed
out, was a purely Helleno-Byzantine Empire, again
transformed the Aegean into the Greek lake of the Middle
Ages. When its maritime might slipped into the hands of
foreigners both its power and its influence vanished. 13
The Arabs A fourth power, that of the Arabs, appeared
--18-
about the seventh century. For three consecutive
centuries they attempted to conquer the Aegean by the
might of their navies. However, in 672 A.D. they
suffered a crushing defeat before the walls of
Constantinople, by reason of the secret weapon of the
Byzantines, "the liquid fire", which completely gutted
their ships. Finally they were able to conquer it, about
the year 825 A.D. In that period the Aegean suffered
many ills, and the second city of the Empire,
Thessalonica, was destroyed in an attack. But in 961
Nikeforos Fokas seized Crete, and thus lifted the
Arabian threat, having destroyed their bases. In that
manner, once again, the Aegean acquired its natural
Greek characteristics. In other words, it again became a
Greek lake.14
Venetians and Genoese : The Italians, chiefly Venetians
and Genoese, formed a fifth power. From the 11th
century their ships began sailing the Aegean, and
speedily placed its trade under their baleful control.
That power was rounded out by the Franks, who in 1204
destroyed the Empire. The Aegean then ceased to be
Greek militarily, for the Venetians occupied many
islands and ensconced themselves in Crete and in the
-19-
Peloponnese. Thus the commercial penetration was
transformed into conquest. Even so, ethnologically and
politically the Sea did not cease being Greek.
The Ottoman Turks: The Christian despoilers of Byzantion
had paved the way for the Ottoman Turk. In their drive
they spread over all of Asia Minor. Finally the Queen
of Cities, Constantinople, was captured by the Turks
on the 29th of May 1453. The invaders had already spread
over the Greek mainland.15
From 1646 until 1669, when they triumphed, the Ottoman
Turks bent their efforts toward driving the Venetians
from Crete. In 1684 they initiated an onslaught, which
they brought to a successful conclusion, for in 1689
the Venetians drove from the Peloponnese. Thus
politically the Aegean was entirely under the control
of the Ottoman Turks.
Yet despite the persecutions, the pillaging, the
massacres, and the burning of villages in a concerted
effort to transform the ethnological character of the
-20-
area--- something similar to what occurs today in
Cyprus -- the Greek element always had a dominant
ethnological and economic position. These factors
contributed greatly to the outbreak of the Revolution
of 1821, toward the casting off of the Turkish yoke.
It must not be forgotten that although the occupation
lasted a full 400 years, the conqueror
was unable to change the ethnological character of
the Greeks and the Aegean.
Russia: In the course of the Turkish occupation, yet
another power appeared, Russia, who aspired to impress
her own naval policy upon the Mediterranean. Its fleet
appeared in the Mediterranean for the first time in
1768. There followed a series of encounters between
Russia and Turkey, in the course of which the Ottoman Empire suffered many blows in the battle of Tsesme
the whole Turkish fleet was destroyed by fire. On
July 21,1774, the Treaty of Kioutchouk Kainartji
was drawn up, and thereafter the Russian fleet
dominated the Greek sea. However, they soon lost
that control, for other naval powers appeared:
the English and the French.16
The Greek Revolution, 1821: At that period significant
-21-
Greek commercial maritime influence was exerted by
merchants and sailors, principally from the islands
of Hydra, Spetsa, Psara, Andros, Mykonos, Mylos, Kasos,
and as well as other islands. The first organized
resistance of the Greek nati6@gainst the Turkish yoke
exploded in 1821. The Aegean Sea then played a vital
role, for thus the Greek fleets were able to control
the naval communications, to assure the supplying
of the embattled Greeks, and to present enormous
difficulties first to the Turkish, and after to the
Egyptian fleet. It must be observed that the uprising
of the Greeks might yet have been quenched. But finally
it was saved by the Battle of Navarino which occurred
on the 20th of October 1827, in the course of which
the united fleets of England, France, and Russia
destroyed the mighty fleet of the Egyptians. Thus, by
protocol, on the 22nd of January 1830 there was founded
the independent Nation of the Greeks.17
Thereafter the whole picture changed. Greece became the
newly emerged power. With the establishment
of the tiny Greek Nation its people applied themselves
to a series of struggles and sacrifices, in order to
change the status quo of the sea, to wrest it from the
-22-
Turkish hold, and to place it under their own complete
control. So it was done. Initially dominion over
the Sea was held by the triumphant powers of the naval
battle of Navarino -- England, France, Russia. In turn,
Greece itself extended her own influence along the
stretches of the coasts of the Aegean Sea.18
The resurrection of a new, independent Greek Nation
reverberated in Evoia, in the Cyclades, and in the
Northern Sporades. In 1881 with the annexation of
Thessaly the coastline of Greece was extended to the
mouth of the Aliakmon. The status quo of the islands
of the Aegean remained undisturbed.19
The Dodecanese: However, in 1911, there appeared a
new power, Italy, which as the result of a triumphant
war with Turkey seized the Greek-populated Dodecanese
Islands.
The Balkan War: In 1912 the Balkan War broke out
against Turkey ,with Greece fighting on the side of the
Balkan Nations. Following a series of military successes
Greece liberated the islands of Limnos, Samothraki,
Lesbos, Chios, Samas, Imbras, Icaria, Tenedos, and
-23-
others. It also gained domination over most of its lands.
In 1905, with the Revolution of Therison, Crete was
united to Greece. With the outbreak of the Balkan War
in February of 1912, Yannina was added. And on the 26th
of October 1912, Thessalonica was joined to the Mother
country. On the 29th of June 1915 Kavala followed. On
the 4th of October 1919 Xanthi was Greek.20
Smyrna: At the same time the Greek military forces
landed in Smyrna. At that critical moment of the first
World War, upon order of the Great Powers, England,
the United States, and Prance, the Greek Army reached
deep into the heart of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, following the triumphant Greek landing at Smyrna.21
The Greek Army in Constantinople : For the first time
since the Turkish Conquest of 1453, in November of 1918
Constantinople was placed under allied control; and
after all those centuries the Greek Army disembarked
at the quay of Constantinople in an atmosphere of
intense emotional exaltation.22
At this juncture it is appropriate to add the
-24-
following excerpt from the historical notes of Alexander N. Damianos:
“ .... But from 1917 the ethnic struggle was clearly seen, for it leaned toward the Entente. Eleftherios Venizelos fearing that the war might end without any gain at all, sped to extend every assistance unto the Allies. He fled to Crete, and thence to Thessalonica, where, heading a Revolutionary Government with the co-leadership of General Danglis and Admiral Kontouriotis, he placed himself at the side of the Allies.
“With the assistance of the French, Venizelos reached Athens, whilst upon the insistence of the Allies,King Constantine and the Crown Prince departed for Switzerland. The ill-fated, popular Prince Alexander was placed uponthe throne.
“The united Greek-Allied Forces under the leadership of the French Franchois D' Espere, defeated the Germans and the Bulgarians in the North, and the Turks in the East. It was the first Allied victory. What ensued is known. While it may be said that Germany was no defeated, but following the entrance of the United States in the War, and the already obvious opposition of the German Army, it was obliged to surrender. The autumn attack of General Foche obliged to sign the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
“The Turks, disgraced as never before, signed their no- term capitulation in Moudros, 17-30 October 1918. The united fleet of the victorious forces sailed to the ancient Queen of Cities, Constantinople.
“General Vakkas describes the overwhelming joy of the Greeks of Constantinople upon that historic morning when the Greek fleet sailed into the bay of the seven-hilled City: 'The Greeks gathered at the shore stood silently, dumbfounded in their astonishment. Nor could they believe their ears. The great band of the battleship continued to play the Greek National Anthem, I know thee by the edge of thy keen-cutting sword. The notes of the divine anthem resounded in the air. The first dumb amazement was followed by a wave of ecstasy; their joy shone upon their faces; there was exchanged one glance between slaves now born again. And just as the music reached the line, Hail, 0 hail, 0 victory! The crowds roared.
-25-
"There followed a delirium of enthusiasm. From a thousand lips there was heard Long live! A soaring and indescribable frenzy rose over those waves of an ocean of people transported by joy....Never had Greek spirits cheered Eleftherios Venizelos as did hundreds of thousands of Greeks on that unforgettable morning.”
23
It must be noted that in the course of the Balkan War
Greece seized all the Aegean islands, with the exception
of the Dodecanese, which were under Italian occupation.
Greece-Bulgarian War: The Greco-Bulgarian War followed,
and Greece occupied the shores of Eastern Macedonia.
Moreover, with the First World War, there occurred the
miraculous. For as we have already seen, all the coasts
of Thrace and of Western Asia Minor came under Greek
control.
The Catastrophe Of Asia Minor; But in 1922, with the
overwhelming catastrophe of Asia Minor,the Turks all
but succeeded in grasping the large islands of the Aegean
Sea. They did not, for with the signing of the Treaty
of Lausanne on the 29th of July 1923, the Greek Prime
Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, succeeded in securing
Greek control over the islands of the Aegean, with
the exception of the islands of 1mbros and Tenedos, which
even today languish under Turkish occupation.24
-26-
But here attention must be called to the inexplicable
attitude of the purported Allies of Greece. The epilogue
of that ghastly Hellenic catastrophe in Asia Minor is
bluntly given by the late Prime Minister of Great
Britain, that Father of Liberty, Sir Winston Churchill.
Unvarnished even with that distinguished literaly style
he writes in his book, "The World Crisis, 1925," as
follows: But fifteen days after the 26th of August 1922
the Greek Army, which had entered the East as the agent
of Great Britain, of the United States, and of France,
and which for three years had formed the mainstay of the
allied policy toward the Turks, yet at the same time
was also the object of inner-allied intrigue, was
destroyed and cast into the sea." And he continues, "The
re-entry into Europe of the Turks, as unleashed and
untamed conquerors, forms the greatest of humiliations
for the Allies.”25
The Great Betrayal: " ... ~
As Executive Secretary of the Emergency Committee for
Near East Refugees, in 1924 Edward Hale Bierstadt felt
himself impelled to write in his 'The Great Betrayal',
1"The United States made certain definite promises to
-27-
both the Armenian people and the Greek nation. These promises have been broken, and the Christian Minorities of Asia Minor have been practically obliterated. Why? Imperialism, to be sure. It would be uncharitable to put a less worthy construction on a betrayal of such generous proportions…”
For history indelibly records that Turkey was the ally
of the German Kaiser in the First World War, and that
it remained neutral in the Second World War. But in
both Wars, although Greece fought at the side of its
Allies, it was doomed to become a fiery sacrifice, as
the world was later to witness. One after the other,
in the course of the Second World War, nations of Europe
dropped into the hands of the Germans without a struggle.
But the small Nation of Greece, in whom previously none
had placed hope, held the German Empire at bay for nine
months, a delaying factor in the further advance of the
Germans. Thus bitter winter came upon them in the Soviet
Union, and consequently the Germans lost.
Cyprus: And yet today the great powers have forgotten
who indeed is the proven Ally. Greek Cyprus is permitted
to languish, many of its people refugees in their
own land. A whitewashed Turkey is consoled and encouraged.
Her expansionist tendencies toward the Aegean Sea are
-28-
tolerated. The age-old Greek domination of the Aegean
is threatened. Once again Greece receives the backhand
acknowledgement of her contributions to the Allies of
the West.
But the Catastrophe of Asia Minor still conceals an
ever greater evil. For it is historical fact that the
then Allies of Greece co-operated in the arming of
the Revolutionist, Kemal Attaturk, who uprooted the
Hellenes of Asia Minor by means of yet unheard of
genocide and slaughter in the twentieth century. Thus
they obliterated an Hellenic civilization
which had flourished on the coasts of Asia Minor for
about 3,000 years. That ethnological transformation
and catastrophe came with the finality of doom.
Shadow of the West:
As the historian Sakellaropoulos writes in his
book, "Shadow of the West"
!f Nowhere had victory been so conclusive as it now waswith the Turks. And yet nowhere was the validity of
the victors a more arrogant mockery, All the advantages of a successfully-waged war, all the laurels for whose sake so many thousands of men had fallen upon the crags of Kallipolis, and in the deserts of Palestine, and in the swamps of Macedonia, all the staggering costs which great campaigns demand All ended in humiliation. It was one absolute, indisputable victory for the Turks,
-29-
which had been tossed upon the table of the council of peace by the armies. Four years later the babblers had transformed it into defeat. All the beauteous bragging of Europe and of the United States, all the eloquence of their politicians, all the buzzing of its committees and its councils led the but recently mighty of the Earth unto that bitter and opprobrious end...." 26
However, the 3,000 year-old ethnological composition
of the Aegean was not destined to be disturbed, save
in 1922. Thus we shall quote three salient
characteristics of this period in Greek history,
according to the Greek historian Ambassador Constantine
Sakellaropoulos,who on page 39 of the same volume, Shadow
of the West,writes as follows:
" .... Unprecedented, perhaps, in the history of all times was the phenomenon of allies, who, not just previously to their imposing it, but almost two years before they had even drawn up the peace treaty which should have been the fruit of victory although without formally rupturing the alliance, openly placed themselves at the side of the enemy, and this out of hate and rivalry against their fellow-combatants and allies.
"The occurrence bore tragic results for Greece. For this attitude became one of the chief factors which created the catastrophe of Asia Minor. It was a phenomenon which prompted enormous misfortunes in general. Four years later it led to the Treaty of Lausanne, where an international conference under the chairmanship (what irony of fate!) of that individual who had so hasted to wring the Turkish submission, contrived to do nothing but to formalize the capitulation no longer of Turkey to Europe, but of Europe to Turkey ...." 27
Kemal Attaturk: On page 59 he writes:
" ... In any event, on the 15th May 1919, with the consent of the Allies, there was appointed as military inspector in Asia Minor the man who would be leader of the Turkish
-30-
revolutionists Kemal. Immediately upon receiving the pertinent order, and through Ismet and Fevji having striven to ensure the broad jurisdiction which he needed, sped to board a small ship, which would transport him to Samfounda. Soon after there arrived Reouf, who had come to see him. From Reouf Kemal learned that the Greeks had landed in Smyrna. Thus the decision of the highest allied council to send the Greek Army into Asia Minor was practically synchronous with the decision of the Turkish Government to send Kemal to Asia Minor. Was it indeed a simple coincidence? In any event it was fatal...”28
Finally on page 111 Sakellaropoulos writes:
1t ••• But the Greeks having been sent into Asia Minor by those same Allies, and having received the allied order that on
their behalf they should deal with the Turks, were not simply abandoned by their dispatchers and Allies. They were betrayed by most of them ...”
29
George Horton, who for thirty years had been Consul and
Consul General of the United States in the Near East,
in 1926 no longer acting in that capacity in his own
book, "The Blight of Asia" (Bobbs-Merril,Indianapolis),
writes on page 206:
“••••• The Germans were, as long as they lasted, the active allies of the Turks, and during this period nearly a million Armenians and many thousands of Greeks perished; after the Armistice and during the period which led up to the destruction of Smyrna and the accompanying massacre, the French and Italians were allies of the Turks, and furnished him moral and material support; the British gave no aid to the Greeks, but contented themselves with publishing an account of the dreadful events that had been taken place in the Ottoman Empire; the Americans gained the reputation of being pro-Turk, true friends, who would ultimately, on account of this friendship, be given the permission to put through great schemes which would result in the development of the Ottoman Empire
--31-
and, incidentally, fill certain American pocketbooks. The Turks confidently believed that commercial avarice would prevent us from interfering with their savagery, or even strongly condemning it...”30
And yet, despite the betrayal and the catastrophe,
through her heroic efforts Greece succeeded in retaining
her supremacy over the whole Aegean. The status quo
remained unchanged for 25 consecutive years, until
1947. The presence of Kemal Attaturk did not permit
a change of spirit in the Greco-Turkish co-existence.
Yet he did not attempt the slightest change upon that
contestable Sea. So long as he was in power he never
questioned the Hellenism of the Aegean Sea, and he
always left that disputable Sea as was natural to it
- Greek.
But following his death, with the events of 1938, and
especially at about the time of the outbreak of the
Second World War, there appeared upon the horizon the
first signs of the Turkish expansionist policy. Indeed
the appropriate occasion presented itself.
Specifically, as a proviso to Turkey’s entry into the
War on the side of the Allies, it requested a change
of the status quo of the Aegean, stipulating that in
-32-
return it be given both the Dodecanese Islands and
Samos. The Allies soberly considered that demand on
the part of the Turks.
Samos: The mischief was not long in appearing, when
in 1943 Samos was seized by a few Greek and British
Forces in connection with the action of the Second
World War. The landing of those Forces was the first
action liberating Greek soil from the toils of the
conqueror. That is, it was the first Greek territory
which was freed. Yet rather than permitting a general
celebration, the English held the Island in complete
isolation. Not only that, but despite its intense
efforts, the exiled Greek Government in the Middle
East did not succeed in making contact with the
first liberated Greek soil that Aegean isle, Samos.
Hurriedly Minister Emmanuel Sophoulis was sent to
Samos. Upon his arrival he was thunderstruck when he
discovered that the telegrams which had been sent
to Samos through the Allied Command of the Middle East
were never turned over to the Hellenes by their
-33-
recipients, the British. Moreover, at this juncture
a characteristic anecdote emerges from the secret files
of the English Foreign Office. Accordingly, a message ""-'
sent the Samians by their King, George II, never
reached them at all. For in the pertinent file,
PIC/190/2.there is written proof that it was never , dispatched.
Then Samos was saved as if by a miracle, for England
did not mean to deploy strong naval units to free the
Aegean, in order to surrender it without a struggle
into the hands of the Turks. Thus the naval action
which it attempted against the Dodecanese and Samos
was in danger of collapse. Furthermore, Turkey
remained passive, for she saw that the Allies did not
send a strong fleet, and that there existed no
likelihood that its expansionist ambitions would
materialize. In that manner was Samos spared.31
Finally, when the war activities in the Islands of
the Aegean Sea were concluded, a Greek Administration
was established on all. Excepted were the Dodecanese,
which remained under Italian occupation until the 10th
-34-
of February' 1947 ,at which time the Peace Treaty of Paris was signed, marking the end of the Second World War.32
Dodecanese: In the course of that conference, both
Italy and Turkey lay claim to the Dodecanese. There
ensued frightful recondite behind the scenes
maneuvering.
Finally, the Dodecanese were awarded to Greece as
a slight token of acknowledgement of the sacrifices
it had made during the Second World War, On the side
of its Allies.
In any event, there is one great truth. Should the need
arise, as it has always done in the past, even more so in the
future, Greece will once again demonstrate that there exist
not people with material strength, but people with traditions
and with history. The Turkish Government is committing an
enormous error, for it knocks upon the portals of the Aegean
with a tardiness of some 3,000 years.
FOOTNOTES
1. P. Decharme, Mythology of Ancient Greece. Philosophy School of
the University of Paris, pp. 541-545, 1878 edition.
3. Webster Lincoln, World History, Nebraska, March 1925. Pp.71-101.
4. Ibid., pp.71-101.
5. Ibid., pp.113-148.
6. Ibid., pp. 187-190, 230-234.
7. Ibid., p. 71.
8. Ibid., pp. 15, 47, 71, 114, 158.
9. Ibid., pp. 69-70, 71-73.
10. Ibid. pp. 71-75.
11. Ibid. pp. 84-89, 102-104.
12. Ibid. pp. 123-129, 140-148.
13. Ibid. pp. 176-180.
14. Ibid. pp. 22, 161, 180, 182, 184, 186, 689.
15. Ibid. pp. 193-194.
16. Ibid. pp. 79-92.
17. Ibid. p. 532, and also from the book: “History of the Eastern Question” by Edouard Driault, 1900, pp. 142-179.
18. Edouard Driault, History of the Easrern Question,” 1900, p. 170.
19. Ibid, pp. 142-179.
20. Eleftherios Venizelos Bible, edition 1964, (1864-1908)p. 125, “World History of Webster, Lincoln Nebraska, March 1925,.pp. 532-539, “Eleftherios Venizelos Bible” (1912-1914) p. 15, and also from the book “Operations in Thrace” of the Greek Army, Athens 1969, pp. 13-28.
21. “Eleftherios Venizelos Bible” (1917-1922) pp. 321-432.
22. Ibid. pp. 321-432.
23. N. Damianos, Great Men of the Nation, Athens 1971. pp. 183-185.
24. From the book “Operations in Thrace” of the Greek Army, Athens
25.1971, pp. 167-170.
26. Ibid. p. 170
27. K. Sakellaropoulos, Shadow of the West”, edition 1961, p. 29.
28. Ibid. p. 39.
29. Ibid. p. 59.
30. George Horton, The Blight of Asia, p. 206.
31. From the Greek Magazine “Epikaira”, Issue 30/1-5, Athens 1975. p. 21.
32. See Finish Peace Treaty, Paris, February 10, 1947.