| Chios massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part ofMassacres during the Greek War of Independence | |
 The Massacre at Chios (1824) byEugène Delacroix | |
| Location | 38°21′50″N26°03′47″E / 38.3640°N 26.0630°E /38.3640; 26.0630 Chios,Ottoman Empire |
| Date | March–August 1822 |
| Target | Greeks on the island ofChios |
Attack type | Massacre,mass murder,slavery |
| Victims | Up to 100,000 killed or enslaved. At least:
|
| Perpetrators |  Ottoman Empire |
| 30,000 | |
| Motive | Anti-Greek sentiment, Ottomancolonialism,Turkification |
TheChios massacre (Greek:Η σφαγή της Χίου,pronounced[isfaˈʝitisˈçi.u]) was a catastrophe that resulted in the death,enslavement, and flight of about four-fifths of the total population ofGreeks on the island ofChios byOttoman troops during theGreek 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 ofChristians provoked outrage across theWestern world and led to increasing support for the Greek cause worldwide.
For over 2,000 years, merchants and shipowners from Chios had been prominent in trade and diplomacy throughout theBlack Sea, theAegean, and theMediterranean. TheOttoman Empire allowed Chios almost complete control over its own affairs as Chioten trade and the very highly valuedmastic plant, harvested only on Chios, were of great value to the Ottomans. The cosmopolitan Chiotes were also very prominent inConstantinople. Following themassacre, however, the island never regained its commercial prominence.[citation needed]
The island's ruling classes were reluctant to join theGreek 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 inAnatolia to be safe.[5] At some points, Chios is only 6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi) from the Anatolian mainland, across theChios Strait.
In March 1822, as the Greek revolt gathered strength on the mainland, several hundred armed Greeks from the neighbouring island ofSamos landed in Chios. They attacked the Turks, who retreated to thecitadel. 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 theKapudan PashaNasuhzade Ali Pasha arrived on the island on 22 March.[which calendar?] They quickly pillaged and looted the town. On 12 April [O.S. 31 March], orders were given to burn down the town, and over the next four months, an estimated 30,000 Turkish troops arrived.[7] The British warshipHMSSeringapatam 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 toobserve strict neutrality in the Greek War of Independence the ship gave no assistance and proceeded on her way.[8] 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 up to 100,000 were killed or enslaved.[4] At least 25,000 were killed, 45,000 enslaved, and 10,000 to 20,000 fled.[2][3][4][9] Estimates of the number of those slaughtered ran upward of 50,000, with an equal number enslaved.[4][10] Tens of thousands of survivors dispersed throughout Europe and became part of theChian diaspora. Some young Greeks enslaved during the massacre wereadopted by wealthy Ottomans and converted to Islam. Some rose to levels of prominence in the Ottoman Empire, such as Georgios Stravelakis (later renamedMustapha Khaznadar) andIbrahim Edhem Pasha.[11]
There was outrage when the events were reported in Europe[12] and French painterEugène Delacroix created a painting depicting the events that occurred; his painting was namedScenes from the Massacres of Chios.Thomas Barker of Bath painted afresco of the massacre on the walls of Doric House,Bath, Somerset.[13]
A draft of this painting, created under the supervision of Delacroix in his lab by one of his students, is in display in theAthens 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 ofGreek-Turkish relations. However, the Greek press protested its removal.[citation needed] The copy is now back on display in the museum.
Victor Hugo's collection of poemsLes Orientales, published in 1829, include the poem "L'Enfant" ("The Child") devoted to the massacre of Chios. The American poetWilliam Cullen Bryant published the poem "The Massacre at Scio" in 1824.
During a session of the Permanent Holy Synod of the OrthodoxChurch of Greece in Athens on 14–15 July 2021, at the proposal of Metropolitan Markos ofChios, Psara and Oinousses, the Holy Synod glorified Metropolitan Plato of Chios, and 43 others, who were martyred by Ottoman troops in the Chios Massacre onHoly Friday in 1822.[14][15] The list included priests, deacons,hieromonks and monks, to be commemorated on theSunday of the Paralytic each year.[16]
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.[17]
At the end of May, the Greek captains fromPsara andHydra decided to burn the Ottomanflagship, the 84-gunship of the lineMansur al-liwa, by usingfire ships. The operation took place on the night of 18 June [O.S. 6 June] 1822 and was conducted byKonstantinos Kanaris andAndreas Pipinos.[18] About two thousand Ottoman sailors were killed or drowned, including admiralNasuhzade Ali Pasha, who had led the Chios massacre two months earlier.[19][20]
![Georgios Stravelakis, a survivor at the age of five of the massacre, was sold into slavery.[21] He eventually became Prime Minister of Tunis, from 1837 to 1873.[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMustapha_Khaznadar_1846.jpg)
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"?
"The Sisters of Scio" is a poetic response to the massacre byFelicia Hemans, first published inThe Literary Souvenir annual for 1830, with an engraving by Henry Rolls of a painting by A. Phalipon.