The Çams are a little known Albanian Muslim group that lived in northwestern Greece until 1944and so is their history: their trajectory during the first half of the 20 th century remains to this day one of the least known subjects of relatively recent Greek history. It is an issue which for quite a few decades remained under a shroud of silence and virtually ignored by Greek historiography. The filling in of this gap and the need for an approach as objective as possible to this theme is what the present work aspires to accomplish. The chronological point of departure for this work is the year 1923, a year in which, due to the important issue of the population exchange, the Greek state had 'discovered' the Albanian Çams in Epirus and was obliged for the first time to draw out a specific and systematic policy towards them. The terms by which they were incorporated into the Greek state, their living conditions, the problems that emerged during the inter-war period and, indeed, the dramatic escalation of the issue which took place simultaneous to the Greek-Italian War, occupy the central part of the present work.

Since its foundation in the late 1820’s, the modern Greek state had no policy in relation to gaining the support of Muslim populations, let alone incorporating them politically or socially. This became particularly evident in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars (1912-1913), which saw Greece almost double its size and acquire a significant Muslim population of some three to four hundred thousand people. Given the new circumstances, Greek authorities would soon be challenged by citizenship and property issues related to the Muslim minority, which were not settled effectively -either internally or on a bilateral basis between Greece and the Ottoman Empire- by the time World War I broke out in July 1914. Thus, the war would create new implications in relation to the status and the rights of Muslims in Greece, such as the question of their enrolment and their unwillingness to fight against Ottoman forces, a question still unresolved at the time of the Moudros Armistice (October 1918) and the deployment of Greek forces in Asia Minor (May 1919). The end of the Greek-Turkish War in August 1922 wouldn’t provide them with more security or protection either, as they soon were to be exchanged with Greeks from Anatolia, in the context of a mutually agreed population exchange, described at the Convention of Lausanne (1923). The aim of this paper is to pose new questions in relation to the political and social life of Muslims in Greece during the decade mentioned, while providing a comprehensive and contemporary analysis of the circumstances and obstacles involved.

Balkan Studies, 56, 2024

The aim of this paper is to outline the evolution of the Greek and Albanian historiography in matters pertaining to Greek-Albanian relations in the course of the 2000s and how these are conditioned more by ideological proclivities than by the intensity and quality of contact of Albanian and Greek historians with each other or by the generation of historians.

The Greek Independence Revolution and beyond: The zooming of the Albanian role and impact, 2020

The nineteenth century is generally considered a century which inspired many nations, both in the East and West, towards the path of independence. While their aims may have been similar, the approach, the overall struggles and management of their individual independence courses, were rather distinctive.

European Review of History: Revue europeenne d'histoire, 2020

International Journal of Disciplines In Economics and Administrative Sciences Studies (IDEAstudies), 2017

Albanians is a nation of being successful in the experience of the state. They demonstrate that in Egypt in 19th century. Under the leadership of Mehmet Ali Pasha, the first industrialization move was initiated in Egypt. Mehmet Ali Pasha was originally from the town of Yaniya in Albania. Nevertheless, European Great Powers has reserved Albanian independence, early 20th century. The attitude of Albanian official delegation in Paris, was one of the most important moment of the history of Albania. It expressed the fact that the Albanian political class understood the interests of the European Great Powers emerged from The First World War as winners and so they had to follow a new policy. In Albania there were two political groups who had different attitudes towards the policy Albania had to follow with the European countries. The aim of this article is to present these trends and after the trend. Early 21th century Albanian, a NATO member and candidate for the EU show that the esteemed nation of Europe.

2020

The object of this paper, it is one of many attempt s to analyze the heritage of the Ottoman rule in the four Albanian-speaking vilayets, an d later the newly shaped independent Albania, under the aegis of the Great Powers and th eir decisions of London 1913. The question that rises is: what is the Ottoman heritage in Albania? It’s the islamization of the society, the minarets, the common taste in food and hab its, the feeling of being part of this Meso-region as Jen ő Szűcs has rightfully described and Maria Todorova has c lled as imaginary, more than real (the Balkan phenomena )? Or the Ottoman heritage is the blood, fire and war, continuously proposed by the national official history? This paper focuses on the direct line between the a ttempts of the late Ottoman Sultans to modernize their empire, the difficulties that they faced, and how and when these problems manifested in Albanian-speaking territories, and th e link with nationalism. In the first chapter I am going to provide...

This paper examines the role that Greek Metropolitan Iakovos played in Albanian-Greek relations from the end of World War I to the establishment of a national Autocephalous Orthodox Albanian Church in 1922. As a result of the political and social structure that was in place during the Ottoman Empire, religion played a significant role in postOttoman politics. This was amplified in countries like Albania, where no national religious institutions existed. At the end of World War I, Greece used its influence towards the Patriarchate of Constantinople to increase its opportunity to annex the terra irredenta of Korçë and Gjirokastër, while Albania tried and managed to nationalize religious communities that existed in its territory. The mainly Orthodox, Albanian-speaking Area/Region/Diocese of Korça where religion became the outmost battlefield between Albania and Greece is the area of research for this paper. The way politics used religious communities on one hand, and the way religious communities used their influence towards politics on the other hand, constitute the core analyses of this paper. The theoretical approach of religion as a soft power in International Relations distinguishes two main levels of the religious communities, firstly its role as a political structure (bishops, priests) that can be influenced by state organization and secondly its divine authority, which constitutes its inner strength and can be used to influence the faithful population toward a national or social idea. As such, the paper focuses on Albanian-Greek diplomatic battle as well as on the religious battle between the Albanian-speaking Orthodox populations the Greek religious hierarchy. The results that are acquired from this paper can be used in other similar situations throughout the territories that once were part of the Ottoman Empire, as they have as their basic premise the Millet System based on which the Sultans governed their empire.

Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 2013

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

This paper presents the first findings of a longitudinal research to History School Textbooks in the Albanian-speaking Western Balkans, in Albania and outside it, from the Albanian National Awakening Movement to 2010s.1 The project aims at studying the Image of the ‘Other’ and its transformations during this time period and is, as far as we are aware, the first of its kind tracing all school history textbooks in a time-series spanning three centuries – Albania being a good example for a case-study. Longitudinal research on history textbooks, rarely pursued (Meyers 1976), seeks to add value to textbook research, as it provides an opportunity to trace the development of history-textbooks’ production parallel to the history of a state and the construction of cultural ‘remembering.’ In doing so, the project, utilizing the idea of researching textbooks for traces of social controversy (Christophe 2010, Klerides 2010) and political conflict (Taylor, Guyver 2011), attempts to identify the role of textbooks in the historical origins and development of socio-political biases towards the ‘Other’ in Albania, a topic linked with cognitive aspects of collective memory (Beim 2007). One of the research project’s facets is to investigate the image of the "Greek" in identifications and identification shifts of the study time and regions vis-à-vis majority/minority group, domestic and international developments, new states, bilateral and multilateral relations. We argue that the image of Greek as the ethnic “Other” in Albania school textbooks transforms in the frame of domestic developments in both countries and of bilateral relations. In this present paper we shall deal specifically with representation of Greek / Greece / Hellenes in the earliest recorded history textbooks in Albania until 1938, a period that corresponds with the first educational initiatives of Albania’s national awakening movement (cultural awakening), the nascent Albanian state and its consolidation through mass educational movement until World War II. Our sampling units consist nine history textbooks including Naim Frashëri’s Histori e Përgjithshme për Mësonjëtorët e Para (General History for the First Schools) (1886, republished in 1920), the very first History textbook used in Albanian schools. In view of the noticeable differences between the various newer editions of older texts we deemed appropriate to code them, although this seemed to be the case more at Chekrezi 1935 as different from Çekrezi 1920, rather than the Frashëri example, where the two versions of the texts are identical. But we decided to include it nonetheless, since this book was re-printed and re-used in schools and one could argue it continued to have some impact. We deem this topic to be important, because it reflects the perception of the ethnic Other in the process of nation-formation and state-building and how that changes from periods of ‘normal’ politics, after the state is well consolidated. We decided to choose this time period as one that illustrates best the focus of our research which deals with the way that pedagogies of war and textbooks are used to create and maintain a certain version of national identity which is constructed in opposition to the ethnic “other”, which most often happens to be the neighboring country/nationals. The selection of these textbooks not only reflects the direct relevance it has for the period we are studying in order to investigate the shifts and how it impacted the Albanian national identity, but also because these textbooks are the only surviving texts of these periods. In other words, in our research in National Library and archives, we could find only these remaining and surviving texts by these authors and do not possess knowledge of any other specimen. Thus, our effort to digitalize these texts and to use them as a reservoir of primary data that is analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, serves not only our specific project that focuses on the perception of the Greek in the Albanian national identity-building process in the period from 1886 to 1938, but also as a pool of useful data for similar projects.

The Politics of National minority Participation in Post-Communist Europe, 2019

‒ Violence, resistance and collaboration in a Greek borderland: the case of the Muslim Chams of Epirus The ethnic infighting that took place in Thesprotia between the Greek and Albanian communities during the Axis occupation has been described as a forgotten conflict. Indeed, until recently, the only existing studies were those of local «organic» intellectuals who argued that the Alba-nian Muslim minority collaborated collectively first with the Italian and then with the German occupiers in the hope that an Axis victory would lead to the eventual creation of a Greater Alba-nian state. The article will challenge these views and argue that the conflict was shaped by local issues and antagonisms that predated the war and were often unrelated to nationalist agendas. Politics were used by local actors of all nationalities as a means of expressing local differences; however, the root of the conflict must be sought in communal relations. Both the victims and the perpetrators knew each other, shared common cultural codes and often had longstanding grievances. But this was not a parochial conflict waged between pre-modern peasants. Violence became possible solely as a result of the war and the presence of supra-local actors – the Resistance organisations, the Axis militaries and the British Military Mission – who gave peasants the opportunity and means by which to settle their differences. The presence of these groups served to nationalise the ongoing local struggles and led ultimately to an escalation of violence, resulting in the bloody stand-off that took place in the summer of 1944.

2024

This paper deals with the status of Cretan Muslims during the late autonomous period, from the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 to the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) and union with Greece. This short period is full of political events, as Cretan Christians were dissatisfied with the autonomous regime conceded by the Powers in 1898, and continued to push for complete emancipation. Considering the proclamation of elections in the Ottoman Empire to be both an “opportunity” and a threat, Cretan Christian politicians staged a coup and declared union with Greece on October 6, 1908, which the Cretan Assembly adopted the next day. Contrary to what had happened in Eastern Rumelia in 1885, the Powers decided not to recognize the fait accompli, but went ahead with the withdrawal of their troops from Crete in July 1909, which led to another pro-union manifestation, the so-called “Flag incident”, and Ottoman threats for military intervention. Another crisis unfolded in 1910, as the Cretan Muslim deputies were asked to give an oath of allegiance to the Greek Constitution and the Greek King, which they refused to do. The Powers came up with a compromise in late 1911, but the Cretan Christians continued to strive for the “completion” of union with Greece, trying to participate at the proceedings of the Greek Parliament in late 1911 and early 1912. Although Crete continued to be nominally a part of the Ottoman Empire, it mobilized its army and participated at the Balkan Wars against it. De facto union with Greece was achieved in October 1912 and the official ceremony of union took place in December 1913, signaling the end of the Cretan Question. This paper makes extensive use of the Cretan State archives, available at the Historical Archives of Crete (IAK) in Chania, comparing their information with books of prominent politicians and journalists of the time and references in the Press, aiming to construct a coherent and objective narrative of the related events.

Geopolitics, 2006

For most Greeks, neighbouring countries like Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and Albania formed a terra incognita for almost half a century since the end of the Second World War. In the early 1990s communism collapsed in all four countries and despite the three bloody wars that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia, information, goods and people crossed Balkan boundaries in unprecedented speed. The paper examines three geopolitical codes about the Balkans that successively dominated Greek views and policies in the last fifteen years: the idea of a menacing 'muslim arc', the image of the Balkans as a Greek 'natural hinterland' and the idea of the Balkans as an undisputed part of Europe. All these geopolitical ideas were introduced by the Greek political elite and influenced decisively both Greek foreign policy and public attitudes for about half a decade each. A man encounters an unfriendly group of warriors in the jungle. "Are you with us or with the others ?" the warriors ask. "With you" is the man's immediate answer. "Sorry", the warriors' retort, "we are the others." (Story told by Greek Ambassador Loucas Tsilas 1

2005

Journal of Modern Greek Studies 25:1 (May 2005): 204-208. This multidisciplinary volume draws from a conference entitled "Greece and the Balkans: Cultural Encounters since the Enlightenment," held at Birmingham University in the United Kingdom, on June 28–30, 2001. It explored cultural relationships between Greece and other Balkan countries in the areas of language, literature, history, dress, religion, translation, and music (but notably not film). Issues prioritized related to identity and perception among Balkan peoples since the Enlightenment at a time when the historical legacies of nationalism and Cold War communism have seen to it that these peoples look to Europe for a common future and (self)recognition and less so to each other. If, today, Greece sees itself (again) as a guide for its neighbors' European progress and modernization, such posturing seems imperious to recipients of such assistance. While for many Greeks, the desire to relate to the Balkans is seen as taking a step backwards to a prior stage in Greek development. Consequently, the Greek financial, cultural, and political demarche to the Balkans since the 1990s hardly captivates the Greek popular imagination. In a succinct introduction, the editor, Dimitris Tziovas, lays out the cultural, social, and political significance of the Balkans and the scholarly parameters for pursuing its analysis.

Petros Marazopoulos, The “Balkans” in Modern Greek Culture: Negotiating a term. Foreword by Dimitris Kargiotis, Thessaloniki: Epikentro pubs, 2023, Sygkrisi 33 (2024) 386-388, 2024

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2017

Why do ethnoculturally defined states pursue favourable policies to integrate some returnees from their historical diasporas while neglecting or excluding others? We study this question by looking at members of two historical diasporas that, in the 1990s, returned to their respective ethnic homelands, Greece and Serbia, but were not treated uniformly by their respective governments. Utilising a wide range of primary sources, we consider evidence for a number of plausible explanations for such policy variation, including the economic profile of an ethnic returnee group, its status in internal ethnic hierarchies, its lobbying power, and dynamics of party politics. We find, instead, that the observed variation is best explained by the role that each particular group played in the ruling elites' ex ante foreign policy objectives. Elites discouraged the repatriation of co-ethnics from parts of the world they still had claims over, by pursuing unfavourable repatriation policies. Conversely, absent a revisionist claim, states adopted favourable repatriation policies to encourage their repatriation and facilitate their integration upon return. Methodologically, the article illustrates the importance of focused comparisons across dyads of states and particular sub-diaspora groups.

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