The Last Ottomans: The Muslim Minority of Greece 1940-1949 (New Perspectives on South-East Europe)

This book provides a new study of the international and local politics surrounding the Muslim minority of Western Thrace (Greece) in the 1940s, based on previously unseen archival material. It addresses the minority’s complex identity, its relations with other communities in the area, the international diplomacy of WWII and strategic considerations of the Cold War. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 List of Boxes......Page 11 List of Tables......Page 13 List of Maps and Plates......Page 14 List of Abbreviations......Page 15 List of Place Names......Page 17 Preface......Page 22 1.1 An historical puzzle: the Muslims of Western Thrace during two wars......Page 26 1.2 Positioning the case study......Page 30 1.3 A note on sources and methodology......Page 32 2.1 Introduction......Page 36 Location, location, location......Page 37 Distant neighbours......Page 43 2.3 Stillborn attempts for Thracian statehood......Page 49 The Tamrash (Тъмръш) Rebellion (1878–1886)......Page 50 The Republic of Gümülcine (1913)......Page 52 The Turkish Republic of Western Thrace (1920)......Page 55 The question of Thrace within the context of socialist internationalism......Page 58 2.4 The ‘minoritisation’ of the Muslims of Western Thrace......Page 61 Between Ottoman ‘traditionalism’ and Kemalist ‘progress’......Page 66 The electoral behaviour of the Muslim minority in the 1930s......Page 70 2.6 Conclusion......Page 76 3.1 Introduction......Page 79 3.2 Shifting balances in the Balkans: the international context prior to WWII......Page 80 3.3 Western Thrace prepares for war......Page 90 3.4 The Muslim community of Western Thrace and the outbreak of war......Page 94 3.5 Changing loyalties: the battle(s) for Turkey’s neutrality......Page 108 3.6 Conclusion......Page 115 4.2 The arrival of the Bulgarian administration......Page 116 4.3 Accounts of Bulgarian repression......Page 118 4.4 The economic impact of the Bulgarian occupation......Page 126 4.5 Wartime population movements......Page 133 4.6 Education and religion as vehicles of Bulgarian nationalism......Page 138 The Armenian community......Page 145 The Roma community......Page 148 The Jewish community......Page 150 4.8 Conclusions......Page 154 5.1 Introduction......Page 156 5.2 The onset of resistance activity in occupied Greece......Page 157 5.3 The activity of EAM-ELAS in Western Thrace......Page 161 5.4 The activity of the nationalist resistance groups in Western Thrace......Page 168 5.5 Muslim collaboration with the Bulgarian forces......Page 173 5.6 The Turkish Consulate of Komotini......Page 177 5.7 Conclusions......Page 181 6.1 Introduction......Page 183 The Allies advance......Page 184 Bulgaria tries to stay......Page 185 Playing the ‘Pomak Card’......Page 191 6.3 A muted liberation......Page 199 6.4 From chaos to chaos......Page 209 The Muslim community at the polls......Page 211 No turning back......Page 213 6.5 Conclusion......Page 214 7.1 Introduction......Page 217 7.2 Muslim soldiers of the Proletarian revolution......Page 218 The military strategy of the DSE in Western Thrace......Page 219 DSE recruitment and violence in Muslim villages......Page 221 The Ottoman Battalion of the DSE......Page 229 Women recruitment in the Ottoman battalion......Page 232 The endgame of the civil war......Page 235 7.3 Good Muslim, bad Muslim......Page 240 Muslim recruitment in the Greek army and government-sponsored militias......Page 242 Evidence of state-induced violence against the Muslim community......Page 247 Court-Martial cases involving members of the Muslim community......Page 251 Communist propaganda in the Rhodope Mountains......Page 254 State-organised anti-communist propaganda......Page 260 7.5 Conclusion......Page 267 The return of the Greek state to Western Thrace......Page 270 The Soviet Muslim Republic of Western Thrace......Page 275 8.3 Muslim immigration to Turkey during the civil war......Page 284 Immigration tales......Page 285 The response of the Greek authorities to the Muslim emigration......Page 289 8.4 Welfare provision for the ‘guerrilla-stricken’......Page 293 The distribution of government aid in Western Thrace......Page 294 The welfare of children as an instrument of war......Page 298 8.5 Minority education during the civil war......Page 302 Educating ‘nationally-minded’ Greeks......Page 304 Educating Muslim communists......Page 309 8.6 Conclusion......Page 314 9 Conclusion......Page 316 9.1 The strategic relevance of kindred minorities......Page 317 9.2 Resistance and insurgency......Page 319 9.3 Identity, ‘groupness’ and war......Page 322 9.4 Future research......Page 326 9.5 The nexus between past and present......Page 327 Sources......Page 330 Index......Page 358 Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 List of Boxes 11 List of Tables 13 List of Maps and Plates 14 List of Abbreviations 15 List of Place Names 17 Preface 22 1 Introduction 26 1.1 An historical puzzle: the Muslims of Western Thrace during two wars 26 1.2 Positioning the case study 30 1.3 A note on sources and methodology 32 2 The Muslim Community of Western Thrace in Context 36 2.1 Introduction 36 2.2 The physical and human geography of Western Thrace 37 Location, location, location 37 Distant neighbours 43 2.3 Stillborn attempts for Thracian statehood 49 The Tamrash (Тъмръш) Rebellion (1878–1886) 50 The Republic of Gümülcine (1913) 52 The Turkish Republic of Western Thrace (1920) 55 The question of Thrace within the context of socialist internationalism 58 2.4 The ‘minoritisation’ of the Muslims of Western Thrace 61 2.5 The political orientation of the minority during the 1930s 66 Between Ottoman ‘traditionalism’ and Kemalist ‘progress’ 66 The electoral behaviour of the Muslim minority in the 1930s 70 2.6 Conclusion 76 3 On the Path to War 79 3.1 Introduction 79 3.2 Shifting balances in the Balkans: the international context prior to WWII 80 3.3 Western Thrace prepares for war 90 3.4 The Muslim community of Western Thrace and the outbreak of war 94 3.5 Changing loyalties: the battle(s) for Turkey’s neutrality 108 3.6 Conclusion 115 4 Belomorie 116 4.1 Introduction 116 4.2 The arrival of the Bulgarian administration 116 4.3 Accounts of Bulgarian repression 118 4.4 The economic impact of the Bulgarian occupation 126 4.5 Wartime population movements 133 4.6 Education and religion as vehicles of Bulgarian nationalism 138 4.7 Smaller minority groups in wartime Western Thrace 145 The Armenian community 145 The Roma community 148 The Jewish community 150 4.8 Conclusions 154 5 Strategies for Survival 156 5.1 Introduction 156 5.2 The onset of resistance activity in occupied Greece 157 5.3 The activity of EAM-ELAS in Western Thrace 161 5.4 The activity of the nationalist resistance groups in Western Thrace 168 5.5 Muslim collaboration with the Bulgarian forces 173 5.6 The Turkish Consulate of Komotini 177 5.7 Conclusions 181 6 In-Between Two Wars 183 6.1 Introduction 183 6.2 The fall of the Bulgarian empire 184 The Allies advance 184 Bulgaria tries to stay 185 Playing the ‘Pomak Card’ 191 6.3 A muted liberation 199 6.4 From chaos to chaos 209 The Muslim community at the polls 211 No turning back 213 6.5 Conclusion 214 7 Çekiç Ile Örs Arasinda (Between a Rock and a Hard Place) 217 7.1 Introduction 217 7.2 Muslim soldiers of the Proletarian revolution 218 The military strategy of the DSE in Western Thrace 219 DSE recruitment and violence in Muslim villages 221 The Ottoman Battalion of the DSE 229 Women recruitment in the Ottoman battalion 232 The endgame of the civil war 235 7.3 Good Muslim, bad Muslim 240 Muslim recruitment in the Greek army and government-sponsored militias 242 Evidence of state-induced violence against the Muslim community 247 Court-Martial cases involving members of the Muslim community 251 7.4 The battle for Muslim hearts and minds 254 Communist propaganda in the Rhodope Mountains 254 State-organised anti-communist propaganda 260 7.5 Conclusion 267 8 Parallel Universes 270 8.1 Introduction 270 8.2 The Muslim community between two authorities 270 The return of the Greek state to Western Thrace 270 The Soviet Muslim Republic of Western Thrace 275 8.3 Muslim immigration to Turkey during the civil war 284 Immigration tales 285 The response of the Greek authorities to the Muslim emigration 289 8.4 Welfare provision for the ‘guerrilla-stricken’ 293 The distribution of government aid in Western Thrace 294 The welfare of children as an instrument of war 298 8.5 Minority education during the civil war 302 Educating ‘nationally-minded’ Greeks 304 Educating Muslim communists 309 8.6 Conclusion 314 9 Conclusion 316 9.1 The strategic relevance of kindred minorities 317 9.2 Resistance and insurgency 319 9.3 Identity, ‘groupness’ and war 322 9.4 Future research 326 9.5 The nexus between past and present 327 Sources 330 Index 358 A new study of the international and local politics surrounding the Muslim minority of Western Thrace (Greece) in the 1940s, based on previously unseen archival material. Addresses the minority's complex identity, its relations with other communities in the area, the international diplomacy of WWII and strategic considerations of the Cold War. Why, when faced with a brutal occupation and then a bloody civil war, did the Muslims on Greece's border with Turkey remain passive? The Lausanne Treaty of 1923 had recognized them as a vulnerable minority and there were a number of international and local factors that might have led to ethnic conflict. This first in-depth historical study of the minority explores the puzzle of the absence of conflict, the complex patterns of identity of the minority, and the strategic relevance of this community to the international relations of a region long seen as a powder-keg. It is based on extensive Greek, Turkish and Bulgarian archive materials, many of which have not been analyzed before, as well as the official documents of the British and US governments and personal interviews with many of those who lived through these events. The Last Ottomans traces a fascinating, untold story and tells it through an inter-disciplinary lens, raising important questions of relevance not only to the 1940s but also to the inherited assumptions and images of today