The Greek-Turkish War 1918–1923: An Australian Press Perspective, and: Sorrowful Shores: Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire, 1912–1923 (review)

The Asia Minor War (1918–1923) has always been a contentious topic in Greek and Turkish historiography. Even the names assigned to it, Asia Minor Disaster and War of Liberation respectively, point to the emotional responses these events continue to generate. As a result, the books produced to discuss the conflict, and the circumstances leading up to it, are often colored by the background of the author, and the few that have tried even mildly to take a more detached attitude are often attacked, especially if they are meant as textbooks for young Greeks or Turks. One would think that foreign academia would have been able to provide a more dispassionate approach to these historical events, which are after all fast approaching their centenary anniversary, but that has not been the case. Although recent years have seen the publication (or re-issue) of several books dealing with the circumstances of the Greco-Turkish conflict of that time, few have broken new ground or have been of unquestionable scholarly value. In addition, in response to a renewed fascination with multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious entities, most recent publications have been mostly focused on a single city, the city of Smyrna (Izmir) which is portrayed as a multi-ethnic paradise destroyed by the rising tides of nationalism and intolerance that pitted the various communities against each other (see for example Giles Milton's Paradise Lost: Smyrna 1922). Thus there is a plethora of books dealing with the final chapter of these events, the destruction of much of the city of Smyrna (Izmir) by the advancing Turkish Nationalist forces after the defeat and evacuation of the Greek forces from Asia Minor (see for example Marjorie Housepian Dobkin's Smyrna 1922: The Destruction of a City), a catalytic event in modern Greek consciousness since it marked the end of the Megali Idea (Great Idea), the driving force for nearly a century of Greek foreign policy which had almost been realized with the conclusion of World War I and the ensuing Treaty of Sèrves.

It is true that a new generation of scholars has begun to look at this conflict and its aftermath through different lenses, examining for instance the effects of the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey following the Treaty of Lausanne, not in isolation as was often the case before, but in a comparative approach. Unfortunately much of this research is often limited to the national historiographies, a notable exception being an edited volume by Renée Hirschon published in 2003 and re-issued in 2008 which bridges precisely this gap by bringing Greek and Turkish accounts in a single volume. Other scholars have begun to address the issues in novel ways, examining for instance the attitudes and effects of the press, as did Georgia Eglezou in a very recent volume that looked at the Greek Media in World War I and the Asia Minor conflict. It is within this new context that two new books are trying to make their mark taking very different approaches and examining issues often ignored by earlier historiography. Both seek to provide a more balanced and detached look at this period and unveil some of the intricacies and intrigues that involved foreign actors as well as local communities and leaders. By stepping away from the two familiar actors, the Greek State and the Turkish Nationalist Movement, both books provide a new and refreshing image of the dramatic events following the conclusion of World War I.

Stavros Stavridis' The Greek-Turkish War 1919–23, by Gorgias Press, is an examination of the conflict seen primarily through the lens of two Australian newspapers, The Age and Argus, though often enriched by detailed accounts of...