Greek-American Relations from Monroe to Truman

9. The Angel of Discord in Smyrna

the angel of discord in smyrna 143 9 The Angel of Discord in Smyrna Of course all of us were brought up to believe that the Greeks or modern Greeks are simply the representatives of all the ancient Greeks meant to the world. This is so far wrong that probably everyone out here will agree that the Greek is about the worst race in the Near East. . . . I am holding no brief for any race in the Near East because I believe that the Turk, the Greek, the Armenian, the Syrian, etc., if shaken up in a bag, you would not know which one would come out first, but probably the Turk is the best one of the lot, especially if he is given a chance to develop under normal conditions. I have not so much hope for these other races. —Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol to Admiral W. S. Sims, May 18, 1919 The Isles of Greece! Eternal Summer may “gild them yet” in literature, but . . . for tens and even hundreds of thousands who wander homeless on these islands and along the bleak shores of the Aegean there is no such golden light as Byron saw enhaloing them. . . . When Byron wrote of these isles, at a time when all except the sun of their ancient glory had set, he asked what was left, and answered: “For Greeks a blush—for Greece a tear.” But this black disaster cannot be put away with a blush and a tear. America is again appealed to for bread. —Editorial, New York Times, October 1, 1922 Since the time of the Greek Revolution (1821–28), Greek nationalists and American philhellenes had longed for the day when all Greek-speaking peoples would be united under an enlightened and liberal Greek state. Throughout World War I, and through the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the various pro-Greek organizations in the United States and abroad inundated the White House with telegrams, petitions, resolutions, and letters promoting Greek claims. Of all the contested areas claimed by Greece, perhaps none aroused more discussion than the fate of 143 144 greek-american relations from monroe to truman western Asia Minor and the approximately one million Greek inhabitants there. In October 1918, Theodore P. Ion, director of the American Hellenic Society, sent President Wilson a copy of a pamphlet titled Hellenism in Asia Minor. Reminding the president that “Asia Minor is the country which, more than all others, recalls the highest development of Hellenic civilization,” Ion warned that if the Allies permitted the Turkish government to reestablish its “misrule” over the area, “Hellenic civilization there will soon be a thing of the past.” He noted that since the start of the European war, the Turkish government had begun persecuting Greek Christians with the aim of “annihilating” Hellenism in Turkey. Should Hellenism be safeguarded and “properly utilized,” Ion added, “it may, as in former times, become one of the prize civilizing factors in that part of the world.”1 Wilson sympathized with the plight of the Greeks of Anatolia. Earlier in September he responded favorably to a letter from the Relief Committee for Greeks of Asia Minor seeking presidential approval to help alleviate the sufferings of dislocated refugees. Wilson remarked that the Greeks of Asia Minor deserved the “cordial sympathy” of the American people because of their “steadfast allegiance to their Christian faith” amid threats to abandon it and their “adherence to the ideals of Constitutional government.” Later in October the New York Times reported that the president’s letter had caused a stir in Athens, where the local press characterized it as a “just recognition” of Greek rights in Asia Minor and as the first official step toward the realization of Greek irredentist claims.2 Since the Spanish-American War in 1898, U.S. military and economic power had grown steadily; the country even acquired an overseas empire. Although still primarily religious, philanthropic, educational, and commercial in nature, American interests in the Near East also underwent a modest expansion in these years. The United States aggressively endeavored to apply the Open Door principle in the area for the benefit of American business.3 As to the political controversies that inflamed the region, policymakers had largely been indifferent. But after the United States entered World War I in 1917, Washington quickly assumed a leadership role. Wilson’s Fourteen Points, with references to open diplomacy, national self-determination, the Open Door, disarmament, and a League of Nations, reflected the idealistic president’s...