Bruce Clark (1) (1958–)

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/twice-a-stranger-how-mass-expulsion-forged-moder...

Quite a short book (270 pages) about a big big topic: the forced exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1923, following on the Treaty of Lausanne which officially ended the First World War, but also put a full stop to the Greco-Turkish war of 1919-22 and notoriously stipulated that Muslims living in Greece (except Eastern Thrace) and Orthodox Christians living in Turkey (except Istanbul) would be show more transferred to the other country. This meant 1.2 million Christians and 400,000 Muslims, many (possibly most) of whom did not speak Greek or Turkish respectively as their first language, if at all, suddenly became citizens in lands where their ancestors had never lived; historic communities were unmixed, cultures were wiped out, and unspoken traumas endured.

Bruce Clark wrote this book at the beginning of the century when a fair number of eyewitnesses were still alive, if elderly, and prepared to talk about what had happened to them eighty years before; I shouldn't think there are many left now. So he combined historiography of the early Greek state, late Ottoman Empire and nascent Turkish Republic with powerful first-person accounts. These eyewitness stories are not only of violence and expulsion. A surprising number of his interlocutors were happy to talk about the happy times before the conflict, when villagers all lived together without fussing too much about whether they went to the mosque or the church, or indeed indivudal acts of humanity by neighbours as the situation accelerated. This nostalgia had survived eight decades of indoctrination by the Greek and Turkish states.

One fascinating (and sad) aspect is that in fact the Christians and Muslims who were displaced were a lot more diverse than the cultures into which they were then ruthlessly assimilated. I was already familiar with the Bektashi sect of Islam, which flourished in what is now Greek Macedonia and is now basically restricted to the Albanian-speaking world. I wasn't previously aware of their neighbours the Valaades, or of the crypto-Christians of Anatolia, populations whose identity depended on the mixed cultures of their environments.

All of this is set against the high politics of the negotiations between Venizelos and Kemal (not yet Atatürk), who were both very much in favour of unmixing their respective populations, but both also faced significant internal opposition – both were nominally democracies with elected parliaments, but we should always remember that even autocratic states can have vigorous internal politics. (The subtitle of the book uses the word "forged", which of course means both making and faking.) There were significant interventions in managing the displaced populations from external players as well, notably in Greece which was very dependent on external aid from the British government and from American individuals such as Henry Morgenthau.

It did make me wonder about an alternate timeline where Greece actually won the 1919-22 war. I don't think the territorial gains on the Aegean coast could have been sustainable in the long term, given Turkey's much greater population and advantage of strategic depth. The new Turkish state (Kemalism would not have survived) would have aligned firmly with the Axis in the second world war, rather than the neutrality of our timeline, and would surely have taken back all or most of the territory, with a second huge wave of human displacement.

Clark doesn't especially look at other cases of forced mass population movement – he mentions Cyprus in passing (tragic indeed, if on a smaller scale) but one could add the Partition of India, which was an order of magnitude bigger on the human scale, or the Balkans in the 1990s, or indeed the place where both Clark and I come from which saw thousands forced from their homes in 1969. It's enough to look in detail at this one particular situation. He does however assess the outcome as a success for both the Greek and Turkish states, considered in their own selfish and brutal terms; a success gained at the cost of vast human misery.

(Also, Japan participated in the Allied military occupation of Constantinople/Istanbul! I had no idea!)

A great book, very readable I think even for those who are less familiar with the history and geography of the subject. show less

Great book. Fascinating account of a byroad of 20 th century history, the greek- turkish population exchange of the 1920s, of which I already knew a little. Distinguished by a great range of different perspectives: not only both Greek & Turkish sides, but also from top to bottom ( diplomatic posturing, political hypocrisies at one end, individual family suffering at the other). The first hand recall by folk in their nineties is moving and becomes an elegy for mankind's loss of the simple show more grounded life of rural community. His conclusion, that the whole thing, while painful, seems to have more or less worked out all right, brings yet another perspective. Certainly true compared to ,say, Stalin's actions in that style, or the splitting of India-Pakistan. show less

Clark covers the history of Athens from its mythical origin stories to the present. The book moves quickly; obviously Clark can't cover everything in detail in one volume, so he tends to focus on a few monuments, people, and events for each period. Overall, they are well chosen and provide a good, if selective, narrative. His account of classical and late antique Athens is pretty standard. He knows the primary sources and relies on a selection of reputable scholarly works (although not show more always those I would select). There are the inevitable problems of glossing things over and giving a false impression. Some examples: his brief aside on Hadrian's rescript to Minucius Fundanus on prosecuting Christians oversimplifies a complex issue; his narrative rushes over Diocletian's system of four collegial emperors and leaves the impression that they were all rival usurpers (the system did work sometimes!). His treatment of the emperor Julian seems to rely heavily on Gore Vidal's novel (a more appealing Julian than the historical one) and Athanassiadi's somewhat tendentious intellectual biography, rather than the more conventional biographies by Robert Browning, Glen Bowersock, and Hans Carel Teitler.

The medieval history of Athens is not well documented; Clark makes what he can of it. I find the chronicles of French crusader brigands somewhat tedious. The high points of the chapters on early modern Athens are the accounts of travelers such as Cyriac of Ancona. Clark has a nice section on Stuart and Revett. After the revolt against the Turks, it is pretty much downhill for me. I have no interest in the convolutions of modern Greek politics, other than a soft spot for the ironically named Archbishop Makarios. My main criticism of the later chapters is that they are more about Greek politics in general than about the city. Clark does have some engaging accounts of the Anatolian refugees and the neighborhoods of modern Athens, as well as cultural developments in contemporary Athens.

Overall, Clark is knowledgeable and a good writer. Anyone looking for a good general history of Athens will be well served by it show less

Cartea „Athens – City of Wisdom” de Bruce Clark explorează istoria, cultura și realizările intelectuale ale Atenei antice, evidențiind importanța cetății în formarea civilizației occidentale.

📖 Despre autor

a) Bruce Clark este un jurnalist și istoric britanic, cunoscut pentru lucrările sale despre istorie militară, civilizații antice și societăți europene.
b) A publicat mai multe cărți care combină analiza istorică cu narațiunea captivantă și contextul show more cultural.

📚 Despre volum

a) Volumul prezintă Atena ca un centru al filosofiei, artei, democrației și științei.
b) Analizează viața socială, politică și culturală, punând accent pe contribuțiile atenienilor la gândirea și civilizația occidentală.
c) Include perspective asupra evenimentelor majore, precum Războiul Peloponesiac și apogeul democrației ateniene.

🔎 Teme principale

a) Rolul Atenei în dezvoltarea democrației și a sistemelor politice.
b) Evoluția culturii și artei: teatru, arhitectură, sculptură și literatură.
c) Filosofia și gândirea critică: contribuțiile lui Socrate, Platon și Aristotel.
d) Relațiile internaționale și conflictele militare ale cetății.
e) Viața cotidiană și valorile sociale ale atenienilor.

⚖️ Semnificație

a) Cartea oferă o înțelegere complexă a Atenei ca model cultural și intelectual al lumii antice.
b) Este utilă pentru studenți, istorici și pasionați de civilizația greacă, evidențiind legătura dintre idei, societate și putere.
c) Permite aprecierea impactului Atenei asupra dezvoltării filosofiei, artei și democrației în lumea occidentală. show less