University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 12-2017 The oldC War in the Eastern Mediterranean: An Interpretive Global History James M. Brown University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the European History Commons, International Relations Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, and the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Brown, James M., "The oC ld War in the Eastern Mediterranean: An Interpretive Global History" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 2577. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2577 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Cold War in the Eastern Mediterranean: An Interpretive Global History A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by James Brown University of Arkansas Bachelor of Arts in History, International Relations, 2014 December 2017 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. _______________________ Alessandro Brogi, Ph.D. Thesis Director _______________________ _______________________ Tricia Starks, Ph.D. Laurence Hare, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member Abstract This thesis offers the first global history of the Cold War in the eastern Mediterranean. It examines the international linkages that bound Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus with superpowers, non-aligned states, and transnational movements during the second half of the twentieth century, and it considers the effects of such linkages upon the eastern Mediterranean’s domestic arenas. Throughout, it demonstrates that two forces – synthesis of outside influence alongside consolidation of internal identities – dictated the region’s experiences during the Cold War. And though the international environment furnished the conditions within which the region’s societies pursued the project of nation-building, indigenous forces and factors remained the fundamental drivers of political and social change. Ultimately, the nations of the eastern Mediterranean emerged from the Cold War period changed by decades living under the auspices of superpower competition. But as events in the early twenty-first century would demonstrate, the Cold War served as a catalyst, rather than a cause, for developments long underway in one of the world’s most vibrant – and, at times, volatile – hubs of globalization. Acknowledgements This thesis has been years in the making, and in the course of its completion I have accrued many debts. The greatest are to my advisors, who pushed me from the earliest stages to compose a work of history grounded not only in diplomacy – my earliest interest, and still my strongest suit – but also in culture, society, and identity. Alessandro Brogi instilled in me a deep respect for such interdisciplinary approaches during his first seminars, and his mentorship – always flexible, but equally rigorous – provided precisely the freedom I needed to get it all done. I am deeply grateful for his expertise, his feedback, and his patience. The same thanks go to Trish Starks, whose influence loomed large throughout the editing process, and to Laurence Hare, who challenged me to think globally about themes as diverse as agriculture, biology, language, and material culture. Others across the University of Arkansas, especially in the history, classics, linguistics, and geography departments, also had a hand in the completion of this thesis, whether they know it or not. Tom Paradise’s courses in Middle Eastern geography forced me to consider the eastern Mediterranean as a world-systems nexus, not just a collection of individual states contributing to a composite regional history. Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon, though no longer with the university, served on both of my undergraduate honors committees, directed my first funded research project, and spared no time training me in the literature on British decolonization – all phenomenal experiences I will not soon forget. And during my final course in Fayetteville, a seminar on cross-cultural texts and transmission, Rembrandt Wolpert and Elizabeth Markham demonstrated the great power of an integrated approach in humanities pedagogy. In a more practical sense, the generosity of numerous organizations and individuals provided me the opportunity to extensively research both primary and secondary material. The University of Arkansas Department of History and Honors College both offered crucial support through research stipends associated with this project’s early stages, as did the Arkansas Department of Education through a SURF grant. Secretaries and librarians at the Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson presidential libraries provided essential assistance in accessing archival records. I am also indebted to a wide network of fellow students, scholars, and friends across the world that filled in my gaps with expert recommendations. On this front, a few more personal notes are in order. To George Paulson, instructor of Modern Greek, decades-long Philhellene, and true friend, go warm thanks. Yiorgos truly knows the eastern Mediterranean and its people, and the vast range of his knowledge is secondary only to his many pedagogical gifts. He was a key influence on my intellectual development, and I hope (and strongly suspect) he will have feedback on all of this the next time we share a beer back in Arkansas. Much of the same can be said for Dylan Beschoner, who experienced and absorbed knowledge on the eastern Mediterranean with me over the course of several treasured years. But the warmest thanks, as always, go to my wife, Lauren. Though the subject matter is about as unromantic as topics come, any merit this thesis has must be shared with you. You are the only one to have heard my many challenges, complaints, and victories throughout this process, and I don’t think you suspect just how crucial you have been to its success. And to our daughter, Evelyn: thank you for your patience while Dad retreated to his office to write another chapter. Perhaps some day we can show you the Athenian agora, or walk with you up the hills overlooking the olive groves near the oracular site at Delphi. Until then, it’s the greatest pleasure of my life to watch you grow up a little bit each day – φασουλι το φασουλι, as the Greeks would say. Table of Contents CHAPTER 1. Introduction: The Global Eastern Mediterranean…………………………… 1 2. The Era of Consolidation, 1821-1923………………………………………. 14 Identity Challenges to National Consolidation………………………… 17 Intellectual and Artistic Synthesis……………………………………… 23 Regional Conflict, the Great War, and the Triumph of Irredentism………………………………………………….. 27 Postwar Fallout: The Asia Minor Catastrophe and the Making of the Modern Eastern Mediterranean……………. 31 Conclusion……………………………………………………………… 39 3. The Special Relationship Confronts Ethnic Conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1947-1960…………………………………………………… 41 U.S. and NATO Influence: Questions of National and Regional Direction……………………………………………… 45 Cyprus, Diplomacy, and the Istanbul Riots…………………………….. 52 Conclusion……………………………………………………………… 71 4. Cyprus and the Stalemated Sixties…………………………………………… 76 The Cyprus Crisis of 1963-1964………………………………………… 79 Domestic Deadlock, Constitutional Crisis, and the Greek Coup of 1967…………………………………………………………… 92 5. The Eastern Mediterranean and the Shock of the Global, 1967-1981………… 107 The Strategic Turns of the Seventies……………………………………... 112 The Globalization of Greco-Turkish Disputes…………………………… 116 The Crisis Explodes: The Long Summer of 1974………………………… 119 Domestic Fallout in Greece: The Fall of the Junta and the Return of Karamanlis………………………………………………. 124 Changes in Greek Society: Metapolitefsi………………………………….. .127 The Turkish Seventies: Paralysis…………………………………………… 131 Conclusion………………………………………………………………….. 133 6. The Papandreou Turn and the End of the Cold War, 1981-1989………………… 136 The Papandreou Shifts………………………………………………………. 139 Changing Economies and Societies in the Eastern Mediterranean…………. 148 Conclusion………………………………………………………………….. 152 7. The End of the Cold War Era: Ethnic Nationalism Returns to the Eastern Mediterranean, 1989-2003………………………………………………. 155 Greece in the Early 1990s: The Overstretch of Social Welfare………………………………………………………. 156 The Balkan Wars: Ethnic Nationalism Reborn……………………………... 158 The PASOK Implosion……………………………………………………… 162 Cyprus and Irredentism Resurfaces: The Rise of Golden Dawn………………………………………………………………… 164 The Turkish Nineties………………………………………………………… 167 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 170 Epilogue: Reflections on the Eastern Mediterranean’s “Imagined Communities:” Greece and Turkey at the Crossroads of Globalization……………………… 173 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….. 179 1 “Ancient Hellenism, like a vast wave, broke and ended at the foot of the last century; the ripples of the wave still break quietly on the shore of some islands and Greek places still enslaved today. And the language, which was spoken by kings, like Theseus, is now looked down upon by street cleaners, because some pseudo-intellectuals were never able to free themselves from the honey of Attica. The mountains are many-hued behind the light colored marbles… In such a land splashed with color and light should not true men reappear?” I. Introduction: