i&y^si&s^iisMi -^&m:''-i'!--!^WXiXI 3tifata. Mtw fnrit BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 Cornell University Library D 465.T75 Western question in Greece and Turkey. 3 1924 027 921 778 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027921778 THE WESTERN QUESTION THE WESTERN QUESTION IN GREECE AND TURKEY A STUDY IN THE CONTACT OF CIVILISATIONS BY ARNOLD J. TOYNBEE 'For we are also His oflfspring' CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD LONDON • BOMBAY • SYDNEY 1922 TO THE PRESIDENT AND FACULTY OP THE AMERICAN COLLEGE FOR GIRLS AT CONSTANTINOPLE this book is dedicated by the authoe and his wife in gratitude for their hospitality and in admiration of their neutral-mindedness in circumstances in which neutrality is 'hard and rare' viii THE WESTERN QUESTION crimes incidental to an abnormal process, which all parties have committed in turn, and not as the peculiar practice of one denomination or nationality. Finally, the masterful influence of our Western form of society upon people of other civilisations can be discerned beneath the new phenomena and the old, omnipresent and indefatigable in creation and destruction, like some gigantic force of nature. Personally, I am convinced that these subjects are worth studying, apart from the momentary sensations and quandaries of diplomacy and war which are given more prominence in the Press, and this for students of human affairs who have no personal or even national concern in the Eastern Question. The contact of civilisations has always been, and will always continue to be, a ruling factor in human progress and failure. I am, of course, aware that the illustrations which I have chosen involve burning questions, and that my presentation of them will not pass unchallenged. Indeed, the comparatively few people interested in disproving or confirming my statements may be my chief or only readers. I had therefore better men- tion such qualifications as I possess for writing this book. I have had certain opportunities for first-hand study of Greek and Turkish affairs. Just before the Balkan Wars, I spent nine months (November 1911 to August 191 2) travelling on foot through the old territories of Greece, as well as in Krete and the Athos Peninsula, and though my main interest was the historical geography of the country, I learnt a good deal about the social and economic life of the modern population. Duruig the European War, I edited, under the direction of Lord Bryce.^ the Blue Book published by the British Government on the ' Treatment of Armenians in the * Whose death haa removed one of the most experienced and distinguished Western students of Near and Middle Eastern questions, though this was only one among his manifold interests and activities. PREFACE ix ' Ottoman Empire : 1915 (Miscellaneous No. 31, 1916), and incidentally learnt, I believe, nearly all that there is to be learnt to the discredit of the Turkish nation and of their rule over other peoples . Afterwards I worked, always on Turkish affairs, in the Intelligence Bureau of the Department of Information (May 1917 to May 1918) ; in the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office (May to December 1918) ; and in the Foreign Office section of the British Delegation to the Peace Conference at Paris (Decem- ber 1918 to April 1919). Since the beginning of the 1919-20 Session, I have had the honour to hold the Korais Chair of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language, Literature, and History, in the University of London ; and on the 20th October 1920 ^ the Senate of the University kindly granted me leave of absence abroad for two terms, in order to enable me to pursue the studies connected with my Chair by travel in Greek lands. I arrived at Athens from England on the 15th January 1921, and left Constantinople for England on the 15th September. During the intervening time, I saw aU that I could of the situation from both the Greek and the Turkish point of view, in various parts of the two countries. The most important of my journeys and other experiences were shared by my wife, and I have profited more than I can say by constant discussion with her of all that we saw and did together, though I alone am responsible for the verification and presentation of the results of our observations. ^ My itinerary was as follows : (o) Jan. 15-26 : Athens ; (6) Jan. 27-March 15 : Smyrna, and the following journeys into the hinterland : 1-8 : 1. Feb. Alashehir, Ushaq, Kula, Salyhly, Sardis ; ' Just a month before the change of government and consequent orisis in Greece, which I (like most other observers at a distance) had not foreseen. " The route is plotted out on the map at the end of the volume. xU THE WESTEEN QUESTION connection of past events do occasionally and incidentally have some effect upon the present and the future. In this connection I ought to add that I made my journeys ^ ia 1 92 1 as special correspondent for the Manchester Guardian, and to mention the reasons. I did so first in order to pay my expenses ; secondly, because the Guardian is a paper which it is an honour to serve ; and thirdly, because without this status it would hardly have been possible for me to learn what I wanted. My travels coincided with a historical crisis ; and, during such crises, travellers like myself who are not persons of eminence have little chance of meeting the important people and witnessing the important events, if they travel as students or tourists ; while journalists, however unimportant personally, have greater opportunities in such circumstances than under normal conditions. ARNOLD J. TOYNBEE. London, 22nd March 1922. • The sketches appended to Chapters IV. -VII. were originally published in the Manchester Guardian, and are reprinted here by the kind permission of the Editor. NOTE ON SPELLING I CANNOT pretend that my spelling of Greek and Turkish proper names, of which this book is full, has been consistent, though I have been careful always to spell the same name in the same way—except in quotations, where I have purposely left the names as they stand. I have used the following symbols : (i) In Turkish words— '="ain (impossible to transUterate into the Roman alphabet). '=hemze (a hiatus in the middle of a word).^ gh=ghain (Uke the German guttural g). q=qaf (hard k). y (when a vowel) =hard y6 or hard essere (something like the w in English ' until ' when rapidly pronounced). other unmodified") ^^ i- , }-=ltahan vowels, vowels ) modified vowels = German modified vowels. (ii) In Greek words— gh=hard gamma (Uke ghain). consonantal y=soft gamma. dh=dhelta (hke the th in English ' the ') th=thita (like the thin. English ' thin '). s=sigma (like s in English ' this,' but never ' hke s in English his ') kh=khi (like cAin Scotch ' loch '). ' Except in the proelision of the Arabic definite article (e.g. in ' Abdu'l- Hamid'), which I have indicated by using this sign in the ordinary English way. THE SHADOW OF THE WEST Savages are distressed at the waning of the moon and attempt to counteract it by magical remedies. They do not realise that the shadow which creeps forward till it blots out aU but a fragment of the shining disc, is cast by their world. In much the same way we civilised people of the West glance with pity or contempt at our non-Western contemporaries Ijang under the shadow of some stronger power, which seems to paralyse their energies by depriving them of hght. Generally we are too deeply engrossed in our own business to look closer, and we pass by on the other side—conjecturing (if our curiosity is sufficiently aroused to demand an explanation) that the shadow which oppresses these sickly forms is the ghost of their own past. Yet if we paused to examine that dim gigantic overshadowing figure standing, apparently unconscious, with its back to its victims , we should be startled to find that its features are ours The shadow upon the rest of humanity is cast by Western civilisation, but it is difficult for either party to comprehend the whole situation." The other human societies, or at any rate the civihsed and educated people among them, are thoroughly aware of the penetrating and overpowering effect of the West upon their pubHc and private life, but from this knowledge they draw a mistaken inference. In the Near and Middle East, for example, most observers are probably struck by the fact that their Greek and Turkish acquaintances, who differ about almost everything else, agree in the conviction that Western poMtics turn upon the Eastern Question, and that the Enghshman or Frenchman A 2 THE WESTERN QUESTION looks abroad on the world with eyes inflamed by a passionate love or hatred, as the case may be, for the Greek or the Turkish nation. At first one is inclined to attribute this misconception purely to megalomania, and to shrug one's shoulders at it as being the kind of infirmity to which non- Western peoples are heir. Later, one realises that, erroneous though it is, it arises from the correct understanding of an important fact regarding us which we ourselves are apt to overlook. Just because we are aware of what passes in our own minds, and know that interest in Eastern affairs is almost entirely absent from them, it is difiicult for us to realise the profound influence on the East which we actually, though unconsciously, exercise.