UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO Transnational Piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1821-1897 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History by Leonidas Mylonakis Committee in charge: Professor Thomas W. Gallant, Chair Professor Gary Fields Professor Mark Hanna Professor Hasan Kayalı Professor Michael Provence 2018 Copyright Leonidas Mylonakis, 2018 All rights reserved. The dissertation of Leonidas Mylonakis is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Chair University of California San Diego 2018 iii DEDICATION To Anna iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page …………………………………………………………………………………... iii Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………………… vii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ ix Vita ................................................................................................................................................ xii Abstract of the Dissertation ......................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Defining Piracy ..................................................................................................................... 4 Piracy and Language ........................................................................................................... 10 Geography ........................................................................................................................... 12 Historical Context ............................................................................................................... 17 Captivity and Ransom Practices in the Early Modern Mediterranean ................................ 22 The Traditional End of Piracy ............................................................................................. 31 Maritime Raiding by the Numbers ...................................................................................... 36 Chapter Breakdown ............................................................................................................. 40 Chapter 2: Comparative Approaches to the Study of Piracy ........................................................ 43 The Economics of Piracy .................................................................................................... 44 Piracy and Heterotopia ........................................................................................................ 57 Piracy and State Legitimation ............................................................................................. 65 Chapter 3: Piracy during the Ottoman Civil Wars, 1821-1840 .................................................... 74 Gramvousa: Rebels, Sailors, Pirates, Prey .......................................................................... 77 The Last Call of the Corsairs: North African Intervention ................................................. 83 The Death of Democracy and the Birth of Modern Greece ................................................ 91 Egypt’s Rise from Cretan Eyes ........................................................................................... 95 Chapter 4: A New Age of Piracy, 1840-1856 ............................................................................... 98 Breaking with the Past ......................................................................................................... 99 Pirates or Patriots? The 1854 Epiros Revolt ..................................................................... 103 Greece Exporting Piracy? .................................................................................................. 107 Pirate Kinship Networks ................................................................................................... 110 Captives or Corsairs? ........................................................................................................ 116 Appendix: Thomas Wyse’s Critique of the Greek Trial of Pirates ................................... 119 v Chapter 5: Increased Enforcement and the Persistence of Piracy, 1856-1869 ........................... 124 Captain Hobart’s Failed Covert Anti-Piracy Operation .................................................... 127 Increasing Violence in Piracy ........................................................................................... 131 Abdülaziz’s Naval Expenditures and Otto’s Expulsion .................................................... 134 The Blockade-Runner Arkadi and Greek Violations of International Maritime Law ....... 136 Italian Unification and Adriatic Piracy ............................................................................. 143 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 145 Appendix: The Times of London article on Cretan Blockade-Running ............................ 147 Chapter 6: Currants, Capital, and the Decline in Piracy, 1870-1896 .......................................... 151 The Decline of Piracy in the Late Nineteenth Century ..................................................... 152 Phylloxera, Currant Monoculture, and Economic Growth ............................................... 156 Chapter 7: Piracy during the 1897 Greco-Ottoman War ............................................................ 167 Background to the War ..................................................................................................... 168 The Condition of the Fleets ............................................................................................... 171 Concern over Irregulars while Drafting Peace .................................................................. 174 Linguistic Evidence ........................................................................................................... 181 The Deleterious Effect of Irregular Raids on Rum Sympathies with Greek Irredentism .. 182 Benefits of Deploying Irregular Troops ............................................................................ 184 Controlling the Narrative .................................................................................................. 187 Contextualizing Piracy within the Violence in Macedonia ............................................... 190 Epilogue: Why was this All Forgotten? ...................................................................................... 194 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………....... 199 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BOA Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi. Ottoman Prime Ministry Archive A.MKT Sadâret Mektubî Kalemi Belgeleri BEO Bab-ı Ali Evrak Odası HR.TO Hariciye Nezareti Tercüme Odası Y.A.HUS Yıldız Sadaret Hususi Maruzat Y.MTV Yıldız Mütenevvi Maruzat Y.PRK.ASK Yıldız Perakende Evrakı Askeri Maruzat Y.PRK.PT Yıldız Perakende Evrakı Posta Telgraf Nezareti Maruzatı GAK Genika Archeia tou Kratou. Greek General State Archives TNA The National Archives of the United Kingdom at Kew, London FO Foreign Office YE Ypourgeio Exoterikon. Archives of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Map. Mediterranean and Black Seas, showing visibility of land, 1905…...….……. 16 Figure 1.2: Graph. Number of pages per year concerning piracy, YE…………………………. 38 Figure 1.3: Graph. Average number of pages per three-year period concerning piracy, YE…... 38 Figure 1.4: Graph. Number of documents concerning Mediterranean piracy, BOA and YE…... 40 Figure 5.1: Table. Comparison of documents pertaining to piracy in BOA and YE over 14-year periods………………………………………………………… 126 Figure 6.1: Graph. Quantity and revenue of raisin exports in İzmir…………………………. 162 Figure 6.2: Graph. Annual average value of exports from İzmir to Britain…………………... 162 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completing the doctoral program in history has been a long journey. I owe a debt of gratitude to those who have helped me flourish academically and stood by my side on the path to completing this dissertation project. I would like to thank my committee for standing by me over the duration of this project, from its conception to completion. I must begin by thanking Thomas Gallant, my dissertation advisor who inspired me during my undergraduate years to head to graduate school to study Modern Greek and Mediterranean history. The unwavering support you have given has helped me get through the most trying times of the graduate program. You have truly gone above and beyond. Mark Hanna has graciously guided my scholarship once I selected to focus on