The Chios Massacre: The Worst Atrocity Committed by the Ottomans

“The Massacre astatine Chios,” Eugene Delacroix, 1824. Credit: Public Domain

The Chios massacre of 1822 was possibly the worst atrocity committed by the Ottomans against Greeks during the Greek War of Independence.

Approximately three-quarters of the colonisation of 120,000 were killed, enslaved, oregon died of illness aft thousands of Turkish troops landed connected the eastbound Aegean land to extremity a rebellion against Ottoman rule.

Chios: an land of traders

For implicit 2,000 years, Chios merchants and shipowners had been salient successful commercialized and diplomacy passim the Black Sea, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean.

The Ottoman Empire allowed Chios astir implicit power implicit its ain affairs arsenic Chian commercialized and the precise costly and sought-after mastic plant, harvested lone connected Chios, were of large worth to the empire.

The cosmopolitan Chians were besides precise salient successful Constantinople, causing the island’s ruling classes to beryllium reluctant to articulation the Greek revolt, arsenic they feared the nonaccomplishment of their information and prosperity.

Furthermore, they were alert that they were situated acold excessively adjacent to the Turkish heartland successful Anatolia to beryllium safe.

The Chios Massacre

Relics of the massacre successful Nea Moni connected the Greek land of Chios. Credit: FLIOUKAS /Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0

Things changed successful March 1822 erstwhile respective 100 equipped Greeks from the neighboring land of Samos landed connected Chios. They attacked the Ottomans, who retreated to the citadel. Many islanders past joined the Greek War of Independence.

However, the immense bulk of the colonisation had, by each accounts, not joined different Greeks successful their revolt against the Ottoman Empire and had done perfectly thing to provoke the hideous reprisals.

The Ottomans sent reinforcements to Chios connected March 22nd. On March 31st, orders were fixed to pain down the town, and implicit the adjacent 4 months, different estimated 40,000 Turkish troops arrived connected the island.

In summation to mounting fires, the troops were ordered to termination each infants nether 3 years old, each males 12 years and older, and each females 40 and older but those consenting to person to Islam.

Tens of thousands of survivors dispersed passim Europe to go portion of what would go known arsenic the Chian Diaspora.

A horrified Europe responds to the atrocity with shock

“The Massacre astatine Chios,” Eugene Delacroix, 1824. Credit: Public Domain

The massacre shocked Europe, and protesters highlighted the atrocity with galore celebrated artists dedicating works to this heinous event.

One of the top works of the large French creator Eugene Delacroix was a depiction of the Massacre of Chios, the intent of which was to rise consciousness passim Europe of the horrors and atrocities committed by the Ottomans connected the island. Furthermore, Victor Hugo’s poem astir the massacre besides highlights the brutality suffered astatine the hands of the Ottomans.

Following the massacre, unpaid organizations collected wealth to enactment the Greek Revolution by providing arms and weapons portion galore Westerners arrived successful Greece to combat the Ottomans.

On June 6th, 1822, Konstantinos Kanaris, a autochthonal of the adjacent land of Psara, yet retaliated. Kanaris acceptable ablaze a Turkish fleet which had landed successful the larboard of Chios, sidesplitting 2,000 Ottomans and destroying each the ships successful the port.