Ethnic Cleansing in Western Anatolia, 1912-1923 - Edinburgh Studies on the Ottoman Empire by Umit Eser Paperback

About the Book

Investigates the Ottoman bureaucrats who resisted the ethnic cleansing in the Smyrna region in 1919-1923.

Book Synopsis

The Greek landing in Smyrna in May 1919 is widely seen as the catalyst of the Turkish national struggle but even during the chaos of between 1919-1923, the diverse peoples of Asia Minor coexisted and created astonishing but fragile infra-national solutions. In sharp contrast to popular history, this book tells the often-overlooked story of cooperation and resistance in a province renowned for its rich and prosperous ethnic and religious diversity in the face of a larger geopolitical struggle. As such, this research demonstrates that even the most contested national conflicts can display a remarkable degree of capacity for coexistence at the local level, a capacity that is all too easily forgotten amid global conflicts today.

Review Quotes

Ethnic Cleansing in Western Anatolia weaves a rich story that expands our understanding of the most consequential period in the making of modern Turkey. It constitutes the most complete account of arguably the most critical site in what is so often referred to as the Turkish War of Independence. Drawing on a critical array of sources, most notably from Greece, Umit Eser's work challenges many of the most common perceptions of this period. Ethnic Cleansing undoubtedly will be recognised as an essential work in the field of Ottoman studies.--Ryan Gingeras, Naval Postgraduate School

Soundly based on exhaustive original research, Umit Eser's nuanced study of the state-sponsored violence that altered the ethnic makeup of the borderlands of Europe and Asia is essential reading for anyone interested in the upheavals that heralded the end of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the modern Turkish state.--George Vassiadis, Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London

Ümit Eser's fine study traces the careers of the officials in Western Anatolia during the turbulent years following the Great War. Although later characterised by Turkish nationalist historians as 'traitors, ' Ümit's study reveals the ways they protected various local ethnic groups from persecution and other more mundane forms of discontinuity.--Benjamin C. Fortna, University of Arizona