Crossing Aegean Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal

Crossing Aegean

Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1923 Compulsory Population Exchange Between Greece and Turkey is Volume 12 in a Berghahn/Oxford University Press series on forced migration. The series addresses modern and post-modern population migration issues from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Like the other issues in the Studies in Forced Migration series, Crossing the Aegean is a collection of scholarly essays offering nuanced approaches to the delicate subject matter. Edited by Renee Hirschon, the book is divided into three core sections. The first provides crucial background information and a general overview. The overview covers the geography and history of the region since ancient times, as the Greek empire did indeed span the Aegean Sea to link what are now two distinct nation-states. Background information provides more of a modern historical perspective, including issues related to the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire. The background information does provide the necessary context to aid a successful analysis of the 1923 population exchange. Hirschon writes both the introductory chapters herself, leaving the remainder of the essays in the compilation to other scholars. Chapter Two, "Consequences of the Lausanne Convention: An Overview" is the springboard chapter because it marks the momentous moment at which Greece and Turkey collectively agreed to the population exchange. The Lausanne Convention followed the defeat of Greece by Turkey in 1922.

Central to Crossing the Aegean is the concept of nationalism. However, the compilation of essays reveals a far more nuanced and complex version of events that cannot be distilled into any -- ism at all. The second part of Crossing the Aegean addresses the political, economic, legal, and policy aspects of the Lausanne Convention agreement as well as of population exchange in general. The Lausanne Convention was momentous, groundbreaking, and decisively modern. It reflected a new era of international law and foreign policy in an increasingly linked world: a world that had already witnessed the devastating effects of total war. Michael Barutciski's "Lausanne Revisited: Population Exchanges in International Law and Policy" address the convention and the population exchange within the prevailing political context. The politics of population exchange were not just played out on the international stage, of course Domestic policy played a major role in both the causes and the effects of the population exchange in both Greece and Turkey. Chapters 4 and 5 address the immediate political and domestic policy consequences of the exchange on Turkey and Greece, respectively.

The economic consequences of the population exchange were momentous, for Greece more so than for Turkey. The number of Greeks displaced numbered well over a million souls, which was more than double the number of Turks and Muslims that left Greece. It is therefore understandable that Crossing the Aegean includes more articles related to the economic repercussions for Greece than for Turkey. An influx of over a million immigrants dealt a disastrous blow to the Greek economy. It also impacted the entire Balkan region, in part due to refugee settlements established in Greek Macedonia. Elisabeth Kontogiorgi's "Economic Consequences following Refugee Settlement in Greek Macedonia" addresses the economic impact of refugees to the northern Greek region in particular. Chapter 10 provides a broader overview of the economic impact of refugee settlements throughout Greece. The rapid influx of people forced the reconsideration of town planning, local economies, and issues related to politics, economics, and social harmony. Among the more poignant articles in the compilation is "The Story of Those Who Stayed: Lessons from Articles 1 and 2 of the 1923 Convention."