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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Just a quick content warning before we get

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Speaker 1: started today. Today's episode includes mention of sexual violence, so

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Speaker 1: if you're sensitive to that kind of thing, please skip

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Speaker 1: this episode. What's up everyone, Welcome to This Day in

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Speaker 1: History Class, where we bring you a new tidbit from

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Speaker 1: history every day. Today is September. The day was September nine.

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Speaker 1: According to eyewitness accounts, the Great Fire of Smyrna began

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Speaker 1: in Smyrna in Asia Minor, a port city now known

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Speaker 1: as Zmer in Turkey. The fire lasted for about nine

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Speaker 1: days and caused thousands of deaths, though the exact number

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Speaker 1: of deaths and refugees is unknown. It's also unclear who

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Speaker 1: started the fire. Among other conflicting facts surrounding the incident,

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Speaker 1: Greek sources claimed Turkish soldiers lit Greek and Armenian homes

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Speaker 1: on fire, while Turkish sources blame Greeks and Armenians for

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Speaker 1: burning the city. The catastrophe occurred during the Greco Turkish

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Speaker 1: War of nineteen nineteen to nineteen twenty two. Smyrna was

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Speaker 1: an important commercial port, along with the status as a

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Speaker 1: place of significant international economic exchange. It was also a

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Speaker 1: multicultural society. There were Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Jewish people, Europeans

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Speaker 1: and Levantine. There were thousands of Muslims and Christians in

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Speaker 1: the city, though most of the Greeks and Armenians were Christian.

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Speaker 1: The Turks called Smyrna the city of Infidels since there

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Speaker 1: were so many Greek and non Muslim people there. From

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Speaker 1: May of nineteen nineteen until nineteen twenty two, Greek forces

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Speaker 1: controlled the city. The Treaty of Severa, signed in nineteen

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Speaker 1: twenty gave administrative control of Smyrna to Greece, but provided

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Speaker 1: that Smyrna remain under Turkish sovereignty. After five years, Smyrna

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Speaker 1: would decide whether it wished to join Greece or stay

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Speaker 1: with the Ottoman Empire, but Turkish nationalist leader Mustafa came

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Speaker 1: All demanded that the Turks take back the land held

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Speaker 1: by the Ottoman Empire that was given to Greece. The

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Speaker 1: Greek occupation of Smyrna ended on September nine, after Greek

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Speaker 1: forces were pushed out of Smyrna and the Turkish army

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Speaker 1: of Mustafakemal captured the city. Just four days later. The

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Speaker 1: Great Fire of Smyrna started. There are many conflicting eyewitness

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Speaker 1: accounts of how the fire started. Many witnesses said that

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Speaker 1: Turks used cans of fuel to light structures in the

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Speaker 1: Greek and Armenian quarters on fire. Reports stated that Turkish

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Speaker 1: troops set fire to Greek, Armenian and European quarters of

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Speaker 1: the city, while no damn age was done to Turkish neighborhoods.

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Speaker 1: As Smyrna burned, refugees made their way toward the key

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Speaker 1: and Allied ships. Tens of thousands of people gathered on

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Speaker 1: the waterfront to escape the blaze, but Allied naval ships

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Speaker 1: had received orders not to intervene as they were afraid

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Speaker 1: they'd provoke an incident with the Turks. The Turks robbed, assaulted,

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Speaker 1: and killed people, and raped and abducted women and children.

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Speaker 1: A New York Times article from September twentie, nineteen twenty

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Speaker 1: two mentioned the conditions that refugees faced, including lack of

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Speaker 1: food and clothing, cold nights, and unsanitary conditions. The article

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Speaker 1: said that quote fire has accomplished for the Turks what

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Speaker 1: the Sword failed to do. Asia Minor, the cradle of

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Speaker 1: Christianity will soon be depopulated of Christians. Many of those

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Speaker 1: in Smyrna who were not snatched from death by Americans

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Speaker 1: and other rescuers are disappearing into the hills, some voluntarily,

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Speaker 1: many by force. Others are dying of exhaustion, fright, or

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Speaker 1: exposure on the shattered stone waterfront of the benighted city.

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Speaker 1: International news reports, too were biased. By September sixt the

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Speaker 1: fire had subsided, but violence continued against Greek and Armenian refugees.

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Speaker 1: Mustafa Kemala declared that Greek and Armenian men between ages

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Speaker 1: eighteen and forty five would be considered prisoners of war,

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Speaker 1: and many of them died or were executed. The first

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Speaker 1: Greek ships sent to rescue refugees entered the harbor on September.

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Speaker 1: The Turkish and Jewish quarters of the city survived through

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Speaker 1: the blaze, while the Greek, Armenian and Levantine quarters were destroyed.

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Speaker 1: Though thousands of refugees made it out of Smyrna, the

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Speaker 1: port was destroyed. Some historians have said that evidence points

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Speaker 1: to the Turks starting the fire to get the Greeks

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Speaker 1: to lead the city, while others suggested the Greeks and

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Speaker 1: Armenians started the fire to damage the Turk's reputation. The

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Speaker 1: conflict caused a huge refugee crisis. The Treaty of Luzanne,

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Speaker 1: signed in replaced the Treaty of Several Greeks living in

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Speaker 1: Asia Minor or Eastern Thrace were required to return to

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Speaker 1: the Greek homeland. In Turkish nationals and Greek territory were

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Speaker 1: compelled to return to Turkish homeland. Modern Turkey became a

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Speaker 1: recognized sovereign nation and replaced the Ottoman Empire. I'm Eves

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Speaker 1: Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more about history

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Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can learn more about

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Speaker 1: history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: t D I h the podcast. Thanks again for listening,

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Speaker 1: and I hope you come back tomorrow for more delicious

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Speaker 1: morsels of history. Yeah. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,

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