Violent Uprooting and Forced Migration: A Demographic Analysis of the Greek Populations of AsiaMinor, Pontus and Eastern Thrace

Abstract

This article systematically examines the historical demography of Greek refugees from Asia Minor, Pontus and Eastern Thrace from the beginning of the 1910s until the aftermath of the signing of the Convention of Lausanne and even later until 1928 when the first general census after the Asia Minor Disaster of 1922 took place in Greece. In this context, the article focuses firstly on a comparative examination of the available sources concerning the number of Greeks living in Asia Minor, Pontus and Eastern Thrace before the outbreak of the First World War, and secondly on the number of refugees pouring into Greece before and after the Asia Minor Disaster of 1922. It is argued that the Greeks of Asia Minor and Pontus suffered numerous losses because of the persecution by the Turkish authorities and because of their violent uprooting from their homelands. On the other hand, it is argued that the Greek population of Eastern Thrace was in general much less affected by the Turkish atrocities despite the fact that even this population was obliged to seek refuge in Greece after 1922.