Great fire of Smyrna started - September 13, 1922

On this day in 1922, a fire in Smyrna in Asia Minor -- present-day İzmir, Turkey -- began blazing through the city. 

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Just a quick content warning before we get
started today. Today's episode includes mention of sexual violence, so
if you're sensitive to that kind of thing, please skip
this episode. What's up everyone, Welcome to This Day in
History Class, where we bring you a new tidbit from

(00:21):
history every day. Today is September. The day was September nine.
According to eyewitness accounts, the Great Fire of Smyrna began

(00:42):
in Smyrna in Asia Minor, a port city now known
as Zmer in Turkey. The fire lasted for about nine
days and caused thousands of deaths, though the exact number
of deaths and refugees is unknown. It's also unclear who
started the fire. Among other conflicting facts surrounding the incident,

(01:05):
Greek sources claimed Turkish soldiers lit Greek and Armenian homes
on fire, while Turkish sources blame Greeks and Armenians for
burning the city. The catastrophe occurred during the Greco Turkish
War of nineteen nineteen to nineteen twenty two. Smyrna was
an important commercial port, along with the status as a

(01:26):
place of significant international economic exchange. It was also a
multicultural society. There were Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Jewish people, Europeans
and Levantine. There were thousands of Muslims and Christians in
the city, though most of the Greeks and Armenians were Christian.
The Turks called Smyrna the city of Infidels since there

(01:48):
were so many Greek and non Muslim people there. From
May of nineteen nineteen until nineteen twenty two, Greek forces
controlled the city. The Treaty of Severa, signed in nineteen
twenty gave administrative control of Smyrna to Greece, but provided
that Smyrna remain under Turkish sovereignty. After five years, Smyrna

(02:10):
would decide whether it wished to join Greece or stay
with the Ottoman Empire, but Turkish nationalist leader Mustafa came
All demanded that the Turks take back the land held
by the Ottoman Empire that was given to Greece. The
Greek occupation of Smyrna ended on September nine, after Greek

(02:30):
forces were pushed out of Smyrna and the Turkish army
of Mustafakemal captured the city. Just four days later. The
Great Fire of Smyrna started. There are many conflicting eyewitness
accounts of how the fire started. Many witnesses said that
Turks used cans of fuel to light structures in the
Greek and Armenian quarters on fire. Reports stated that Turkish

(02:54):
troops set fire to Greek, Armenian and European quarters of
the city, while no damn age was done to Turkish neighborhoods.
As Smyrna burned, refugees made their way toward the key
and Allied ships. Tens of thousands of people gathered on
the waterfront to escape the blaze, but Allied naval ships

(03:14):
had received orders not to intervene as they were afraid
they'd provoke an incident with the Turks. The Turks robbed, assaulted,
and killed people, and raped and abducted women and children.
A New York Times article from September twentie, nineteen twenty
two mentioned the conditions that refugees faced, including lack of

(03:36):
food and clothing, cold nights, and unsanitary conditions. The article
said that quote fire has accomplished for the Turks what
the Sword failed to do. Asia Minor, the cradle of
Christianity will soon be depopulated of Christians. Many of those
in Smyrna who were not snatched from death by Americans

(03:56):
and other rescuers are disappearing into the hills, some voluntarily,
many by force. Others are dying of exhaustion, fright, or
exposure on the shattered stone waterfront of the benighted city.
International news reports, too were biased. By September sixt the
fire had subsided, but violence continued against Greek and Armenian refugees.

(04:21):
Mustafa Kemala declared that Greek and Armenian men between ages
eighteen and forty five would be considered prisoners of war,
and many of them died or were executed. The first
Greek ships sent to rescue refugees entered the harbor on September.
The Turkish and Jewish quarters of the city survived through

(04:42):
the blaze, while the Greek, Armenian and Levantine quarters were destroyed.
Though thousands of refugees made it out of Smyrna, the
port was destroyed. Some historians have said that evidence points
to the Turks starting the fire to get the Greeks
to lead the city, while others suggested the Greeks and
Armenians started the fire to damage the Turk's reputation. The

(05:06):
conflict caused a huge refugee crisis. The Treaty of Luzanne,
signed in replaced the Treaty of Several Greeks living in
Asia Minor or Eastern Thrace were required to return to
the Greek homeland. In Turkish nationals and Greek territory were
compelled to return to Turkish homeland. Modern Turkey became a

(05:28):
recognized sovereign nation and replaced the Ottoman Empire. I'm Eves
Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more about history
today than you did yesterday. You can learn more about
history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
t D I h the podcast. Thanks again for listening,

(05:53):
and I hope you come back tomorrow for more delicious
morsels of history. Yeah. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio,
visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.