For years the Greek army had been
holding a long line without sufficient food and clothing. Many of these troops
had been sent by the Allies to fight for them in Russia where they had suffered
severe losses. They were reduced to a state of extreme demoralization. They were
fleeing from an implacable enemy from whom they could expect no mercy, if
captured. They covered, such of them as got away, the distance from the front to
the coast in record time. The entire Moslem population through which they passed
was hostile and well-armed. That they found time to do much massacring or
that they were in a state of mind to stop by the way for the purpose of
attacking women seems hardly credible. That they did burn and lay
waste the land may be taken for granted. The Greeks have claimed military
necessity for this, and it would appear that they could plead such necessity if
ever it can be pleaded. They certainly had more reason for laying bare the
country between themselves and the advancing Khemalists than had our own Sherman
on his “March to the Sea.”
There
is one thing, which any one who has ever traveled through Turkish-ruled lands
will see at a glance. Whatever nuclei of civilization existed in the
Ottoman Empire outside of Constantinople were Greek, Armenian or something
besides Turkish. The non-Mussulmans built the good houses and the better
parts of the towns. Many of the Christian houses and towns had already been
destroyed by the followers of Talaat and Enver, leaving little of any permanent
value in the path of the Greek army.
A
Turkish villager’s house usually consists of one room without any furniture. At
one side is piled, often as high as the wall, a supply of thick quilts. When he
goes to bed he takes down one or more of these and sleeps on the floor, or, in
the better houses, on a bench that runs around the wall. When he eats he sits on
the floor with his heels under him. He cooks in the fireplace. His culinary
outfit consists of one earthen pot, a large washbasin out of which the family
eats their pilaff, one big spoon for
each member of the household and a small one for stirring the coffee. A briki, or long-handled coffee pot, is an
important part of his installation.
Many
who have dined with rich denatured Turks at Constantinople or with some pasha
will deny the accuracy of this picture, but it is in the main correct and
describes the houses that compose ninety-nine out of a hundred Turkish villages
wherever found. It is for this reason that the Turk may be able to carry on for
a long time without business, manufactures, imports or any of the accessories of
civilization. His crude agriculture will suffice for his primitive wants. If the
region which he occupies really belongs to him, then he may say that he has a
right to the kind of civilization, or lack of it, that suits him best and for
which he is most adapted. Whether the Christian world should have looked on and
aided him while exterminating the non-Mussulman population of Asia Minor is
another question.
The
difficulties of the Greek retreat are well illustrated by an incident narrated
to me by the Reverend Dana Getchell who came into my office from the interior a
few days before the arrival of the Khemalists. He said that when he had gone to
bed in the evening in his small hotel everything had been quiet, but that he had
been awakened in the morning by the sound of tumult in the streets, and looking
from the window, he saw the whole Christian population rushing toward the
railroad station, carrying such of their belongings as they had been able to
snatch. On inquiring what the trouble was he was informed that the Turks were
coming. He went to the station himself and saw a long train of cars on to which
a small detachment of Greek soldiers was attempting to embark the frightened
people. While this operation was being conducted the Mussulman villagers came
out from their houses, all armed, and began to fire upon the soldiers and the
train. A battle ensued in which the officer commanding the detachment and
several of his soldiers were killed. But the soldiers stood their ground well
and succeeded finally in getting away with the larger part of the
Christians.
This
specific incident throws light upon the Greek retreat as it shows that the
Moslems were, in general, in possession of concealed weapons and that they did
not hesitate to use them.
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