1912–18 in Greek Literature, Spring 2014

The events of the turbulent years of 1912-18 surface in the novels and memoirs of several Greeks born as Ottoman subjects. All writers quoted in this article were later forced to emigrate, and all eventually ended up in Greece. Their works have become classics in contemporary Greek literature. Describing the reign of Abdülhamid II as the community’s golden years, these writers chronicle a gradual descent into chaos and violence following the Balkan Wars. In what has become a topos in Greek literature and oral history, these writers attribute the deterioration of their fortunes not primarily to the Turkish side, but to German propaganda during the Great War.