In the eve of World War 1st, which broke out in 1914 and spreaded fastly, Ottoman State began to find allies not only to fix the damages of Balkan Wars but also to quit her psychology of isolation and this enterprise resulted with the treaty of alliance which was signed by Ottoman State and Germany. The war broke out in 1914 and continued till 1918. During this period Ottoman State fought in many fronts in the side of Central Powers.
Also the war affected Ottoman State’s economical, social and political structure. The depression in social life which began with Balkan Wars and continued with World War 1st, showed itself all around the Ottoman State particularly Istanbul began to encounter lots of problems such as famine, communicable diseases, absence of consumption goods, darkenings and transportation and distinctively. This situation affected all Ottoman communities. The Greek community living in İstanbul which began to constitute its social organizations from Tanzimat Period continued to work despite the unfavorable conditions of the war. Also the Greek community wanted to take the support of Greece and they tried to reinforce their relations with Greece.
The main reason effected the associations to be politicized should be searched in their relations with Greece. In this context from the process that began with Balkan Wars, the conflicts between greece and Turkey resulted with the approach of İstanbul Greek community with Greek government.
Also during the First World War the creator of the control mechanism of İstanbul Greeks, Eleftherios Venizelos supported the Greek community’s activities. Another political lunge of Eleftherios Venizelos was supporting the collaboration of Armenian and Greek communities aproachment and moreover to conduct these activities. The reason that Venizelos’s support of Greek and Armenian collaboration and making organizations in Western countries can be define as the next step of him about the next process.
Other significant improvement during the First World War was the Dardanalles campaign which caused Bosphorus to be closed and this situation affected İstanbul People in negative way. Increasing contagious diseases, famine and other negative events really caused İstanbul to have serious problems.
While the Greek associations were active during the World War 1st, they also tried to work with the support of wealthy Greeks in Istanbul as they did in previous periods, women and philanthropist associations helped Greeks in bad condition and also vocational associations secured their politization, by their relations with Greece. While sport and art associations were slowing down their activities, they mobilized their gymnasiums and theatre halls for the organizations of philanthropist associations. The socio cultural Greek oragnizations began to change their targets and activities into the political way. And this change began to form the relations between Ottoman State and Greek community.
During the First World War the because the social conditions got worse, famine and migrations effected the socio cultural Greek organizations. So in this period the establishment of associations decreased in comparison to other periods. From tanzimat period till the World War period, only in İstanbul 400 socio cultural associations were founded and these organizations exhibitedthe social mıvement of İstanbul Greek community.
Also it must be said that the new organizations founded during the First World War and other associations focused on philantropy. Because the famine in İstanbul forced this organizations to help Greek community esspecially the students, homeless and indigents. A lot of soup kitchens were opened and this kind of places made collaborations with women associations. So this reinforced the unity of Greek community.
1914 yılında başlayan ve kısa sürede yayılan Birinci Dünya Savaşı’nda Osmanlı Devleti, Balkan Savaşları ile yaşanan yenilginin yaralarını sarmak ve Avrupa’daki yalnızlaşma psikolojisinden kurtulmak için müttefik arayışlarına girişmiş ve bu arayış, Almanya ile imzalanan bir müttefiklik anlaşmasıyla sonuca ulaşmıştır.
Balkan Savaşları ile başlayan, Birinci Dünya Savaşı ile devam eden ve sosyal yaşama da yansıyan bunalım, Osmanlı ülkesinin hemen her yerinde kendini hissettirmiş özellikle İstanbul kıtlık, bulaşıcı hastalıklar, tüketim ihtiyaçlarının karşılanamaması, karartmalar, ulaşım sıkıntısı gibi daha birçok sorunu daha belirgin şekilde yaşamaya başlamıştır.
Birinci Dünya Savaşı yıllarında faaliyet gösteren Rum cemiyetleri tıpkı daha önceki dönemlerde olduğu gibi, varlıklı Rumların destekleriyle faaliyetlerini sürdürmeye çalışırken, kadın ve hayırsever cemiyetleri zor durumda olan Rumlara çeşitli yardım faaliyetlerinde bulunmuş, meslek cemiyetleri ise Meşrutiyet döneminde temellendirdikleri siyasallaşmayı Yunanistan ile kurdukları bağlantıyla sağlamlaştırmışlardır. Spor ve sanat cemiyetleri ise faaliyetlerini yavaşlatırken, spor salonları ve tiyatro sahnelerini hayırsever Rum cemiyetlerinin yardım organizasyonları için seferber etmişlerdir.
Bu çalışmada İstanbul Rumlarının cemiyetleşme faaliyetleri, bu cemiyetlerin Osmanlı yönetimine, Yunanistan’a ve savaşa olan yaklaşımları, cemiyetlerin niteliklerinde yaşanan değişimler, cemiyetlerin kuruldukları bölgelerdeki Rumlara sağladıkları imkânlar, daha evvelki dönemlerdeki faaliyetleri ile kıyaslanacak, çeşitli araştırma eserleri, Rumca/Osmanlıca süreli yayınlar, cemiyetlerin Rumca nizamnameleri ve raporları kullanılarak ortaya konmaya çalışılacaktır.
Primary Language | Turkish |
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Journal Section | Research Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | June 30, 2020 |
Submission Date | April 30, 2020 |
Published in Issue | Year 2020 Volume: 2 Issue: 1 |