Today, on April 2, 1822, the destruction of Chios by the Ottomans occurred. The island’s uprising on March 11, 1822 had been preceded and the massacre of tens of thousands of residents from the Ottoman army on March 30.

The island of Chios enjoyed significant privileges from the Ottomans for whom mastic was a very important product. The beginning of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the successful revolution in Samos marked a time of hope that the time of liberation from the Ottoman yoke was approached.

The unexpected landing of the Samian revolutionaries on the island of Chios (March 10, 1822) and the exclusion of the Ottomans in the island’s fortress fired the Sultan and led him to take tough and exemplary measures.

Thus, he ordered the murder of three hostages and 60 traders in Istanbul.

At the same time, the Ottoman fleet – led by the Supreme Ottoman Aegean Commander, Kara Ali – sailed to Chios to suppress the revolution and landed around 7,000 troops from Asia Minor.

The fleet bombed the city, L or the siege of the fortress, and new forces arrived from the opposite Asia Minor coast (Cesme). The revolutionary outbreaks were eliminated and the Ottomans gained control of the island.

Extensive looting and slaughter of civilian population

The local population had already gathered on the west coast for its safe escape to the fishermen.

Kara Ali promised amnesty for everyone and – with the help of Austria, England and France – persuaded the local population to return to his homes without retaliation.

However, he did not comply with his promise. Of about 100.00 inhabitants several fell dead and others were captured. Only those residents who fled to the sultan of Mastichohoria were rescued.

Inspired by the slaughter of Chios, Eugene Delacroix painted the homonymous table

The Ottoman army proceeded with extensive looting and slaughter of civilian population, although the overwhelming majority of the island did nothing to cause slaughter, as it did not participate in the uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottomans burned houses and killed all children under 3 years old; all men from 12 years and over; as well as all women from 40 years of age and overwith the exception of those who were willing to embrace Islam (had previously been ordered the troops to give life only to those who agreed to change).

Eventually, more than 40,000 inhabitants of the island were slaughtered or captured, while much of the population fled to Psara, the Cyclades and the Peloponnese.

The trade of female children as slaves

One side of the Ottoman savagery against the population of Chios was the sale – mainly of women and children – as slaves. They were transported as goods to the bazaars of Constantinople and Smyrna and sold at degrading prices.

The Dutch diplomat in Constantinople Gaspar Testa writes to his foreign minister:

“The most exhausting spectacle is the enslaved female children who brought from Chios … Boys and girls crawl on the streets tied to each other and are driven to slavery. The girls held a paper by the name of their Turkish gentlemen who stayed in Chios. Unable to accompany them themselves, they sent them to the address of their homes in the city. “

The English Consul in Smyrna Francis Veri writes in his reference to the Levant Company: “On the way to the Franks, the flocks of Chios children are driven up and down.”

The Courier Francais on July 10, 1822, says fanatical Muslims bought their victim for 30 gross and slaughtered it immediately to win a place in paradise for their act.

Many women committed suicide during transport and others died of a hunger strike to save humiliation.

Allgemeine Zeitung is published that young children under the age of 7 who were inappropriate for the slave trade were tied and thrown into the sea.

The scene of the slave trafficking is also described by the English Embassy priest R. Walsh, stating that on May 1, 1822, 41,000 “Banders” (slave ownership documents) were issued and that 5,000 were sold in Constantinople.

Younger children were led by groups for Islam. The English clergyman Walsh writes that “in a day more converts were made than the Gospel to the Koran than those from the Quarter in the Gospel in a century”.

The sales stopped on June 19, 1822, after the intervention of the Sultan’s sister, to which Chios belonged as a feud.

The disaster that shocked Europe

The destruction of Chios shocked Europe and demonstrated the brutality of the Ottomans. However, it has further strengthened the revolutionary spirit of Greeks across Europe.

Europeans realized the events in Greece and showed sympathy for the victims and heroes of an unequal struggle.

Indicatively, Parisian Constitutionnele reproduced by the German Allgemeine Zeitung then said that “the events that had preceded Ayvalık are insignificant in front of the slaughter of Chios”.

After this event, the philhellenic movement flared and a significant number of European Philhellenes rushed to rebel Greece to strengthen Greek military bodies. The incident was significantly influenced by European artists.

Inspired by the massacre of Chios, Eugene Delacroix painted the homonymous painting exhibited in Paris and played an important role in raising the awareness of French public opinion on the Greek revolutionary struggle.