The fall of souli

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>The fall of Souli

The city of Souli, in the mountains near today's Yiannina, decided in the 18th century that they would not pay any more taxes to the Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, they were protecting no less than 66 Greek villages in the area from the Ottomans. In return, those villages supported the "Souliotes", or residents of Souli. At times they even demanded a tribute from the Turks in order to not attack them!

However, the Ottoman Empire which had started declining at that stage, ignored this matter for almost twenty years. It was 1752, when Mustapha Pasha of Yiannina was given the order to destroy Souli. The Turkish army marched against Souli, but they were beaten decisively. For another four decades, the now near-autonomous state was ignored by the Ottoman Empire — until Ali Pasha came into power.

The army raised by Ali Pasha made its first appearance near Souli in 1792 and was soundly defeated. Eight years later he attempted another attack against Souli but was defeated again and left. In 1802, he led 18,000 men in an effort to take Souli by surprise. But a surprise with such a large force was impossible and the Souliotes ambushed them and inflicted heavy casualties.

Ali Pasha then decided to change his tactics. Rather than marching and assaulting a natural mountain fortress, such as Souli, he decided to besiege the city instead and began preparations to have Souli cut off from the outside world.

In the beginning the Souliotes were not troubled by the siege. But month after month the siege tightened, fields and crops were lost, and the people and their animals suffered from lack of food. The international community became concerned with the matter and in April 1803, supplies were delivered by the French to the harbour of Parga.

But Ali took advantage of the occasion, convincing the non-Greek inhabitants of the area that they were facing an international conspiracy that would develop into a threat against them all. It was no longer a personal matter between the Pasha and the Souliotes. Thousands of Turks and Albanians seized the supplies in Parga and reinforced his army. He began building towers at the exits of the valley, attempting to construct a giant trap. The following autumn, the giant trap was completed, but Souli would not fall. He needed the help of someone from the inside.

Many patriots and heroic fighters had come out of the Gousis family. But the family also produced Pelios Gousis, who imagined life rather differently. Ali’s men located Pelios and Ali’s second son, Veli Pasha, was sent to meet and strike a secret deal with him.

On a pre-agreed night, the Turkish-Albanian forces ambushed the army that Pelios had led into the trap whilst supposedly attempting to break out of the valley. In the darkness and the confusion, the Souliotes were forced to retreat within the fortified enclosure of the church of Aghia Paraskevi in Kougi.

By the break of daylight, Veli’s forces were inside Souli, whilst the besieged in Aghia Paraskevi were continuing to fight. Of the 400 who were fighting in Kougi, a small minority managed to brake through the encirclements with scimitars in their hands and managed to escape to safety in the mountains. But most, led by Samuel the monk, realising the dire situation they were in, put fire to the munitions and blew themselves up, along with a good number of Ali’s men.

For the remaining survivors, there was only one solution left - surrender. The treaty of surrender was signed on December 12, 1803, which allowed the Souliotes to leave their weapons behind and go wherever they pleased.

On December 15, men, women and children were divided into three groups headed to either Zalongo, Vouganeri or Parga. They had not started out when Ali gave the order to hit them as a means of punishment for their uprising against the Empire.

The group heading towards Parga managed to escape. The group headed to Voulganeri ended up wandering through the mountains until spring. But the enemy caught the first group at Zalongo, where the Souliotes were ambushed and hit hard. It was an uneven battle. Forced to retreat, some of the men survived. The women and children, encircled by the Turks, turned towards the steep cliff. The date is December 15, 1803. What happened next is very well described by a Turkish colonel, Souleiman-Aga, of Ali Pashas army: “[The] Women of Souli, held their hands and performed a dance, showing unusual heroism, and the agony of death awaiting set the rhythm. At the end of each chorus, women expressed a long piercing cry, whose echo died out in the depth of the frightening abyss of the cliff, where they fell off with their babies.†Dancing and singing, they chose to fall off the cliff holding their babies in their arms, instead of becoming enslaved by the Turks.

A monument was built there, as a tribute and a symbol in the memory of the sacrifice of these women of Souli. Every second Sunday of October, celebrations are held to pay tribute to the sacrifice. A poem/song/dance was written to commemorate the sacrifice of Souli. It can be found at the following website: http://www.helleniccomserve.com/zalongopoem.html

Sources: http://www.dimos-zalogou.gr/Monuments/Zalogo(EN).htm, http://www.helleniccomserve.com/zalongoarticle.html</span>

[ran 0]

here comes Ex-Ronin with another piece of Greek history

really interesting

Souli isn't the only exemple of greek martyrs , i remember a poem, by Victor Hugo i think, about the island of Scio which had been invaded and ravaged by the Turks too

-edit- : if i recall correctly , the poem was inspired by a Delacroix's painting

after browsing through a huge pile of 20yr old documents :

the poem I talked about is called "L'enfant" written by Victor Hugo in 1828 in "Les Orientales", inspired by the painting "Les Massacres de Scio" by Delacroix in 1823/1824 and the descriptions of Greece made by Chateaubriand and Chardin

Les Turcs ont passé lŕ. Tout est ruine et deuil

Chio, l'île des vins n'est plus qu'un sombre écueil,

   Chio, qu'ombrageait les charmilles,

Chio, qui dans les flots reflétait ses grands bois,

Ses coteaux, ses palais, et le soir quelquesfois

   Un choeur dansant de jeunes filles.

Tout est désert. Mais non ; seul prÄs des murs noircis,

Un enfant aux yeux bleus , un enfant grec, assis,

   Courbait sa tęte humiliée ;

Il avait pour asile, il avait pour appui

Une blanche aubépine, une fleur comme lui

   Dans le grand ravage oubliée.

Ah ! pauvre enfant, pieds nus sur les rocs anguleux !

Hélas ! pour essuyer les pleurs de tes yeux bleus

   Comme le ciel et comme l'onde,

Pour que dans leur azur, de larmes orageux,

Passe le vif éclair de la joie et des jeux,

   Pour relever ta tęte blonde,

Que veux tu ? Bel enfant , que faut-il donner

Pour rattacher gaîment et gaîment ramener

   En boucles sur ta blanche épaule

Ces cheveux, qui du fer n'ont pas subi l'affront,

Et qui pleurent épars autour de ton beau front,

   Comme les feuilles sur le saule ?

Qui pourrait dissiper tes chagrins nébuleux ?

Est-ce d'avoir ce lys, bleu comme tes yeux bleus,

   Qui d'Iran borde le puits sombre ?

Ou le fruit du tuba, de cet arbre si grand,

Qu'un cheval au galop met, toujours en courant,

   Cent ans ŕ sortir de son sombre ?

Veux-tu, pour me sourire, un bel oiseau des bois,

Qui chante avec un chant plus doux que le hautbois,

   Plus éclatant que les cymbales ?

Que veux-tu ? Fleur, beau fruit, ou l'oiseau merveilleux ?

- Ami, dit l'enfant grec, dit l'enfant aux yeux bleus,

   Je veux de la poudre et des balles.

                           Victor Hugo , Juin 1828

I had to re-write it so sorry in advance for any mistake

[Major Gripe 0]

Poetry and ancient greek history, don't you think that its a bit too highbrow for us forum simpletons?

[ran 0]

Poetry and ancient greek history, don't you think that its a bit too highbrow for us forum simpletons?    

it's quite recent greek history

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Unfortunately I don't speak French Do you happen to know what the English version is called?

EDIT: Did you write it out by hand, from paper ??

[ran 0]

Unfortunately I don't speak French Do you happen to know what the English version is called?

EDIT: Did you write it out by hand, from paper  ??

by hand from the paper yes

but in short it talks about a Greek child , survivor of ravaged Scio who's sitting on ruins and crying , the author comes in and asks the child what he needs to stop crying , he offers several things such as a flower , a fruit and a bird , but the child asks for bullets and powder

and no , there's no english version of it , or i doubt there ois any at least

it was written to make the europeans more aware of what was happening between the Greeks and the Turks on the greek islands

the description of the boy is more the description of a northern European child than the one of a Greek kid , my girlfriend (the one i was with at the date of the study of this poem , we were in the same class back in that time) advanced the hypothesis that the child's description could be made to strike the people even more by using the image we have of a child and maybe an angel so people feel even more pity

do many greeks have lo,ng blond hair and blue eyes ??

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

do many greeks have lo,ng blond hair and blue eyes ??

We used to have, before Alexander came up with his idea of a Pan-hellespontic race and before the Turks started raping our women :/ Add to that that the Greek colonies started mixing with the locals, and the result is that we have only very few true blonde/blue-eyed Greeks left.

Both Achilles and Alexander were blonde and blue-eyed, btw

And thanks for digging out that poem, its appreciated

[ran 0]

The Turks came here. All is ruin and mourning

Chio, the island of the wines is not any more but one dark shelf,

Chio, in the shade of the hedges,

Chio, which in the floods reflected its large woods,

Its slopes, its palaces, and sometimes the evening

A dancing chorus of girls.

All is deserted. But no; alone close to the blackened walls,

A child with the blue eyes, a Greek child, sitting,

Curbing his humiliated head;

He had as an asylum, he had as a support

a white hawthorn, a flower like him

Forgotten in the great devastation.

Ah! poor child, barefooted on the sharp rocks!

Alas! to wipe the tears of your blue eyes

Like the sky and the wave,

So that in their blue, stormy from tears,

the sharp flash of the joy and the plays Passes,

To raise your blond head,

What do you want? Beautiful child, what should you be given

to attach happily and happily bring back

In loops on your white shoulder

This hair, which did not undergo the affront of iron,

And which cries scattered around your beautiful face,

Like the leaves on the willow?

Who could dissipate your nebulous sorrows?

Is this to have this lily, blue like your blue eyes,

Which in Iran borders the dark well?

Or fruit of the Tuba, of this huge tree,

That a horse rushing does take, always while running,

Hundred years to be left its dark?

Do you want, to smile at me, a beautiful bird of the woods,

Which sings with a sound softer than the oboe,

Brighter than the cymbals?

What do you want? Flower, beautiful fruit, or the marvellous bird?

- Friend, says the greek child, says the child with the blue eyes,

I want powder and bullets.

Victor Hugo, June 1828

nota: thx to the almighty Babelfish for its broken translation , i had to correct it all by myself

please don't mind some vocabulary or grammar mistakes

[Blink Dog 0]

I can see a flame war rising from this thread.

[-TU--33ker 0]

I can see a flame war rising from this thread.

Why?

Very nice translation ran! I tried to figure out what's said in the French poem, but now I understand it much better!

[Postduifje 0]

It's never wrong to add some historic and cultural depth in the heads of us OFP-lovers, great story and poem

-Post

[Blink Dog 0]

well the bit about turks raping "Aryan" greeks.

[-TU--33ker 0]

thats nothing unusual. It happens when someone invades another country...

[Blink Dog 0]

And such discussions have benn started in other threads and flame wars have started

[-TU--33ker 0]

I wouldn't start a flamewar now... It just doesn't bring us anywhere, so let's stop talking about it.

[Gökhan - OFP TURKISH UNION 0]

I was wandering around old threads and saw this one! Shame on you Ex-RoNiN. Almost anything you said about Turks and Turkish History is whopper. Be careful, I say "Turks" and "Turkish History". Ottoman history is different. Turkey was found after that, as a different country. It's not Ottoman. Instead of "Turks", you should say "ottomans". Propaganda is not despising other nations, it's to show glistening parts of your own history but without lying or exaggerating.

Gökhan

Turkish Union Mod

www.turkishunion.com

[GoOB 0]

Mate... You should take a gander at the forum rules. And besides, isn't the Ottoman empire also sometimes referred to as The Turkish empire?

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

Mate... You should take a gander at the forum rules. And besides, isn't the Ottoman empire also sometimes referred to as The Turkish empire?

***Update: After a glimpse on forum rules, I withdraw my last comment***

/me crawls back to his hole...

Anyway... I can't imagine how frightening it would be in that situation... Jesus.

[Placebo 28]

Please don't dig up old threads. If you wish to discuss it with Ex-Ronin I'm sure he would be more than happy.