Massacres in the Greek War of Independence

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There were numerous massacres during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) perpetrated by both the Ottoman forces and the Greek revolutionaries. The war was characterized by a lack of respect for civilian life, and prisoners of war on both sides of the conflict. Massacres of Greeks took place especially in Ionia, Crete, Constantinople, Macedonia and the Aegean islands. Muslim (including Albanian, Islamized Greek, ethnic Turkish and Romani) and Jewish populations, who were identified with the Ottomans inhabiting the Peloponnese, suffered massacres, particularly where Greek forces were dominant. Greek communities in the Aegean Sea, Crete, Central and Southern Greece were wiped out, while Muslim and smaller Jewish communities in the Peloponnese were also destroyed. In total, it is estimated that 230,000–600,000 Greek civilians and 15,000–25,000 Muslim civilians lost their lives as a result of the war. The first massacre of the war was the Constantinople massacre, while the largest was...

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