The 1893 Samothrace Earthquake and Aid to the Region 1893 Semadirek Depremi ve Bölgeye Yapılan Yardımlar

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KESKİN C.

Osmanli Medeniyeti Arastirmalari Dergisi, cilt.2025, sa.27, ss.421-449, 2025 (Scopus, TRDizin)

Özet

This study aims to examine the effects of the earthquake that occurred on Samothrace Island on February 9, 1893, within the context of natural disasters, political developments, and scientific interest. It emphasizes not only the earthquake's physical devastation but also its impact on diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and Greece. A qualitative research approach was adopted as the methodology, and the event was analyzed through a multifaceted historical analysis. The study's primary data source comprised Ottoman archival documents. Furthermore, provincial yearbooks were utilized, and a comprehensive resource base was created by evaluating domestic and foreign newspapers of the period, along with contemporary literature. Convergences and contradictions between these sources were meticulously compared and interpreted within the political and social context of the period. The findings demonstrate that the earthquake not only caused regional devastation but also exposed how different actors intervened in the field within the political atmosphere of the period. Greece's initiatives under the guise of aid and the policies developed by the Ottoman central administration in response to this disaster also reveal the international dimension of this disaster. The actions taken by Greece following the earthquake contradicted the Ottoman central government's desire for sovereignty and control. Consequently, this study examines the Samothrace earthquake not merely as a disaster but as a case reflecting the political and social dynamics of the period.