Τα Γεγονότα της Δαμασκού: Η σφαγή του 1860 και η καταστροφή του παλιού οθωμανικού κόσμου

by Eugene Rogan, Κωστής Πανσέληνος (Translator)

Στις 9 Ιουλίου 1860, ένας βίαιος όχλος σάρωσε τις χριστιανικές συνοικίες της Δαμασκού. Για οκτώ ημέρες, η βία μαινόταν, με αποτέλεσμα πέντε χιλιάδες χριστιανούς νεκρούς, χιλιάδες καταστήματα λεηλατημένα, και σπίτια, εκκλησίες και μοναστήρια ισοπεδωμένα. Αυτό το ξαφνικό και άγριο ξέσπασμα συγκλόνισε τον κόσμο, αφήνοντας τους Σύρους χριστιανούς ευάλωτους και φοβούμενους νέες βιαιοπραγίες.

Βασισμένος σε άγνωστες ώς τώρα περιγραφές από αυτόπτες μάρτυρες των γεγονότων της Δαμασκού, ο επιφανής ιστορικός της Μέσης Ανατολής Γιουτζίν Ρόγκαν δείχνει πώς μια ειρηνική πολυπολιτισμική πόλη έφτασε να βυθιστεί στη σφαγή. Περιγράφει τις αυξανόμενες εντάσεις μεταξύ μουσουλμανικών και χριστιανικών κοινοτήτων που οδήγησαν κάποιους να θεωρήσουν την εξόντωση μια εύλογη λύση. Και παρακολουθεί επίσης την επαύριον της καταστροφής: πώς η οθωμανική κυβέρνηση φρόντισε γρήγορα να ανακτήσει τον έλεγχο της πόλης, να τερματίσει τη βία και να επανεντάξει τους χριστιανούς στην κοινότητα – προσπάθειες ανασυγκρότησης που αποδείχθηκαν επιτυχείς, διατηρώντας την ειρήνη για τα επόμενα 150 χρόνια μέχρι το 2011.

Το βιβλίο ανιχνεύει έτσι τη ζωντανή ιστορία του ολέθρου που γνώρισε μια μεγάλη πόλη, και μαζί τη δυνατότητα της αποκατάστασης, ακόμη και μετά τις καταιγιστικές συγκρούσεις και τις αφάνταστες τραγωδίες.

Genres: History, Middle East, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Politics, Islam, Christianity

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2024

About the author

Eugene Rogan is Director of the Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. He took his B.A. in economics from Columbia, and his M.A. and PhD in Middle Eastern history from Harvard. He taught at Boston College and Sarah Lawrence College before taking up his post in Oxford in 1991, where he teaches the modern history of the Middle East.

Reviews

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stumbling Empire

The Damascus Events by Eugene Rogan is a story of a 19th Century genocide, followed by a surprising recovery. The eastern shore of the Mediterranean is perhaps one of the most complex and historic places in the world. Human occupation and continuous struggle has occurred here since records began. Hitties, ancient Egyptians, ancient Persians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Jews, Muslims, crusades, you name it, it has all happened along this shore. In the 19th century it was all under control of a declining Ottoman Empire. Born out of conquest, the violence had subsided and the stability increased since the rule of Suleman the Magnificent (or the Lawgiver in Turkey and Syria).

However by 1860 Ottoman rule was weakening, the Sultan who sat in Constantinople was surrounded by pressures from European powers. Damascus is Islam’s fourth holiest city, a major departure point for the Hajj pilgrimage but was a major focus for political and social tensions. There was a 15,000 Christian population who had recently been given legal equality by the Sultan, but also had other advantages due to foreign consuls. There was seen a real fear of a ‘great replacement’ in which the Christians would climb above the Muslims and become the new ruling elite. As such, local tribes in Mount Lebanon and Damascus started to skirmish, loot and murder Christians. Fighting spilled out and up to 22,000 Christians were slaughtered across both areas. Many will most likely know of the Armenian genocide which occurred around half a century later, but few may have heard of the slaughter Rogan depicts in this book.

Barred up in the citadel with their quarter ransacked, others killed, raped or forced to covert to Islam they were finally relieved by Mehmed Fuad Pasha. There was huge pressure for the Ottoman state to take back control, to prevent further intervention from European powers. As only a few years earlier, similar problems with religious differences in Jerusalem had lead to the Crimean War. Fuad acted quickly isolated and executed the ring leaders, housed the Christians in a cleared Muslim area and retrieved many stolen belongings. He was awarded with the office of Grand Vizier, which led to him securing funds to build the city back up. Rogan ends by reflecting that this created a homogeneous society where Christians and Muslims were united to build a better Syria. However, this was only broken with the outbreak of civil war in 2014, even if this was not a Christian verses Muslim conflict. The Damascus Events a surprising publication for me. Ottoman and 19th century history are both fascinating to me. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good book. In 1860 Muslim militants in the Ottoman Province of Damascus rose up and slaughtered their Christian neighbors. In a large part this was because Christians had long been servile to them and had suddenly gained power and status. This led to resentment and the destruction of the Christian quarter of the city.

The story is told through the eyes of Greek Christian US Consul in Damascus who as a result of the attack spent a month in bed and ultimately resigned due to his injuries which plagued him the rest of his life. He documented the rises of the Druze militia in Mount Lebanon which at that time was located in the Province of Damascus and their role in the slaughter.

On a larger scale the author portrays the impact that the slaughter had on the Ottoman Empire and the relationships between European rivals. Changes had to be made to ensure that Europeans did not dismember the empire. Though this would happen following World War I. These changes lead to significant modernization of the Empire.

If you are interested in the late Ottoman Empire, or Muslim/Christian relationships this is a great book to read.

[Michel · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب مهم جدا يوثق لمرحلة غالبا ما يتجنب الجميع الحديث عنها رغم تداعياتها التي لا نزال نراها في عالم اليوم,, يتوسع الكتاب بشرح أسباب أزمة عام ١٨٦٠ في كل من جبل لبنان ودمشق ومن ثم يصف ما حدث يوما بيوما وبعدها ينتقل الى ردة فعل السلطات العثمانية وكيف تمكن فؤاد باشا من نزع فتيل الأزمة ومن ثم على المدى الطويل كيف ساهم الازدهار الإقتصادي في ولاية دمشق الكبرى (التي تضمنت بيروت قبل فصلها عنها عام ١٨٨٨) في فتح صفحة جديدة بين المسلمين والمسيحيين فيها بدون أن تعاني دمشق من الطائفية والتي استمرت في لبنان من عام ١٨٦٠ حين تم ارساء النظام الطائفي فيه,, ينصح به لجميع محبي تاريخ الشرق الأوسط

[History Today]

In July 1860 Dr Mikhayil Mishaqa narrowly escaped death when an angry mob tried to lynch him in the backstreets of Damascus. A successful silk merchant and adviser to Lebanese princes, Mishaqa left his Levantine village for the city in 1834, where he trained as a doctor before becoming a US vice-consul. Ensconced in the heart of Ottoman Syria, Mishaqa soon joined the ranks of the Damascene Christian notables. But his prestigious position offered him little protection that July as Muslims in Mount Lebanon and Damascus turned on their Christian neighbours, killing more than 10,000 and 5,000 respectively in what Eugene Rogan calls a ‘genocidal moment’. Mishaqa and his family suffered numerous injuries and saw their house ransacked. Miraculously, they survived.

The Ottomans were no strangers to violence. The descendants of Osman Gazi cut a bloody path out of Anatolia to conquer and enslave until they had built a vast empire encompassing southeastern Europe, North Africa and much of the Middle East. But by the 16th century Sultan Suleiman I – known in the West as ‘the Magnificent’ and in Turkey and the Arab world as ‘the Lawgiver’ – had established the rule of law and sectarian bloodletting became a thing of the past. During the 19th century this began to change. Instances of violence between Ottoman Muslims and Christians became more frequent and more bloody all the way up to the end of the First World War. What had unsettled the order established by Suleiman? The question is addressed in two new books. In his enthralling Sea of Troubles Ian Rutledge offers a grand overview of the tensions that led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire and locates their source in the spread of capitalism and the ensuing inter-imperialist struggle. Rogan, meanwhile, zooms in and brilliantly captures the tragic outcome of this struggle. Read together, they shed much light on Ottoman modernity.

Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com.

William Eichler writes on the history and politics of Israel, Palestine and Turkey.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.
This book helped me understand more about the Ottoman Empire, something I feel I should study more since I've been living in Turkey. The Events described were terrible, and the story shows how something can be predictable and still unavoidable. I didn't love the tone of victim blaming, especially towards the beginning, as the same attitudes in our society today about minorities "knowing their role" or "not overreaching" have caused violence.
That being said, there is a clear relationship between the minority group's trying to usurp the power structure and the backlash.
The writing made the figures clear and their dilemmas relatable. I like how the book extended beyond the Events to show the rebuilding period, and how that had its ups and downs as well.

[Adil Zafar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written account of the events that led to communal violence in Damascus in 1860, the horrible event itself and the recovery the city made from the state of standstill caused by animosity, mistrust and fear among its communities.

Even though this book covers events that happened in Syria, it has plenty to offer to Indian readers. The Syrian and Lebanese parts of the Ottoman Empire in 1860 housed Muslims, Christians and Jews and sub-groups like Druzes and Maronites. The book shows how tensions can escalate and spread in such societies to the extent of uncontrolled mob violence. It highlights how important the role of the administration is in maintaining communal harmony.

The latter parts of the book cover the process by which the city rises literally from the ashes to become the great city it has been historically. The careful manoeuvring by the Ottoman officials in restoring normalcy to the city and delivering justice to the victims while keeping the communal tensions from erupting again make for an interesting read.

[Tamara]

Less substantive than I expected. Reminded me bizarrely of one of those smarmy expat blogs where they're obsessed with interior design while living amongst abject misery. Hiding away the oh-trivial-fact that people kept slaves (and it was legal) to page 207 is egregious. I found the whole book a little heavy on apologetics, but admittedly have no familiarity with the period at all. What I took from it is that massacres after all are just to be expected in these parts, no? Especially following, my god, reforms for explicit equality before the law? I mean, you can't just do that. Fortunately, however, much nice furniture was acquired afterwards, so it all worked out.

[Don Dealga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eugene Rogan is one of the few English Language Western scholars of the modern Middle East with the linguistic capability to utilize original Arabic and Turkish language sources. This work on the communal conflict that gripped the Levant in the mid 19th Century is partly based on previously undiscovered volumes (3 of them) of consular correspondence written by Dr Mikhayil Mishaqa US Vice Consul in Damascus and his successor (and his son) Nasif, which Rogan found in the US National Archives. Mishaqa was a leading Christian notable in Damascus and a representative of US interests, however Rogan also makes use of extensive source material, memoirs and writings of eyewitness actors from other communities from the time of the 'Events'. Through the 'micro history' narrative of the actual 'Events' Rogan skillfully weaves in the wider contextual details illustrating the currents and influences that precipitated the actual conflict and inter-religious tension across what we now call Lebanon and Syria. In this volume, we get to understand the impact of the Ottoman reforms known as the Tanzimat, (from the Arabic نِظَام -NIZAM = organization) which means something like 'reorganizing/reordering, which sought to modernize the empire's governance and administration very much in line with the wishes and thinking of Western powers who saw themselves as 'protectors' of various Ottoman minority communities. What Rogan brings out is how the Tanzimat brought about a great degree of suspicion, anxiety and anger among various Muslim communities throughout the Empire as they saw their position, privileges and religious sensibilities threatened and diluted by the reforms. The rise of the minority communities' status and material success as a result of the reforms and the patronage of Western interests with the concomitant decline of the position and economic power of the Muslim notables in Damascus helped fuel resentment and hostility that fed into the massacres of 1860. The book also provides up with more insight into some of the issues that we see in the contemporary Bilad al Sham around sectarian interests, the emergence of Arab nationalism, and the impact of Western Imperialism. Some of the leading Ottoman personalities in the story Rogan tells, emerge with a lot more credit and are depicted with much more nuance than Ottoman figures typically receive in the standard Western stereotype of the 'sick man of Europe' corrupt bureaucrat. Fuad Pasha in particular is portrayed as a skilled decisive and insightful leader. I would recommend this book to any English language reader seeking to understand more about the specific events described, but also those seeking a deeper understanding of the forces and conditions that helped shape the history of this part of the modern Middle East. The book is written with Rogan's characteristic narrative flair. Underlying his accessible readable style is a tremendous body of research material using original and secondary sources many of them in Arabic and Turkish.

[LBA · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book providing a very moving account of the massacres and destruction of the Christians of Damacus and the incapacity of the Ottoman authorities and of the leaders of the muslim community to prevent it.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fact (or maybe not), I was a history student once upon a time, and then spent quite a few years not being able to read history books (the trauma). The Damascus events is the kind of history book that can also be enjoyed by people who are not academics - that's a compliment by the way. Incredibly interesting and I loved that the author reminds the reader that these events can be seen as the one point that led to some of the most important events of early 20th century. Historical events are usually the result of a long line of events, not just one point in time. Also says a lot about the actual situation in the Middle East.

[Soren Dayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really fascinating book.

I don't know the broader history of Damascus (and I regret that much of it may just be lost to us now), so I am reading this from the point of view of the naive public.

However, I learned several things from it.

First, the extent of the borderline genocide of Christians in Mount Lebanon and Syria in 1860. I knew that in much of the Middle East, this happened 100 years later. But this history was new to me.

Second, the power of the Ottoman response to this that in some real way reshaped the Ottoman Empire in perhaps it's last great reform. This was fascinating. I would love to read a book on how these reforms live on today in these countries. Certainly the policy response created the modern state of Lebanon, as broken as it is.

Third, the ways in which the European powers (including Russia in this) adopted local Christians and tried to diminish the Ottoman Empire. This is well known, but great to read in context. Reading this alongside the William Dalrymple and Anita Anand podcast Empire (season 2 of which covers the Ottomans and season 4 of which covers the Russian Empire, including its conflicts with the Ottmans)

Points (2) and (3) combine to really challenge the "sick man of Europe" story that Europe told about the Ottomans.

I would so love to visit these places and learn more. But that seems unlikely in Damascus any time soon.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough, compelling, and well-written account of what the author convincingly argues is the seminal opening event of modern Middle Eastern and/or Levantine history. Seen through the perspective of one Ottoman Syrian, Dr Mikhail Mishaqa, Rogan paints a dynamic portrait of the collapse of an older order as a result of the Tanzimat reforms and their controversial rollout of a tortured, newfangled form of equality between Muslims and non-Muslims. As with all episodes of communal violence, one yearns for the narrative kernels of truth that adequately explain how neighbors can suddenly kill neighbors in large numbers, which this book does a mostly good job of explaining. But at one point he hints that the violence was caused in large part because the Christians were, pardon my French, 'getting uppity,' but then doesn't explain the forms that said uppityness took, which would have added a much-needed layer of understanding to the city's greatest tragedy in centuries. Still, the book is a very valuable addition to the scholarship on 19th century Ottoman, Syrian, and Levantine history and stands as a leading work to understand the fate of the region in the late Ottoman period. Respect more than anything to the great Algerian freedom fighter, Emir Abdelkader, along with the leading Ottoman statesman of the day, Fuad Pasha. Neither gets the recognition they deserve, which this book goes a very long way to correcting.

[Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why the jokers at Goodreads will only refer to the Kindle edition is anyone's guess.

This is a fairly well-researched work on a little known but significant event that helped shape the Middle East for decades. Rogan does a good job of giving the background elements that led to the massacre, and his sense of detail adds to the horror when describing the massacre itself. The last part of the book --detailing how the Ottoman government sought to reconstruct Damascus for their own reasons-- is a bit of mess. Timelines zig zag and go back and forth like a game of checkers. The book isn't well edited (in at least two instances, there are consecutive sentences beginning with "Moreover") and some facts need checking (telegrams do not travel at the speed of light, just saying). Still, it's all worth the read, given how little attention is given to this historic tragedy.

[Shane Kiely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I started reading this was an incident I’d never really heard about previously. The entire milieu of the later Ottoman Empire is something of a blank outside of some vague knowledge of the Crimean & Balkan Wars & World War 1. Things can occasionally be hard to follow with a lot of quite similar sounding Arab & Turkish names to differentiate between but I think in this sort of story it’s more important to provide an authentic portrait of the World which inspired the events & this book achieves this. Despite the occasionally confusing names the characters that do stand out are incredibly well drawn. Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the recent history of the Middle East.

[swap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rogan does some excellent scholarship to unearth the diaries and writings of Mikahil Mishaqa, effectively the protagonist of the book through whose eyes we see the sectarian horrors of 1860 in Damascus. I think Rogan does a decent job of putting the massacre of Damacean Christians in its wider context - the Ottoman tanzimat reforms, Western protection of religious minorities in the empire, the need to balance appeasement of the Muslim majority with maintaining a multi-ethnic and multi-religious empire. I wish it'd been about 30% longer and spent more time explaining the broader history of Ottoman policy to minorities and explaining the history of sectarianism in Syria.

[Al waleed Kerdie · Rating 5 out of 5]

أهم كتاب أقرأه هذا العام.
تصدي يوجين روغان لتاريخنا بهذه الحرفية والموضوعية لشيء يثير الدهشة والإعجاب.
يصدّر كتاب "أحداث دمشق" الأحداث الأهلية التي حدثت في جبل لبنان ودمشق عام 1860, هذا التاريخ المسكوت عنه, والذي يتم نسيانه عمداً في تاريخنا. ما حدث في ذلك الوقت شيء كارثي في تاريخ هذه المنطقة وقد ساهم في تحوّلات القرن العشرين الاستعمارية وصولا لما بعد 2011.
يتناول الكتاب الأحداث والأسباب التي ساهمت في إشعال الحقد الطائفي الأعمى, التنازع الطبقي والاقتصادي وكل ما أجج تلك الأحقاد من أصغر التفاصيل وصولا لأكبرها. تناول يوجين روغان كل ذلك بتأني وهدوء, مستعينا بالعديد من المصادر المحلية الخارجية وفي مقدمتها مذكرات ومراسلات الدكتور ميخائيل مشاقة كشاهدا على العصر.
الحديث عن هذا الكتاب سيطول وسيطول ويفتح الشهة على قراءات أعمق في تاريخنا, وها انا أذهب الآن لقراءة الجزء الثاني من مذكرات يوسف الحكيم "لبنان وسوريا في العهد العثماني".

[Sam Talkington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve only heard the name Ottoman Empire. I’ve never heard of the 1860 Massacre in Damascus, Syria which killed over 40,000 Christian’s and ultimately led to the beginning of the modern Middle East.

The creation of Syria, Beirut, Israel and much of geo politics of current Middle East.

Great source I will revisit.

Must read for anyone trying to piece together the very complex situations that don’t pass the “test” of simplicity the voices from our US sound off on when trying to debate mid east talking points.

[Priit Rohumaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read about how tensions developed between Christians and Muslims in Damascus, leading to the mass killing of Christians in 1860. Even more fascinating is how the Ottoman Empire then tried to make amends, as there was a risk of a major armed conflict, including European countries. However, after the Crimean War, the Ottomans’ treasury was also empty. Finally, the exciting part where an autonomous Lebanon was established and a rivalry emerged between Beirut and Damascus over which would gain the status of capital of the united Syrian vilayet.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main thing this book did for me is to inform me on the state of the Ottoman Empire in the 1860s, particularly regarding Damascus. It seems like Christians were regarded as second-class citizens, which led to the 1860 massacre of Christians by their Muslim neighbors, but the government was intentional in treating Christians reasonably equally after the tragedy and managed to build a new equilibrium.

[Karl Kilbo Edlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in a few days. Rogan's account of the Damascus event is erudite yet captivating and highly readable, discussing the causes, unraveling, and consequent reconciliation after the brutal massacre of a large portion of Damascus's Christian population during eight days in 1860 or, as Rogan puts it, when the city was brought "to the brink of genocide". To any modern reader, the book's brutal actuality is apparent.

But what I found most interesting is Rogan's description of how the Ottomans approached the difficult task of restoring law and order to society, funding the physical restoration, and slowly reconciling the city's religious communities. According to Rogan, they were very successful - according to others I've heard, less so. The book is short and its main novelty is Rogan's access to new source material. I think it is a good thing that it inspires just as many questions as it answers.

[Dylan Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eugene Rogan’s passion for the subject in this story is clearly evident. Detailing a major event in Damascus that altered Muslim - Christian relations he reconstructs the event with clarity and great attention to detail. I would highly recommend this to Ottoman, Middle East, and/or Christian- Muslim specialists alike.

[Vahe Kassardjian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply moving summary of key events in the 19th century Middle East that largely explain ensuing events in the 20th century and up to the present day. Very well researched and written… and disturbingly eye-opening. I had very much appreciated the Fall of the Ottoman Empire by the same author as well.

[Raja · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very timely read!

The costumes may change, so may tools used by the actors. Nevertheless, the essence remains. One can easily read this book and establish strong connections to contemporary Syria.

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be;
and that which is done is that which shall be done:
and there is no new thing under the sun.”
— Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV)

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relying on the account of the American Vice-Consul in Damascus, Mikhail Mishaqa, Rogan provides context for the sectarian violence that plagued mid-19th century Syria while trying to explain how those events shaped the immediate future of the region amid the turbulent transformations of the Ottoman-Arab World.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well told recounting of a rather significant event that I'm surprised I had not heard of before. 'Abd-al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri was a pretty remarkable figure who protected many against the ongoing massacre.

[Nolan Stout · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty disappointing honestly. It only devotes about one chapter to the actual massacres and that part feels pretty surface level. It’s more focused on the life of some of the key players and just Ottoman reactions to the massacre.

[Umar Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good read about communal violence in nineteenth century Syria, sparing none of the gruesome details and how that impacted the further development of the region and international diplomacy.

[Megan]

Dnf

I had a hard time trying to slog through this. The subject matter is interesting I’m sure but I wasn’t keen on the way it was told. It didn’t flow for me. I was about 1/3 done and he still hadn’t gotten to the massacres.

[Rebecca Alter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insight into the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and development of the states of Syria and Lebanon amid the conflicts between Muslims, Druze and Christian communities. Some reference to the Jewish community.

[Ghalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good book about the events that happened in the 1860s in Damascus and Lebanon . Has such a nice and detailed description of Damascus as a city at that time.
All Damasines should read this book . It is very captivating and easy to follow. In addition, it is full of history lessons ...