The Chios Massacre (1822) and early British Christian-humanitarianism

Abstract

This article explores early British Christian-humanitarianism towards the Greeks following the 1822 Chios Massacre. Scholars of the Greek revolution have previously acknowledged the massacre as a pivotal moment for British attitudes towards the Greeks, although few have elaborated significantly on this humanitarian shift. This article focuses on what the massacre was and public and political reactions to it in Britain. It also investigates how perceptions of ‘Christian’ Greeks, compared to ‘Islamic’ and ‘barbarian’ Ottomans, encouraged British sympathy. Essentially it argues that the massacre ‘humanized’ the Greeks to the British, leading to an early type of Christian-humanitarian intervention.