Η ιδεολογία της οικονομικής ανάπτυξης: Οι πρόσφυγες στο μεσοπόλεμο

Περίληψη

The contribution of the refugees to Greece’s economic development during
the interwar period represents, at least up to the Second World War, a much 

argued upon and controversial subject. Their integration in the country’s political
system gradually brought about the weakening of the controversy; in the
end, the view that the refugees brought about important changes in the economic
structures of Greece prevailed. Thanks to the refugees, this argument
runs, Greece’s economy entered its industrial period, whilst their contribution
to other economic sectors was extremely important as well. This opinion has
become firmly established «common knowledge» and there are but few historians
or social scientists who hold the view that things may not be exactly this
way.
In my paper, I tried to show that we are still far from being able to
demonstrate the extent of the refugees’ contribution, if such a procedure can be
considered methodologically possible, which I strongly doubt. What I do consider
absolutely certain is that the refugees did not bring about the extraordinary
transformations of Greece’s economy that public opinion ascribes to
them. A careful examination of the economic indicators in a consistent theoretical
context, — something overlooked by historians, who simply adopt the
interwar statistics — easily proves that the refugees’ economic potential was
integrated into Greece’s economic structures, themselves under the influence of
the interwar conjecture.
None of the economic sectors examined yield evidence of any radical transformation
due to the influx of the refugees. Even in the case of the so-called
fiscal burdening caused by the refugees’ rehabilitation, the data at our disposal
are far too restricted for any categorical affirmations. Therefore, the dominant
view of the refugees’ contribution to Greece’s economic development during
the interwar period is to be considered as yet another myth that remains
uncontested in Greek historiography.