Τὸ πλαίσιο ἐφαρμογῆς τῆς προσφυγικῆς ἐγκατάστασης καὶ ἀποκατάστασης καὶ ἡ ἐπιβολὴ ἐθνοτικῆς καὶ χωρικῆς ὁμοιογένειας στὴ Θρακικὴ ἐπαρχία (1922-1930)

Abstract

The population exchanges between Bulgaria and Greece and Turkey
and Greece during the early 1920s functioned as an excellent opportunity
for the rival Balkan states to meet the doctrines of nation-state
formation. In this specific case Greek Thrace is investigated as a province
with a historically formed ethnic composition that questioned the
attempts of the Greek authorities to establish their national dominance,
semiological representation and function.
Under the urgency of the refugees’ presence the Greek state put
into operation a massive colonisation and homogenisation project aiming
to unbalance the regional ethnic diversity, to restrict the minority
semiological representation, to link and administer local institutional
(communal and municipal) and governmental bodies with the national
ones and to regulate the Thracian landscape according to the national
archetype.
Seizures, requisitions, appropriations and redemptions of movable
and immovable properties were the key tools adopted by a network of
state institutions and the dominant group members themselves. During
an eight-year period the colonisation and homogenisation project
achieved an ambiguous implementation and introduced a new revised
project under the latest diplomatic developments between the Balkan
states.
Extensive archival resources and various published materials have
been elaborated in an attempt to reveal the utility of space as a fundamental
tool towards the accomplishment of the incorporation of a newly
annexed ethnically diverse province into a nation-state.