Covering the period 1882 to 1922, Paris Papamichos Chronakis explores a city in which a series of wars, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and influxes of refugees, tore its ‘multiethnic fabric apart’ (3). However, rather than merely cataloguing crises, C. recognizes the ingenuity and resilience of merchants who often managed to pivot their businesses, and refashion their public identities in the face of seemingly impossible challenges.
Part I focuses on how, until around 1909, ‘Jews were the indisputable masters of the local economy’ (43). C. skilfully weaves together archival material in a number of languages. These diverse sources range from the annual reports of philanthropic foundations and the minutes of business associations, to community periodicals and French diplomatic dispatches. Noting the development of rail and steamship connections during the later nineteenth century, C.’s work is exceptional in charting the networks established by the city’s merchants at regional (across Macedonia and into the Greek state) and continental levels. This, he observes, also led to the ‘Westernization’ of the streets, ‘from shop windows to beer drinking’ (41).
The more tangible arrival of the Western powers in the form of the Entente’s Army of the Orient is just one of the challenges facing Thessalonians during the years 1908-1918, covered in Part II of the book. Consciously setting aside the simplistic portrayal common to military memoirs of the Salonica Front – of a bustling ‘Oriental’ metropolis which was changed for ever by the 1917 fire and the population exchange of 1923 (206) – C. charts a number of fascinating developments which resonated well beyond the business community. These include the establishment of Greek banks, the rise of guilds and trade unions, a strand of antagonism towards the Athens government concerning trade interference, and wartime denigration of the merchant class as ‘profiteers’. Above all, there was the ‘steady economic advancement of Greek Orthodox merchants’ (122).
The remainder of the book concerns the decade 1912-1922, when ‘Salonica was a city on the move’ (217). Whilst the overlapping of time periods across sections of the book is absolutely justifiable in terms of outlining long-term cultural and economic trends, the present reviewer found this aspect somewhat unsatisfying as part of a cover-to-cover read. In common with previous sections, Part III begins with a case study of a notable Salonica businessman, a feature of the book which encourages us not to forget, amongst all of the wider (inter)national developments, the impact of individuals upon their community. Here, appropriately in the context of Salonica’s increasing Hellenization, the life of the Jewish grandee Joseph Misrahi culminates in his decision to emigrate (214). However, the subtlety of C.’s approach enables him to demonstrate that not all of the city’s Greek merchants actually profited from annexation to Greece: for some, ‘Ottoman riches rapidly disintegrated into Greek rags’ (234).
Published under the banner Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture, C.’s volume certainly has much to say about a remarkable late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Jewish community’s flexibility, diversity, and ultimate decline from influence. Yet C. also makes the claim that his study fills a gap in the neglected study of ‘post-imperial bourgeoisies’ (31) across Europe, so that Salonica’s story ‘is representative rather than exceptional’ (30). Certainly, C.’s detailed and meticulous contribution sits well alongside, and is a powerful complement to, other landmark Anglophone accounts of Salonica, such as that of Mark Mazower. The main reservation of this reviewer is the illustrations, which are restricted to company shares certificates and commercial letterheads. Whilst these are both attractive and directly relevant to the arguments of the text, one might have hoped for some photographs of the city and its personalities.
Given the complexity of its subject matter and the huge number of sources used, this could easily have been a turgid read. In contrast, the author is to be congratulated for producing a volume which is engagingly written and highly persuasive.
