03435cam a22003853u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003701000130007804000110009104100170010205000070011910000310012624500230015726400510018030000470023133600260027833700260030433800360033050000310036650801920039752020960058953400610268565300210274665300110276765300310277865300250280965300320283470000490286685600720291585600430298799900190303076324UtSlPG20260610134751.0mcr n260607r20251926utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  a26009178  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aDS1 aHorton, George,d1860-194214aThe blight of Asia 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2025  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier  aRelease date is 2025-06-16  aTim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)  a"The blight of Asia :  An account of the systematic extermination of Christian…. by George Horton is a historical account written in the early 20th century. It indicts Ottoman and later Turkish authorities for organized violence against Christian populations—Armenians and Greeks in particular—culminating in the destruction of Smyrna, while also criticizing the complicity and silence of the Great Powers. Framed by the author’s long service in the Near East, it combines eyewitness reporting, quoted testimonies, and polemical argument to portray a deliberate program of extermination and its geopolitical enablers.  The opening of the work sets the tone with a foreword condemning Western inaction, followed by an introduction in which the former U.S. consul explains his aims and firsthand vantage—from the Young Turk revolution through the Smyrna fire. Early chapters list major massacres from the 19th century, quote Gladstone’s and others’ denunciations, and describe how post-1908 “Turkification” quickly turned to repression: assassinations, forced disarmament of Christians, torture, and widespread intimidation that helped drive Balkan Christians into alliance. The narrative then shifts to western Asia Minor, recounting boycotts, incitement, killings, expulsions, and the destruction of villages around Smyrna, illustrated by the 1914 sack of Phocea as an “organized” operation. A substantial section presents corroborating evidence on the Armenian deportations—eyewitness accounts from Aleppo and a detailed report by Walter M. Geddes—depicting caravans of women, children, and the elderly dying from brutality, starvation, and disease, and notes similar devastation in the Pontus. It closes this opening portion with the 1919 Greek landing at Smyrna—acknowledging initial shootings and looting, then emphasizing Governor Sterghiades’ swift punishments—and outlines the subsequent Hellenic administration’s reforms, from curbing vice to funding Turkish schools and building public health services. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cIndianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1926  aGreeks -- Turkey  aTurkey  aFires -- Turkey -- İzmir  aChristians -- Turkey  aİzmir (Turkey) -- History1 aGerard, James W.q(James Watson),d1867-19514 uhttps://archive.org/details/blightofasiaacco00hort/page/n7/mode/2up40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76324  c117049d117049