Η ιδεολογία της οικονομικής ανάπτυξης : Οι πρόσφυγες στο μεσοπόλεμο
Part of : Δελτίο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών ; Vol.9, 1992, pages 31-46
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31-46
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The ideology of economic development : The role of the inter war refugees
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Articles
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Abstract:
The contribution of the refugees to Greece’s economic development duringthe interwar period represents, at least up to the Second World War, a much argued upon and controversial subject. Their integration in the country’s politicalsystem gradually brought about the weakening of the controversy; in theend, the view that the refugees brought about important changes in the economicstructures of Greece prevailed. Thanks to the refugees, this argumentruns, Greece’s economy entered its industrial period, whilst their contributionto other economic sectors was extremely important as well. This opinion hasbecome firmly established «common knowledge» and there are but few historiansor social scientists who hold the view that things may not be exactly thisway.In my paper, I tried to show that we are still far from being able todemonstrate the extent of the refugees’ contribution, if such a procedure can beconsidered methodologically possible, which I strongly doubt. What I do considerabsolutely certain is that the refugees did not bring about the extraordinarytransformations of Greece’s economy that public opinion ascribes tothem. A careful examination of the economic indicators in a consistent theoreticalcontext, — something overlooked by historians, who simply adopt theinterwar statistics — easily proves that the refugees’ economic potential wasintegrated into Greece’s economic structures, themselves under the influence ofthe interwar conjecture.None of the economic sectors examined yield evidence of any radical transformationdue to the influx of the refugees. Even in the case of the so-calledfiscal burdening caused by the refugees’ rehabilitation, the data at our disposalare far too restricted for any categorical affirmations. Therefore, the dominantview of the refugees’ contribution to Greece’s economic development duringthe interwar period is to be considered as yet another myth that remainsuncontested in Greek historiography.
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