1918 Toronto Anti-Greek Riot
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The 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot was a three-day
race riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on Ethnic conflict, ethnic, Sectarian violence, sectarian, xenophobic, and Racial conflict, racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa A ...
that took place across
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario, Canada, targeting Greek immigrants in early August 1918. The date range of the riots is variously cited as 2–4 August or 1–5 August, with some sources using the latter range to include the event that triggered the violence and the date of the final restoration of the peace. It was the largest riot in the city's history and one of the largest anti-Greek riots in the world. In the newspapers of the time, the events were referred to as the Toronto troubles.''Violent August: The 1918 Anti-Greek Riots in Toronto.''
a ''Burgeoning Communications'' Inc. documentary produced, written and directed by John Burry
Thomas Gallant, George Treheles and Michael Vitopoulos, ''The 1918 Anti-Greek Riot in Toronto'', Thessalonikeans Society of Metro Toronto, 2005,
a summary
)
The riot was the result of prejudice against new immigrants as well as the false belief that
Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
were not fighting in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and held pro-
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
views.''Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples''
p. 624
/ref> The trigger for the riot was news about the expulsion of disabled military veteran Pvt. Claude Cludernay from the Greek-owned White City Café on the evening of 1 August; Cludernay was drunk and had attacked a waiter, who ejected him and called police. Although the event was insignificant, it sparked indignation. Violence broke out on 2 August, when crowds comprising around 5,000–20,000 people, led by local military veterans, looted and destroyed every visibly Greek business in the city centre. Police forces in the area were reportedly overwhelmed and unable to stop the rioters, and instead stood by. Due to the scope of the violence, the mayor had to invoke the ''
Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled ...
'' to call in the militia and military police. By Saturday night (3 August), the police and militia were engaged in fierce fighting with rioters in
downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...
as they attempted to curb further violence. In total, an estimated 50,000 on both sides took part in the riot. Over 20 restaurants were attacked, with damages estimated at more than CA$1,000,000 in modern values (adjusted ). After the events, Greek community leaders issued an official statement stating that they were in support of the Allies' cause. They stated that those immigrants who were naturalized were joining the
Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...
and that there were more than 2,000 ethnic Greeks, many of them from Toronto, in the
Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...
(CEF). At least five Torontonian Greeks had been killed and ten more had been incapacitated while serving in the CEF. Additionally, at least 135 Torontonian Greeks had returned home to join Greece's military against the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
. Many Greek families abandoned the area of
Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...
after the riot, eventually forming a new Greek neighbourhood further east, along Danforth Avenue. The Toronto riot echoed the 1909 Omaha riot in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where Greek immigrants were attacked and displaced by violent mobs. The
Greek diaspora The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia (), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus. Such places historically (dating to the ancient period) include, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in North Macedonia, North Maced ...
responded with overt demonstrations of Western patriotism in the form of buying large amounts of
war bonds War bonds (sometimes referred to as victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and also changing their names to make them more familiar to North American ears.


See also

* Racism in Canada ** Christie Pits riot (1933), violence by pro-Nazi demonstrators targeting Jews in Toronto * Greek community of Toronto * Omaha anti-Greek riot (1909), similar incident in the U.S. state of Nebraska


References

{{Toronto Toronto, 1918 Race riots in Canada Canadian people of Greek descent Anti-Greek riot Anti-Greek riot, 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot Toronto anti-Greek riot Anti-Greek sentiment Toronto anti-Greek riot, 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot, 1918 Anti-Greek riot, 1918 Anti-Greek riot, 1918 Toronto, 1918