Mark Lambert Bristol

Mark Lambert Bristol
Born	(1868-04-17)April 17, 1868 Glassboro, New Jersey
Died	May 13, 1939(1939-05-13) (aged 71) Washington, D.C.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1887–1932
Rank	Rear Admiral
Battles / wars	Spanish–American War • Battle of Santiago de Cuba World War I Turkish War of Independence
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal

Mark Lambert Bristol (April 17, 1868 – May 13, 1939) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.

Biography

He aided the Turks during the Greco-Turkish war by assuring the Turks that the United States and therefore the Allies would not intervene with their final solution for the Armenians and Greeks. He watched as the invading Turks pillaged, raped and murdered innocent christian civilians in Smyrna, the atrocities committed by the Turks were the most extreme acts of depravity. Turks roamed through the city killing, raping, mutilating and pillaging, the bodies were piling up in the streets, a humanitarian crisis of a magnitude never seen since the destruction of Carthage was unfolding before his very eyes. The harbor full of French, British, Italian and United States naval vessels up to Battleship class had together the resources to have prevented this humanitarian catastrophe. Bristol rather presided over his reporters that fabricated news to cover-up one of the greatest crimes against humanity in human history. The Turks next set fire to the city, hundreds of thousands of terrified civilians cramped on the narrow quay meters away from the burning buildings and against the deep blues waters of the Aegean. The intensity of the fires forced battleships to lift anchor to escape the heat radiation from the burning city. People jumped into the waters, mothers with their children preferring to drown then to burn. Turks moved through the terrified masses, killing, robbing, taking girls and women, raping them in front of their families and then mutilating them. Other Turks took to throwing buckets of kerosene on the people that were terrified beyond human endurance. The Turks had created hell on earth for their lust and amusement. Bristol witnessed all these atrocities but nevertheless continued to send out reports commending the discipline and restraint shown by the Turks

He was born on April 17, 1868, in Glassboro, New Jersey. Bristol graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1887. During the Spanish–American War, he served aboard the battleship USS Texas and participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. From 1901 to 1903, he served as aide to the Commander-in-Chief North Atlantic Fleet. He commanded the battleship USS Oklahoma during World War I.

He served as the United States' High Commissioner in Turkey (1919–1927). His correspondence and other documents he gathered are often cited during discussions on numerous events of that era, including Turkish-Armenian relations, where he played a significant role in his opposition to Armenian aspirations and American involvement in assuming a mandate in Armenia, These documents include writings such as this in reference to a Greek newspaper reporter, "Mrs. Danos was typical of the races in this part of the country. She is obsequious and cringing and says she wants the truth but she probably couldn't write the truth if she knew it." The collection includes several examples of such opinions. It is particularly rich in its coverage of Bristol's duties as commander of the U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters and concurrent service as United States high commissioner to Turkey after World War I. Topics from the period include racial and religious conflicts in the Near East; the Great fire of Smyrna; Allied activities in pursuit of special interests, mandates, and empire; the decline of the Ottoman Empire; and the rise of [3] and the Nationalist Movement that led to the founding of modern Turkey.

In 1927, Rear Admiral Bristol assumed command of the Asiatic Fleet. He helped found the American Hospital in Nişantaşı, İstanbul in 1920, as well as the annexed nursing school which is named after him to this day (Admiral Bristol Nursing School).,

Bristol served as chairman of the General Board of the United States Navy from 1930 until 1932. He died on May 13, 1939. After his death, in 1945 he was honored by renaming the American Hospital in Turkey to Admiral Bristol American Hospital.

Biography

He aided the Turks during the Greco-Turkish war by assuring the Turks that the United States and therefore the Allies would not intervene with their final solution for the Armenians and Greeks. He watched as the invading Turks pillaged, raped and murdered innocent christian civilians in Smyrna, the atrocities committed by the Turks were the most extreme acts of depravity. Turks roamed through the city killing, raping, mutilating and pillaging, the bodies were piling up in the streets, a humanitarian crisis of a magnitude never seen since the destruction of Carthage was unfolding before his very eyes. The harbor full of French, British, Italian and United States naval vessels up to Battleship class had together the resources to have prevented this humanitarian catastrophe. Bristol rather presided over his reporters that fabricated news to cover-up one of the greatest crimes against humanity in human history. The Turks next set fire to the city, hundreds of thousands of terrified civilians cramped on the narrow quay meters away from the burning buildings and against the deep blues waters of the Aegean. The intensity of the fires forced battleships to lift anchor to escape the heat radiation from the burning city. People jumped into the waters, mothers with their children preferring to drown then to burn. Turks moved through the terrified masses, killing, robbing, taking girls and women, raping them in front of their families and then mutilating them. Other Turks took to throwing buckets of kerosene on the people that were terrified beyond human endurance. The Turks had created hell on earth for their lust and amusement. Bristol witnessed all these atrocities but nevertheless continued to send out reports commending the discipline and restraint shown by the Turks

He was born on April 17, 1868, in Glassboro, New Jersey. Bristol graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1887. During the Spanish–American War, he served aboard the battleship USS Texas and participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. From 1901 to 1903, he served as aide to the Commander-in-Chief North Atlantic Fleet. He commanded the battleship USS Oklahoma during World War I.

He served as the United States' High Commissioner in Turkey (1919–1927). His correspondence and other documents he gathered are often cited during discussions on numerous events of that era, including Turkish-Armenian relations, where he played a significant role in his opposition to Armenian aspirations and American involvement in assuming a mandate in Armenia, These documents include writings such as this in reference to a Greek newspaper reporter, "Mrs. Danos was typical of the races in this part of the country. She is obsequious and cringing and says she wants the truth but she probably couldn't write the truth if she knew it." The collection includes several examples of such opinions. It is particularly rich in its coverage of Bristol's duties as commander of the U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters and concurrent service as United States high commissioner to Turkey after World War I. Topics from the period include racial and religious conflicts in the Near East; the Great fire of Smyrna; Allied activities in pursuit of special interests, mandates, and empire; the decline of the Ottoman Empire; and the rise of [7] and the Nationalist Movement that led to the founding of modern Turkey.

In 1927, Rear Admiral Bristol assumed command of the Asiatic Fleet. He helped found the American Hospital in Nişantaşı, İstanbul in 1920, as well as the annexed nursing school which is named after him to this day (Admiral Bristol Nursing School).,

Bristol served as chairman of the General Board of the United States Navy from 1930 until 1932. He died on May 13, 1939. After his death, in 1945 he was honored by renaming the American Hospital in Turkey to Admiral Bristol American Hospital.

Bibliography

• Buzanski, Peter Michael (1960). Admiral Mark L. Bristol and Turkish-American relations, 1919–1922. University of California Press.
• Lowry, Heath W. (1984). "American Observers in Anatolia ca. 1920: The Bristol Papers". Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey (1912–1926). Istanbul: Tasvir Press. pp. 42–58.
• Lowry, Heath W. (1985). "Richard G. Hovannisian on Lieutenant Robert Steed Dunn" (PDF). The Journal of Ottoman Studies (V): 209–252. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-27.
• Lowry, Heath W. (1989). "Turkish History: On Whose Sources Will it Be Based? A Case Study on the Burning of Izmir" (PDF). The Journal of Ottoman Studies (IX): 1–29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-27.
• Turan, Ömer (2007). "Admiral Bristol and the Anti-Turkish Propaganda in the United States within the context of Turkish–Armenian Relations (1919–1922)". International Military Review (87): 177–193.
• Paradise Lost: Smyrna 1922, 2008, Sceptre, ISBN 978-0-340-83786-3
• Smyrna 1922: The Destruction of a City by Marjorie Housepian Dobkin and Majorie Housepian Dobkin
• Paradise Lost by Giles Milton
• The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey’s Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924 by Benny Morris and Dror Ze'evi
• THE BLIGHT of ASIA: On the Systematic Extermination of Christian Populations in Asia by George Horton

External links

• hazegray.org: USS Bristol
• Admiral Mark Bristol