Perdicaris affair

thumb|Ion Perdicaris, June 1904, Tacoma Times

The Perdicaris affair, also known as the Perdicaris incident, was the kidnapping of Greek-American Ion Hanford Perdicaris (Περδικάρης) (1840–1925) and his stepson, Cromwell Varley, a British subject, by Ahmed al-Raisuni and his bandits on 18 May 1904 in Tangier, Morocco. Raisuni, leader of several hill tribes, demanded a ransom of $70,000, safe conduct, and control of two of Morocco's wealthiest districts from the Sultan of Morocco Abd al-Aziz. During lengthy negotiations, he increased his demands to control of six districts. The historical importance of the affair lay not in the kidnapping itself but in the concentration of naval power in Tangier and what it meant for the politics of gunboat diplomacy.

Born in Greece in 1840 to the American ambassador and his wife, Perdicaris grew up mostly in New Jersey in the United States and was an American citizen. He had been living in Tangier since the 1870s. President Theodore Roosevelt felt obliged to react on his behalf in Morocco. Ultimately, he dispatched seven warships and several Marine companies to Tangier to convince the Sultan to accede to Raisuni's demands. Western European nations also reacted with force, with the United Kingdom, France, and Spain sending ships to prevent rioting in Morocco. John Hay, the American Secretary of State, issued a statement to the Republican National Convention in June 1904 that "This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead."

Roosevelt's display of force in this incident is credited with helping the incumbent president win re-election later in 1904. After being released, Perdicaris moved with his family to England, settling in Tunbridge Wells.

Background

Ion Perdicaris's father, Gregory Perdicaris, was sponsored in 1826 as a young Greek to study in the United States by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Perdicaris became a naturalized citizen of the United States and married the daughter of a wealthy family in South Carolina. In 1837, he returned to Greece, serving as the American ambassador. In 1840, his son Ion Perdicaris was born in Athens, Greece, while his father was serving as ambassador. The family returned to the United States in 1846, where the father at one time was a professor of Greek at Harvard University. The family settled in Trenton, New Jersey, where Gregory Perdicaris became wealthy as one of the organizers of the Trenton Gas Company.

For many years, Ion lived the life of a dilettante. He entered the Harvard University class of 1860 but left at the end of his sophomore year and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris for a time. In 1862, because of the American Civil War, the family's estate in South Carolina was in danger of confiscation by the government of the Confederate States of America. The younger Perdicaris, who was living in Athens, "registered" as a Greek subject in order to avoid confiscation or being drafted into the Confederate States Army.'

After the war ended, Perdicaris lived in Trenton with his father. He published some articles in The Galaxy in 1868, before moving to England. There he studied electricity and related engineering. and Ellen married Perdicaris the same year.

The couple moved to Tangier around 1884, with Ellen's two sons and two daughters from her first marriage. She and her family were all British subjects. Perdicaris purchased a summer house there in 1877 known as Aidonia (Αηδόνια), or the "Place of Nightingales", as he collected a menagerie of exotic animals. Through Perdicaris' crusading, the incident made national headlines in the United States, and Mathews was removed from his position in March 1887.

Ahmed al-Raisuni was a leader of three Jebala tribes near Tangier. He was influenced by the success of the 1901 Miss Stone Affair in Macedonia, when a group of missionaries were successfully held hostage for a ransom. In 1903, after five of his men were captured by the government, he held Walter Harris, a correspondent of The Times in Morocco, as hostage in exchange for the release of his men. After that success Raisuni targeted Ion Perdicaris for kidnapping.

Kidnapping

Ion Perdicaris, his wife, and Cromwell Varley had moved to his summer home, Aidonia, from his house in Tangier on 16 May. Late on 18 May 1904, Perdicaris and Varley were abducted from their summer home by Ahmed al-Raisuni and a group of bandits (estimates of their number range from nine to one-hundred and fifty). His men cut the telephone lines, knocked out several of Perdicaris's servants, and left Ellen at the house.

They were not to be used without express orders from Washington, as it was thought that any action by the Marines would lead to the deaths of the prisoners. The United States planned to use them only to seize the custom-houses of Morocco, which supplied much of the nation's revenue, if the Moroccan government did not fulfill the demands of the United States. It insisted the government make the concessions necessary to persuade Raisuni to release Perdicaris, and to attack Raisuni if Perdicaris were killed. The only Marines to land in Morocco were a small detachment of four men, carrying only sidearms. They were ordered to protect the Consulate and Mrs. Perdicaris. Two other U.S. Marines were dispatched on 8 June to protect the Belgian legation. In response to the request of the British minister in Morocco, left Gibraltar on 7 June. Though a settlement had already been reached, a cable from Gummeré accused the Sultan of holding up negotiations.

Seeing the need to act, Hay issued a statement to the Republican National Convention, which was read by Joseph Gurney Cannon: "We want Perdicaris alive or Raisuni dead." While it was clear that the convention would nominate the incumbent Roosevelt as the Republican candidate, Hay's statement electrified the Convention. One Kansas delegate exclaimed, "Roosevelt and Hay know what they're doing. Our people like courage. We'll stand for anything those men do." After being nominated, Roosevelt easily won election in the fall of 1904. Perdicaris was home by 24 June, Several twenty-first century historians, such as Jeffrey D. Simon, suggested that Perdicaris displayed Stockholm syndrome in identifying with his captor.

thumb|[[Le Petit Parisien illustrating the arrival of French cruisers Galilée and Kléber to Tangier]]

The Sultan of Morocco was required to pay the $70,000 ransom, and a further $4,000 to the United States to cover its expenses. Newspapers including The New York Times published editorials suggesting that France had to 'impose order' in the country. France intervened several times in Morocco's affairs in ensuing decades.

Aftermath

Perdicaris and his family moved to England shortly after the incident, eventually settling in Tunbridge Wells.

Raisuni used the money he gained from ransoming Perdicaris to build his palace, nick-named the "House of Tears".

The details of the incident (especially the fact that Perdicaris's U.S. citizenship was in doubt) were kept secret until 1933, when historian Tyler Dennett mentioned the crisis in his biography of John Hay. In 1975, Thomas H. Etzold described the kidnapping as "the most famous protection case in American history."

Popular culture

"Hostages to Momus", a short story by the American author O. Henry, was inspired by the kidnapping of Ion Perdicaris. In the story, the character "Burdick Harris," a Greek citizen, stands for him. ("Bur-dick-Harris" is a play on "Per-dic-aris", as the names rhyme, if pronounced as the author intended). The humorous story was written shortly after the incident.

The story of Ion Perdicaris's kidnapping was loosely adapted to film in the 1975 motion picture The Wind and the Lion, with Sean Connery in the role of Raisuni and Brian Keith as Roosevelt. However, to add some glamour to the tale, the 64-year-old bearded hostage was replaced with attractive young "Eden Pedecaris", played by Candice Bergen. The film incorrectly showed US Marines invading Morocco and battling soldiers of the German Empire (who were not present in Morocco at the time), but it succeeded in presenting the personality of Raisuni and his interaction with his prisoners.

References

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Bibliography

Tuchman, Barbara W. "Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead." American Heritage, vol. 10, no. 5, Aug. 1959, pp. 18-21, 98-101. Reprinted in Tuchman, Practicing History - Selected Essays (1982)

External links

Full text of Sultan of the Mountains by Rosita Forbes