Beyond the ‘Red Rock’: the Ikarian Revolution (1912), political radicalism, and the Ikarian diaspora

In 1912, Ikaria, a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea, seceded from the Ottoman Empire in a short-lived Revolution, becoming the independent ‘Free State of Ikaria’ for nearly five months. Consequently, a culture of radicalism grew on the island, fuelled by emerging fascism in Greece and Europe, WWII, andthe Greek Civil War (1946–1949), where Ikaria was used as a prison for communist exiles. Ultimately, this radicalism transitioned into the diaspora, which had simultaneously been growing in Egypt, the United States, and from the 1910s, Australia, with South Australia being a significant place of settlement and community. This study examines the Ikarian diaspora in the context of the Ikarian Revolution (1912) and subsequent political radicalism. It explores their emigration, settlement, and community building practices in the United States, Egypt, and Australia, with South Australia taken as a case study due to its origins at the same time as the Revolution and growing left-wing activism on the island. It hopes to unravel and link the diaspora with the unique story and memory of the Revolution and its impacts on Ikarian culture and identity. Ultimately, it is argued that the revolutionary tendencies cultivated on Ikaria transferred into and persisted in the diaspora.