Religious Politics and Sacred Space: the Orthodox Strategy on the Status Quo Question, 1917-1922

The First World War and the ensuing disintegration of the Ottoman Empire into western colonies was perceived as an opportunity for a potential alteration of the ‘Status Quo’; namely the special legal framework, according to which the rights and privileges of each Church were determined within the religious landscape of Palestine. The course of action taken by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem regarding the political developments at that time is the topic of this paper. It is argued that the policy adopted by the religious officials was that of close collaboration with the British Authorities, based on the premise that London was the only Power able to effectively protect their interests. To this end, special attention is paid to the power-strategies of the interested parties as well as the relevant activation of the Greek state, which aspired to assume the role of the protecting Power of the Orthodox commonwealth in the place of Russia after the fall of the tsarist regime.