Greco-Turkish War (1897)

The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War, was a war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire, under its ruler Sultan Hamid. Its immediate cause was Greek concern over the situation in Crete, where the Greek population was still under Ottoman control.

In late 1896 a rebellion broke out on Crete, and on January 21, 1897 a Greek army landed in Crete to liberate the island from Ottoman control and unite it with Greece. The European powers, however, intervened, and proclaimed Crete an international protectorate.

The Greek army retreated to the mainland, where it next attempted to advance northwards into Thessaly and Epirus. In Thessaly the Turks had concentrated six divisions of about 60,000 men[citation needed] under Ethem Pasha, with a seventh division joining a little later. The Greeks numbered just under 46,000, led by Crown Prince Constantine. The Greeks controlled the sea, outnumbering and outgunning the Turkish navy.

In early April Greek troops crossed the border, trying to start an uprising in Macedonia. The armies met at Mati. The Greeks were outnumbered, and retreated past Larissa, which was evacuated. Near Pharsala the Greeks re-established order, and a counter-attack was planned. However, Greek morale failed, and they were only saved because the Ottoman Sultan ordered a cease-fire on May 20.

In Epirus, the Greeks numbered 40,000, against 14,000 Turks under Ahmet Hıfzı Pasha. On April 18 the Turks began bombarding Arta, but they could not take the city. Retreating to Philippiada, the Turks entrenched themselves. Greek forces counter-attacked but were worsted when reinforcements failed. The Greeks finally retreated on May 15 with heavy losses.

Peace was signed on September 20, arranged by European powers. Turkey received a large amount of money as indemnification, and gained a small amount of land on the Thessaly border.

This war was the only conflict between Greeks and Turks in the century where Greece was forced to cede land to Turkey. Some credit for the success of the Ottoman army in this war is given to the reforms put in place by the German Pasha Baron von der Goltz. Much of the reason for the Greek defeat, however, was mainly beacuse of the Turkish aggressivity.

Sources

*The Discovery channel;Greco-Turkish war

*Charles Lemmington;War through history