Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
| Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Turkish War of Independence | |||||||||
| File:Megaloidea.jpg Megali Idea between 1912-1922 | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Greece | Turkish Revolutionaries | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Ali Fethi Okyar, Ismet Inonu, Mustafa Kemal | |||||||||
The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, also called the War in Asia Minor, and (in Turkey) a part of the Turkish War of Independence, was a war between Greece and Turkey fought in the wake of World War I.
This political context of this conflict is linked to secret agreements on sharing of Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI. Military history begins with the Armistice of Mudros. The war arose because the western Allies, particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire if Greece entered the war on the Allied side. These included eastern Thrace, the islands of Imbros and Tenedos, and parts of western Anatolia around the city of İzmir
After the armistice Greek troops occupied İzmir and the surroundings in May 1919 under cover of French, British and American ships.
Mustafa Kemal, the leader of Turkish revolutinaries, was forming a Turkish national movement at Anatolia, which repudiated the Treaty of Sèvres and prepared for defense what they believed was their national land.
In May 1919, Greek troops had already occupied İzmir (modern İzmir) and the surroundings under cover of French, British and American ships. The resistance started immediately and Greeks had many losses. The Greeks who were not the majority of the city's population. The Turkish population, as well as many Cretan Muslims and Circassians, generally preferred to be under Turkish rule.
In the summer of 1920, the Greek army, launched attacks and extended its zone of occupation over all Western and North Western Asia Minor. Greece already occupied Eastern Thrace.
In October 1920, with the encouragement of Lloyd George who intended to increase the pressure on the Turkish and Ottoman governments to sign the Treaty of Sevrès, the Greek army advanced east into Anatolia with the intention of defeating the Kemalist forces before they were ready to attack the Greek perimeter at İzmir. This advancement was begun under the Liberal government of Eleftherios Venizelos, but soon after the offensive began Venizelos fell from power and was replaced by Dimitrios Gounaris, who appointed inexperienced monarchist officers to senior commands. King Constantine took personal command of the army at İzmir.
After a Greek defeat on January 11, 1921, Allied states proposed to amend the Treaty of Sevrès at a conference in London where both Turkish and Ottoman governments were represented.
Although some agreements were reached with Italy, France and Britain, the decisions were defied by the Greeks who initiated another attack on March 27 (Battle of İnönü II), to be resisted and finally defeated by the Kemalist troops on March 30.
The unpredictable Turkish victory caused Secretary of War Winston Churchill to withdraw British support to the Greeks. The Greek defeat can be largely attributed to a lack of British support as King Constantine was reviled by the British for his pro-German policies during WWI, as well as massive Soviet support to the Turks.
In October 1920, with the encouragement of Lloyd George who intended to increase the pressure on the Turkish Revolutionaries and the Ottoman government to sign the Treaty of Sèvres, the Greek army advanced east into Anatolia with the intention of defeating the national forces before they were ready to attack the Greek perimeter at İzmir. The advance was begun under the Liberal government of Eleftherios Venizelos, but soon after the offensive began Venizelos fell from power and was replaced by Dimitrios Gounaris, who appointed inexperienced monarchist officers to senior commands. King Constantine took personal command of the army at İzmir.
For this contribution of the Greek army, the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, which ended the First World War in Asia Minor and divided the Ottoman Empire, assigned territories in Western Turkey to Greece.
In June 1921 the strengthened Greek army advanced to the River Sakarya, less than 100 km (62 miles) west of Ankara. Meanwhile, the Turkish government at Ankara appointed Mustafa Kemal as the commander in chief.
In August, Kemal counter-attacked, routing the Greeks and cutting off their supply lines at the Battle of the Sakarya (August 23 – September 13, 1921).
Greece appealed to the Allies for help, but early in 1922 Britain, France and Italy decided that the Treaty of Sèvres could not be enforced and should be revised. Parallel to their decision, with successive treaties, Italian and French troops evacuated their positions. In March 1922 the Allies proposed a ceasefire, but Kemal answered there could be no settlement while the Greeks remained in Anatolia. In August, after preparations on both sides, the Turks launched a new offensive on August 26, defeating the Greeks at the Battle of Dumlupınar near Afyon (August 30, 1922, celebrated as the Victory Day and a national holiday in Turkey). Shortly after their victory, the Turks captured İzmir and the city was set on fire by the fleeing Greeks.
The Armistice of Mudanya was concluded on October 11, 1922, with the Allies keeping east Thrace and the Bosporus under occupation, but the Greeks evacuating these areas. The agreement came into force starting October 15, one day after the Greek side agreed to sign it. The Armistice of Mudanya was followed by the Treaty of Lausanne, under which a significant provision was the exchange of populations.