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Asia Minor Catastrophe

Greco-Turkish War of 1920–1922
(Interwar period)
Part of the Turkish War of Independence
Greko-Turkish-Afyon-1920.png
Trench warfare during the Greco-Turkish War
Date 15 May 1919 – 11 October 1922
(3 years, 4 months, 3 weeks and 5 days)
Location Asia Minor
Result

Decisive Turkish victory

Territorial
changes
Lands initially ceded to Greece from the Ottoman Empire are incorporated into the Republic of Turkey
Belligerents

Grand National Assembly

Matériel support:
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Soviet Russia
 Kingdom of Greece
Supported by:
British Empire British Empire
Commanders and leaders
Mustafa Kemal Pasha
Fevzi Pasha
İsmet Pasha
Fahrettin Pasha
Kemalettin Sami Pasha
Yusuf Izzet Pasha
Ali Fuat Pasha
Muhittin Pasha
Kâzım Pasha
Naci Pasha
Ömer Halis Pasha
Münip Pasha
Rüştü Pasha
Şefik Pasha
Kâzım Pasha
Nihat Pasha
Refet Pasha
Kingdom of Greece Constantine I of Greece
Kingdom of Greece Konstantinos Nider
Kingdom of Greece Konstantinos Miliotis-Komninos
Kingdom of Greece Leonidas Paraskevopoulos
Kingdom of Greece Dimitrios Gounaris
Kingdom of Greece Anastasios Papoulas
Kingdom of Greece Georgios Hatzianestis
Kingdom of Greece Nikolaos Trikoupis
Kingdom of Greece Georgios Polymenakos
Strength

May 1919: 35,000
November 1920: 86,000
August 1921: 92,000
August 1922: 208,000 men

May 1919: 15,000
April 1920: 90,000
January 1921: 100,000
June 1921: 200,000
1922: 215,000

Casualties and losses
Regular army:
9,167 killed
2,474 died of wounds or non-combat causes
31,097 wounded
11,150 missing
6,522 prisoners**

19,362 killed
4,878 died outside of combat
48,880 wounded
18,095 missing
~13,740 prisoners*
  • according to Turkish sources 20,826 Greek prisoners were taken. Of those about 740 officers and 13,000 soldiers arrived in Greece during the prisoner exchange in 1923. The rest presumably died in captivity and are listed among the "missing".
    **Greece took 22,071 military and civilian prisoners. Of those were 520 officers and 6,002 soldiers. During the prisoner exchange in 1923, 329 officers, 6,002 soldiers and 9,410 civilian prisoners arrived in Turkey. The remaining 6,330, mostly civilian prisoners, presumably died in Greek captivity.
  • The Turkish Grand National Assembly was opened in 1920.
  • Kuva-yi Milliye operated independently between 1919–20 until it was put under the control of the Grand National Assembly.

Decisive Turkish victory

Grand National Assembly

May 1919: 35,000
November 1920: 86,000
August 1921: 92,000
August 1922: 208,000 men

May 1919: 15,000
April 1920: 90,000
January 1921: 100,000
June 1921: 200,000
1922: 215,000

The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 was fought between Greece and the Turkish National Movement during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May 1919 and October 1922. It is known as the Western Front (Turkish: Batı Cephesi, Ottoman Turkish: Garb Cebhesi گرب جابهاسی‎) of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign (Greek: Μικρασιατική Εκστρατεία) or the Asia Minor Catastrophe (Greek: Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή) in Greece.

The Greek campaign was launched primarily because the western Allies, particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, had promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of the Ottoman Empire, recently defeated in World War I. The armed conflict started when the Greek forces landed in Smyrna (now Izmir), on 15 May 1919. They advanced inland and took control of the western and northwestern part of Anatolia, including the cities of Manisa, Balıkesir, Aydın, Kütahya, Bursa and Eskişehir. Their advance was checked at the Battle of Sakarya in 1921 by forces of the Turkish national movement. The Greek front collapsed with the Turkish counter-attack in August 1922, and the war effectively ended with the capture of Smyrna by the Turkish forces and the Great Fire of Smyrna.


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