Battle of Dumlupınar

Part of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

Statue on top of the hill at the memorial for the Battle of Dumlupınar.

Date	26–30 August 1922
Location	Near Dumlupınar, Kütahya, Turkey
Result	Decisive Turkish victory

Belligerents

Grand National Assembly

Greece

Commanders and leaders

Mustafa Kemal Pasha

Fevzi Pasha

İsmet Pasha

Georgios Hatzianestis

Nikolaos Trikoupis (POW)

Kimon Digenis (POW)

Petros Soumilas

Strength

Parts of:
98,670 infantry
5,286 cavalry
323 artillery

Parts of:
130,000 infantry
1,300 cavalry
348 artillery

Casualties and losses

26 August - 9 September:
2,318 killed
9,360 wounded
1,697 missing
101 prisoners
Total: 13,476

By morning of 31 August:
10,000 casualties (of these 2,000+ killed and 2,000 prisoners)
100+ cannons
250 motorized vehicles

The Battle of Dumlupınar (Greek: Μάχη του Τουμλού Μπουνάρ; Turkish: Dumlupınar (Meydan) Muharebesi or Başkumandanlık Meydan Muharebesi, literally "Field Battle of the Commander-in-Chief") was the last battle in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) (part of the Turkish War of Independence). The battle was fought from 26 to 30 August 1922 near Dumlupınar, Kütahya in Turkey.

Following the attrition battle on the Sakarya River (Battle of Sakarya) in August–September 1921, the Greek Army of Asia Minor under General Anastasios Papoulas retreated to a defensive line extending from the town of İzmit (Nicomedia) to the towns of Eskişehir and Kara Hisâr-ı Sahib (present-day Afyonkarahisar). The Greek line formed a 700 km arc stretching in a north–south direction along difficult hilly ground with high hills, called tepes, rising out of broken terrain and was considered to be easily defensible. A single-track railway line ran from Kara Hisâr to Dumlupınar, a fortified valley town some 30 miles (48 km) west of Kara Hisâr surrounded by the mountains Murat Dağı and Ahır Dağı, and thence to Smyrna (present-day İzmir) on the coast. This railway was the main supply route of the Greeks. The Greek headquarters at Smyrna was effectively incapable of communicating with the front or exercising operational control.

Following the unsuccessful outcome of the Battle of Sakarya, the Greek command structure underwent many changes. Significant forces were withdrawn from the line and redeployed in Thrace for an offensive against Istanbul, which never materialised. The remaining Greek forces were under the overall command of Lieutenant General Georgios Hatzianestis, who had replaced General Papoulas in May 1922, and was widely regarded as mentally unstable. The morale of the Greek troops was low, as many had already been under arms for several years, and there was no prospect for a quick resolution of the war. Political dissent and the fact that they were occupying unfriendly territories further depressed their morale.

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Wikipedia