Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 was fought between Greece and the Turkish National Movement during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, between 15 May 1919 and 14 October 1922.
| Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 | |||||||||
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| Part of the Turkish War of Independence | |||||||||
Clockwise from top left: Mustafa Kemal at the end of the First Battle of İnönü; Greek soldiers retreat during the last stages; Greek infantry charge in river Gediz; Turkish infantry in trench. | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Turkish National Movement
Supported by:
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Supported by:
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| Units involved | |||||||||
| Army of the GNA |
Army of Asia Minor Kuva-yi Inzibatiye Armenian volunteer legion | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
Equipment 1922
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Equipment 1922
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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Regular army:
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264,000 Greek civilians killed
15,000+ Turkish civilians killed. 30,000+ buildings and 250+ villages burnt to the ground by the Hellenic Army | |||||||||
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* 20,826 Greek prisoners were taken. Of those about 740 officers and 13,000 soldiers arrived in Greece during the prisoner exchange in 1923. About 7,000 presumably died in Turkish captivity.
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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. Greek claims stemmed from the fact that Anatolia had been part of Ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire before the Turks conquered the area in the 12th–15th centuries. The armed conflict started when the Greek forces landed in Smyrna (now İzmir), 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 by Turkish forces at the Battle of the Sakarya in 1921. The Greek front collapsed with the Turkish counter-attack in August 1922, and the war effectively ended with the recapture of Smyrna by Turkish forces and the great fire of Smyrna.
As a result, the Greek government accepted the demands of the Turkish National Movement and returned to its pre-war borders, thus leaving Eastern Thrace and Western Anatolia to Turkey. The Allies abandoned the Treaty of Sèvres to negotiate a new treaty at Lausanne with the Turkish National Movement. The Treaty of Lausanne recognized the independence of the Republic of Turkey and its sovereignty over Anatolia, Istanbul, and Eastern Thrace. The Greek and Turkish governments agreed to engage in a population exchange.