World War I
81-558: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) World War II The 5th Airmobile Brigade "5th Cretan Division" ( Greek : 5η Αερομεταφερόμενη Ταξιαρχία Πεζικού «V Μεραρχία Κρητών» ), formerly the 5th Infantry Division (V Μεραρχία Πεζικού) and commonly referred to simply as the Cretan Division (Μεραρχία Κρητών), is an air assault brigade of the Hellenic Army responsible for the defense of the southern Aegean sea. The 5th Division
162-515: A Greek population of 299,096. While the sanjak of Muğla had a Greek population of 19,923. One of the reasons proposed by the Greek government for launching the Asia Minor expedition was that there was a sizeable Greek-speaking Orthodox Christian population inhabiting Anatolia that needed protection. Greeks had lived in Asia Minor since antiquity, and in 1912, there were 2.5 million Greeks in
243-624: A costly victory, particularly for the Cretan Division, which suffered 5,776 killed, wounded, or missing and had ceased to exist as a combat-worthy formation. The Greek positions at Trebeshina were subject to the main attack of Operazione Primavera during the Italian Spring Offensive in early March, but were held until the Greek withdrawal south following the German invasion of Greece on 6 April. This article about
324-699: A delay of almost a month that gave time to the Turks to organise their defence, seven of the Greek divisions crossed east of the Sakarya River. Following the retreat of the Turkish troops under İsmet İnönü in the battle of Kütahya-Eskişehir the Greek Army advanced afresh to the Sakarya River (Sangarios in Greek), less than 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Ankara . Constantine's battle cry was "to Angira" and
405-523: A letter sent to Greek King Constantine in January 1915, he wrote that: "I have the impression that the concessions to Greece in Asia Minor ;... would be so extensive that another equally large and not less rich Greece will be added to the doubled Greece which emerged from the victorious Balkan wars." Through its failure, the Greek invasion may have instead exacerbated the atrocities that it
486-573: A plebiscite called for the return of King Constantine. Soon after his return, the King replaced many of the World War I Venizelist officers and appointed inexperienced monarchist officers to senior positions. The leadership of the campaign was given to Anastasios Papoulas , while King Constantine himself assumed nominally the overall command. The High Commissioner in Smyrna, Aristeidis Stergiadis , however
567-833: A population exchange . The geopolitical context of this conflict is linked to the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire which was a direct consequence of World War I and involvement of the Ottomans in the Middle Eastern theatre . The Greeks received an order to land in Smyrna by the Triple Entente as part of the partition. During this war, the Ottoman government collapsed completely and the Ottoman Empire
648-571: A strategic retreat on the east of the Sakarya River , where they organised their last line of defence. This was the major decision that sealed the fate of the Greek campaign in Anatolia. The state and Army leadership, including King Constantine, Prime Minister Dimitrios Gounaris, and General Anastasios Papoulas , met at Kütahya where they debated the future of the campaign. The Greeks, with their faltering morale rejuvenated, failed to appraise
729-488: Is not making war against Islam, but against the anachronistic Ottoman Government, and its corrupt, ignominious, and bloody administration, with a view to expelling it from those territories where the majority of the population consists of Greeks." To an extent, the above danger may have been overstated by Venizelos as a negotiating card on the table of Sèvres, in order to gain the support of the Allied governments. For example,
810-632: Is the capital of the Kingdom. Constantinople is the great capital, the City, the dream and hope of all Greeks." The Great Idea was not merely the product of 19th century nationalism. It was, in one of its aspects, deeply rooted in many Greeks' religious consciousnesses. This aspect was the recovery of Constantinople for Christendom and the reestablishment of the Christian Byzantine Empire which had fallen in 1453. "Ever since this time
891-564: The 6th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Division , under Colonel Ioannis Theodorou, repelled an Italian attack on the Skutara line near Height 504. The attack aimed to dislodge the Greek defensive line in the coastal sector, near the Albanian port city of Vlorë . The Greeks suffered 109 killed and wounded in the engagement. By 17 February, the Greeks had captured the mountain ranges, but it was
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#1732797830118972-638: The Battle of Mal Trebeshinë was a series of engagements fought between the Greek and Italian armies in southeastern Albania during the Greco-Italian War . The twenty-day battle was fought on the strategic heights that make up the 26-kilometre-long (16 mi) Trebeshinë mountain range, notably Height 1923 . Following the Greek capture of the strategic Këlcyrë/Klisura Pass on 10 January 1941, four Italian divisions and one Blackshirt division of
1053-561: The Independent Crete Military Command was established, comprising the 603rd, 606th and 607th National Guard Battalions. In April 1946, these troops were reformed as the 51st Independent Brigade (51η Ανεξάρτητη Ταξιαρχία). On 2 January 1951, it was reformed as the 5th Infantry Division, comprising three battalions and a Mountain Artillery Squadron. In 1954, with the reduction of the army's size,
1134-696: The Peloponnese , where it dissolved itself in May 1941, as there was no way for it to reach Crete. However, three battalions that had remained in Crete after the rest of the division was transferred to the mainland participated in the subsequent Battle of Crete . Greece was liberated from German occupation in October 1944, although German garrisons remained on Crete until the German capitulation in May 1945. Soon after,
1215-963: The Turkish Republic . Having failed to reach a military solution, 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 had to be revised. In accordance with this decision, under successive treaties, the Italian and French troops evacuated their positions, leaving the Greeks exposed. Battle of Trebeshina • 547 killed • 321 missing • At least 14,000 sustained Injuries • • 123 killed (Greek Claim) • 68 Injured • 91 missing • • 45 killed • 68 Injured due to artillery • • 15 killed in combat • 12 killed by disease 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 The Battle of Trebeshina ( Greek : Μάχη της Τρεμπεσίνας ) or
1296-589: The Young Turks were not in power at the time of the war, which makes such a justification less straightforward. Most of the leaders of that regime had fled the country at the end of World War I and the Ottoman government in Constantinople was already under British control. Furthermore, Venizelos had already revealed his desires for annexation of territories from the Ottoman Empire in the early stages of World War I, before these massacres had taken place. In
1377-478: The "Middle Eastern interest" of Italy, was overridden with the Greek occupation, as Smyrna (İzmir) was part of the territory promised to Italy. Before the occupation the Italian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919, angry about the possibility of the Greek occupation of Western Anatolia, left the conference and did not return to Paris until 5 May. The absence of the Italian delegation from
1458-513: The 12th century, when the first Seljuk Turk raids reached it. The National Schism in Greece was the deep split of Greek politics and society between two factions, the one led by Eleftherios Venizelos and the other by King Constantine, that predated World War I but escalated significantly over the decision on which side Greece should support during the war. The United Kingdom had hoped that strategic considerations might persuade Constantine to join
1539-476: The 5th Division was converted into a training and reserve formation. On 1 July 2004, as part of a general reorganization of the Greek Army's structure, the division was disbanded and reorganized as the 5th Infantry Brigade (5η Ταξιαρχία Πεζικού). On 20 October 2009 however, it was renamed as the 5th Cretan Division (V Μεραρχία Κρητών). In a wide-ranging defence review in 2013, the brigade was transformed into an air assault unit, earmarked for rapid reaction in
1620-415: The Allies "to occupy any strategic points in the event of any situation arising which threatens the security of Allies." The Greeks had already brought their forces into Eastern Thrace (apart from Constantinople and its region). The Christian population of Smyrna (mainly Greeks and Armenians), according to different sources, either formed a minority or a majority compared to Muslim Turkish population of
1701-633: The British officers were invited, in anticipation, to a victory dinner in the city of Kemal. It was envisaged that the Turkish Revolutionaries, who had consistently avoided encirclement would be drawn into battle in defence of their capital and destroyed in a battle of attrition. Despite the Soviet help, supplies were short as the Turkish army prepared to meet the Greeks. Owners of private rifles, guns and ammunition had to surrender them to
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#17327978301181782-672: The Conference ended up facilitating Lloyd George's efforts to persuade France and the United States to support Greece and prevent Italian operations in Western Anatolia. According to some historians, it was the Greek occupation of Smyrna that created the Turkish National movement. Arnold J. Toynbee argues: "The war between Turkey and Greece which burst out at this time was a defensive war for safeguarding of
1863-600: The Entente. Greek military forces (though divided between supporters of the monarchy and supporters of " Venizelism ") began to take part in military operations against the Bulgarian Army on the border. The act of entering the war and the preceding events resulted in a deep political and social division in post–World War I Greece. The country's foremost political formations, the Venizelist Liberals and
1944-710: The First and Second Balkan War , and was retained on the Army's order of battle afterwards. It was relocated to Kilkis in August 1913 and from December 1913 in Drama in Macedonia , and subordinated to the newly formed IV Army Corps . It comprised the 22nd and 23rd Infantry Regiments and the 3/37 Cretan Regiment . As Greece remained neutral initially during World War I , the division remained at Drama. On 12 September 1916, along with
2025-552: The Greek Kingdom, joined the Central Powers . Though Constantine did remain decidedly neutral, Prime Minister of Greece Eleftherios Venizelos had from an early point decided that Greece's interests would be best served by joining the Entente and started diplomatic efforts with the Allies to prepare the ground for concessions following an eventual victory. The disagreement and the subsequent dismissal of Venizelos by
2106-581: The Greek government, who believed that they still retained the strategic advantage and could yet negotiate from a stronger position. The Greeks initiated another attack on 27 March, the Second Battle of İnönü , where the Turkish troops fiercely resisted and finally halted the Greeks on 30 March. The British government supported Greeks with 6in howitzer during Second Battle of İnönü . The Turkish forces received arms assistance from Soviet Russia . By this time all other fronts had been settled in favour of
2187-431: The Greeks was to cut Anatolia in two, as the above towns were on the main rail-lines connecting the hinterland with the coast. Eventually, after breaking the stiff Turkish defences, they occupied these strategically important centres. Instead of pursuing and decisively crippling the nationalists' military capacity, the Greek Army halted. In consequence, and despite their defeat, the Turks managed to avoid encirclement and made
2268-551: The Greeks were soon forced to abandon Trebeshina, which was subsequently occupied by two Italian Blackshirt battalions. II Corps, reinforced with the Cretan 5th Division from III Corps , repulsed the Italian attack by 29 January and then attacked towards the Trebeshina massif. Against stiff resistance, the Cretan Division captured Trebeshina on 2 February, and the 15th Division captured the village of Bubeshi. On 14 February 1941
2349-818: The Italian XXV Army Corps under General Carlo Rossi attempted to recover the Trebeshinë mountain range by launching counter-attacks against the Greek II Army Corps ( 1st , 15th , and 11th Infantry Divisions). On 27 January the Greek III/4 Battalion under Major Ioannis Baldoumis captured Height 1923 and set up defensive positions in deep snow, while the I/5 Battalion under the command of Major Antonios Goulas captured Height 1620. Due to heavy snow and blizzards
2430-561: The Italians, distinguishing itself in the Capture of Kleisoura Pass and in the Battle of Trebeshina . On January 29, 1941, the 14th Infantry Regiment under Colonel Nikolaos Spendos advanced through heavy blizzards to take the 1,923 meter Mount Trebeshinë, which had been abandoned by the Italians. After reinforcing defensive positions, they met consecutive Italian counter-attacks throughout the night and suffered considerable casualties to hold
2511-508: The Kemalists with 6,000 rifles, over 5 million rifle cartridges, and 17,600 shells as well as 200.6 kg (442.2 lb) of gold bullion. In the subsequent two years the amount of aid increased. Between 27 June and 20 July 1921, a reinforced Greek army of nine divisions launched a major offensive, the greatest thus far, against the Turkish troops commanded by İsmet İnönü on the line of Afyonkarahisar - Kütahya - Eskişehir . The plan of
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2592-473: The King resulted in a deep personal rift between the two, which spilled over into their followers and the wider Greek society. Greece became divided into two radically opposed political camps, as Venizelos set up a separate state in Northern Greece, and eventually, with Allied support, forced the King to abdicate. In May 1917, after the exile of Constantine, Venizélos returned to Athens and allied with
2673-486: The Kingdom of Greece, the provision was made that the League of Nations would hold a plebiscite to decide on such matters. The treaty was never ratified by the Ottoman Empire nor Greece. In October 1920, the Greek army advanced further east into Anatolia, with the encouragement of Lloyd George, who intended to increase pressure on the Turkish and Ottoman governments to sign the Treaty of Sèvres. This advance began under
2754-651: The Liberal government of Eleftherios Venizelos, but soon after the offensive began, Venizelos fell from power and was replaced by Dimitrios Gounaris . The strategic objective of these operations was to defeat the Turkish Nationalists and force Mustafa Kemal into peace negotiations. The advancing Greeks, still holding superiority in numbers and modern equipment at this point, had hoped for an early battle in which they were confident of breaking up ill-equipped Turkish forces. Yet they met with little resistance, as
2835-530: The North West and from Smyrna, and had consolidated their occupation zone. In early 1921 they resumed their advance with small scale reconnaissance incursions that met stiff resistance from entrenched Turkish Nationalists, who were increasingly better prepared and equipped as a regular army. The Greek advance was halted for the first time at the First Battle of İnönü on 11 January 1921. Even though this
2916-603: The Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Census of 1906–1907 gives a higher figure for the entire Greek Orthodox population including Orthodox Albanians , Slavic-speakers , Vlachs, Arab Orthodox Christians , of the empire amounted to 2,823,063. According to the Ottoman Census of 1914 the Greek Orthodox population of Ottoman Empire after losing its Balkan & Aegean Island provinces, including 188,047 Arab Orthodox Christians from modern-day Syria, Lebanon and Israel
2997-408: The Ottoman policy of dividing the population according to religion rather than descent, language, or self-identification. On the other hand, contemporaneous British and American statistics (1919) support the point that the Greek element was the most numerous in the region of Smyrna, counting 375,000, while Muslims were 325,000. Greek Prime Minister Venizelos stated to a British newspaper that "Greece
3078-550: The Royalists, already involved in a long and bitter rivalry over pre-war politics, reached a state of outright hatred towards each other. Both parties viewed the other's actions during the First World War as politically illegitimate and treasonous. This enmity inevitably spread throughout Greek society, creating a deep rift that contributed decisively to the failed Asia Minor campaign and resulted in much social unrest in
3159-635: 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
3240-477: The Turkish homelands in Anatolia. It was a result of the Allied policy of imperialism operating in a foreign state, the military resources and powers of which were seriously under-estimated; it was provoked by the unwarranted invasion of a Greek army of occupation." According to others, the landing of the Greek troops in Smyrna was part of Eleftherios Venizelos 's plan, inspired by the Megali Idea , to liberate
3321-486: The Turks could see them coming. Food supplies were 40 tons of bread and salt, sugar and tea, the rest to be found on the way. The advance of the Greek Army faced fierce resistance which culminated in the 21-day Battle of Sakarya (23 August – 13 September 1921). The Turkish defense positions were centred on series of heights, and the Greeks had to storm and occupy them. The Turks held certain hilltops and lost others, while some were lost and recaptured several times over. Yet
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3402-406: The Turks had to conserve men, for the Greeks held the numerical advantage. The crucial moment came when the Greek army tried to take Haymana , 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Ankara, but the Turks held out. Greek advances into Anatolia had lengthened their lines of supply and communication and they were running out of ammunition. The ferocity of the battle exhausted both sides but the Greeks were
3483-427: The Turks managed to retreat in an orderly fashion and avoid encirclement. Churchill said: "The Greek columns trailed along the country roads passing safely through many ugly defiles , and at their approach the Turks, under strong and sagacious leadership, vanished into the recesses of Anatolia." During October 1920, King Alexander , who had been installed on the Greek throne on 11 June 1917 when his father Constantine
3564-534: The Turks, freeing more resources for the main threat of the Greek Army. France and Italy concluded private agreements with the Turkish revolutionaries in recognition of their mounting strength. They viewed Greece as a British client, and sold military equipment to the Turks. The new Bolshevik government of Russia became friendly to the Turkish revolutionaries, as shown in the Treaty of Moscow (1921) . The Bolsheviks supported Mustafa Kemal and his forces with money and ammunition. In 1920 alone, Bolshevik Russia supplied
3645-503: The almost dictatorial regime of the Venizelists, so opted for change. To the surprise of many, Venizelos won only 118 out of the total 369 seats. The crushing defeat obliged Venizelos and a number of his closest supporters to leave the country. To this day his rationale to call elections at that time is questioned. The new government under Dimitrios Gounaris prepared for a plebiscite on the return of King Constantine . A month later
3726-570: The anti-Venizelist victory in the November 1920 elections , the division was renamed to 5th Infantry Division in order to purge the Venizelist-associated name. Following the Greek defeat in Asia Minor in August 1922, the division retreated along with the rest of the Greek army, to Chios . It was reformed at Serres in early 1923, again as the Cretan Division, by merging the remnants of the 5th and 9th divisions. On 30 June 1923 it
3807-522: The army and every household was required to provide a pair of underclothing and sandals. Meanwhile, the Turkish parliament, not happy with the performance of İsmet İnönü as the Commander of the Western Front, wanted Mustafa Kemal and Chief of General Staff Fevzi Çakmak to take control. Greek forces marched 200 kilometres (120 mi) for a week through the desert to reach attack positions, so
3888-534: The cause of the Allies, but the King and his supporters insisted on strict neutrality, especially whilst the outcome of the conflict was hard to predict. In addition, family ties and emotional attachments made it difficult for Constantine to decide which side to support during World War I. The King's dilemma was further increased when the Ottomans and the Bulgarians , both having grievances and aspirations against
3969-413: 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
4050-483: The city. The Greek army also consisted of 2,500 Armenian volunteers . The majority of the Greek population residing in the city greeted the Greek troops as liberators. During the summer of 1920, the Greek army launched a series of successful offensives in the directions of the Büyük Menderes River (Meander) Valley, Bursa (Prusa) and Alaşehir (Philadelphia). The overall strategic objective of these operations, which were met by increasingly stiff Turkish resistance,
4131-453: The expense of the Ottoman Empire , recently defeated in World War I . Greek claims stemmed from the fact that Western 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
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#17327978301184212-433: The expense of the Ottoman Empire if Greece entered the war on the Allied side. These included Eastern Thrace, the islands of Imbros (İmroz, since 29 July 1979 Gökçeada) and Tenedos ( Bozcaada ), and parts of western Anatolia around the city of Smyrna, which contained sizable ethnic Greek populations. The Italian and Anglo-French repudiation of the Agreement of St.-Jean-de-Maurienne signed on 26 April 1917, which settled
4293-528: The fate of the Ottoman Empire. Henceforth, the Ottoman Empire would no longer be a European power. On 10 August 1920, the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Sèvres ceding to Greece Thrace, up to the Chatalja lines . More importantly, Turkey renounced to Greece all rights over Imbros and Tenedos, retaining the small territories of Constantinople, the islands of Marmara, and "a tiny strip of European territory". The Straits of Bosporus were placed under an International Commission, as they were now open to all. Turkey
4374-497: The first to withdraw to their previous lines. The thunder of cannon was plainly heard in Ankara throughout the battle. That was the furthest in Anatolia the Greeks would advance, and within a few weeks they withdrew in an orderly manner back to the lines that they had held in June. The Turkish Parliament awarded both Mustafa Kemal and Fevzi Çakmak with the title of Field Marshal for their service in this battle. To this day no other person has received this five-star general title from
4455-401: The government, which, due to the war, had stayed in power without elections since 1915. At the same time they promoted the idea of disengagement in Asia Minor, without though presenting a clear plan as to how this would happen. On the contrary, Venizelos was identified with the continuation of a war that did not seem to go anywhere. The majority of the Greek people were both war-weary and tired of
4536-413: The inter war years. The military aspect of the war began with the Armistice of Mudros . The military operations of the Greco-Turkish war can be roughly divided into three main phases: the first phase, spanning the period from May 1919 to October 1920, encompassed the Greek Landings in Asia Minor and their consolidation along the Aegean Coast. The second phase lasted from October 1920 to August 1921, and
4617-467: The large Greek populations in the Asia Minor. Prior to the Great Fire of Smyrna , Smyrna had a bigger Greek population than the Greek capital, Athens . Athens, before the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey , had a population of 473,000, while the central kaza of Smyrna, according to Ottoman Census, in 1914, had a Greek population of 73,676 and the entire Aydın Vilayet including modern day İzmir , Manisa , Aydın and Denizli provinces had
4698-432: The main motivations for initiating the war was to realize the Megali (Great) Idea, a core concept of Greek nationalism. The Megali Idea was an irredentist vision of a restoration of a Greater Greece on both sides of the Aegean that would incorporate territories with Greek populations outside the borders of the Kingdom of Greece , which was initially very small – roughly half the size of the present-day Greek Republic . From
4779-456: The position. The 11th Rifle Company, which had been tasked with holding the peak, saw particularly heavy fighting. Its commander, Captain Artemios Kourtessis, lost both his legs in the battle, while 2nd Lieutenant Hesiod Tsingos was awarded the Medal of Valour in Gold for conspicuous gallantry. The division remained in the front until the Greek withdrawal from Albania in the face of the German invasion of Greece in April. The division retreated to
4860-423: The prisoner exchange in 1923. About 7,000 presumably died in Turkish captivity. ** 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 Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922
4941-405: The recovery of St. Sophia and the City had been handed down from generation to generation as the destiny and aspiration of the Greek Orthodox." The Megali Idea, besides Constantinople, included most traditional lands of the Greeks including Crete , Thessaly , Epirus , Macedonia , Thrace , the Aegean Islands , Cyprus , the coastlands of Asia Minor and Pontus on the Black Sea . Asia Minor
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#17327978301185022-477: The rest of IV Corps – at the time demobilized to a skeleton force of ca. 7,000 men – it surrendered to the Germans during the German-Bulgarian occupation of eastern Macedonia. For the remainder of the war, the 5th Division was interned at Görlitz in Germany, and was disbanded upon the war's end. Soon after, the outbreak of a Venizelist revolt in Thessaloniki resulted in the formation of a " Provisional Government of National Defence ", which entered World War I on
5103-448: The side of the Allies . The new government quickly extended its authority across northern Greece and the Aegean Islands, including Crete. There, from October 1916 until April 1917 a new Cretan Division , based at Chania , was formed. The division participated in the Macedonian Front operations in 1917–1918, and subsequently in the Asia Minor Campaign , during which it was distinguished in the Battle of Sakarya . In early 1921, following
5184-512: The southern Aegean Sea . It retains its traditional name of "5th Cretan Division" as an honorary title, however. Greco-Turkish War (1919%E2%80%931922) Turkish victory [REDACTED] Turkish National Movement [REDACTED] Kingdom of Greece Disputed numbers of Turkish civilians killed. 30,000+ buildings and 250+ villages destroyed and burnt by the Hellenic Army. * 20,826 Greek prisoners were taken. Of those about 740 officers and 13,000 soldiers arrived in Greece during
5265-520: The strategic situation that favoured the defending side; instead, pressed for a 'final solution', the leadership was polarised into the risky decision to pursue the Turks and attack their last line of defence close to Ankara. The military leadership was cautious and asked for more reinforcements and time to prepare, but did not go against the politicians. Only a few voices supported a defensive stance, including Ioannis Metaxas . Constantine by this time had little actual power and did not argue either way. After
5346-471: The support of the British, did not liquidate some Venizelist officers. The British continued to promise that they will give 850,000,000 golden franks. After the summer offensive of 1920 , the Turkish irregular forces attacked the Greek Army which is under the command of Constantinos Matenas. Even though the offensive was successful, the opportunity of sieging the and destroying of the 13th Infantry Division of Greece (the division had nearly ~15,000 men)
5427-443: The time of Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830, the Megali Idea had played a major role in Greek politics. Greek politicians, since the independence of the Greek state, had made several speeches on the issue of the "historic inevitability of the expansion of the Greek Kingdom." For instance, Greek politician Ioannis Kolettis voiced this conviction in the assembly in 1844: "There are two great centres of Hellenism. Athens
5508-476: Was 1,729,738. The suggestion that the Greeks constituted the majority of the population in the lands claimed by Greece has been contested by a number of historians. Cedric James Lowe and Michael L. Dockrill also argued that Greek claims about Smyrna were at best debatable, since Greeks constituted perhaps a bare majority, more likely a large minority in the Smyrna Vilayet , "which lay in an overwhelmingly Turkish Anatolia." Precise demographics are further obscured by
5589-420: Was a minor confrontation involving only one Greek division, it held political significance for the fledgling Turkish revolutionaries. This development led to Allied proposals to amend the Treaty of Sèvres at a conference in London where both the Turkish Revolutionary and Ottoman governments were represented. Although some agreements were reached with Italy, France and Britain, the decisions were not agreed to by
5670-400: Was an essential part of the Greek world and an area of enduring Greek cultural dominance. In antiquity, from late Bronze Age up to the Roman conquest , Greek city-states had even exercised political control of most of the region, except the period ca. 550–470 BC when it was part of the Achaimenid Persian Empire . Later, during Middle Ages, the region had belonged to the Byzantine Empire until
5751-435: Was characterised by Greek offensive operations. The third and final phase lasted until August 1922, when the strategic initiative was held by the Turkish Army. On 15 May 1919, twenty thousand Greek soldiers landed in Smyrna and took control of the city and its surroundings under cover of the Greek, French, and British navies. Legal justifications for the landings was found in Article 7 of the Armistice of Mudros, which allowed
5832-529: Was divided amongst the victorious Entente powers with the signing of the Treaty of Sèvres on 10 August 1920. There were a number of secret agreements regarding the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. The Triple Entente had made contradictory promises about post-war arrangements concerning Greek hopes in Asia Minor . The western Allies, particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George , had promised Greece territorial gains at
5913-530: Was first formed in September 1912 at Farsala , on the eve of the First Balkan War , following the mobilization of Greece and the other Balkan League states. Its first commander was Colonel Dimitrios Matthaiopoulos , and it comprised the 16th , 22nd and 23rd Infantry Regiments, the 3rd Squadron of the 1st Field Artillery Regiment and the 2nd Mountain Artillery Squadron. The division fought in
5994-566: 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 . This conflict was a part of the Turkish War of Independence . The Greek campaign was launched primarily because the western Allies , particularly British Prime Minister David Lloyd George , had promised Greece territorial gains at
6075-496: Was furthermore forced to transfer to Greece "the exercise of her rights of sovereignty" over Smyrna in addition to "a considerable Hinterland, merely retaining a 'flag over an outer fort'." Though Greece administered the Smyrna enclave, its sovereignty remained, nominally, with the Sultan. According to the provisions of the Treaty, Smyrna was to maintain a local parliament and, if within five years time she asked to be incorporated within
6156-633: Was gone because of the arbitrary behaviours of the Kuva-yi Seyyare under the command of the Çerkes Ethem . Because of these events, the Grand National Assembly of the Turkish Nationalists started to create a regular force . The regular forces was going to lose the Battle of Kütahya-Eskişehir only against the Greek Armed Forces. By December 1920, the Greeks had advanced on two fronts, approaching Eskişehir from
6237-602: Was not removed. The British and French government promised Greeks to give 850,000,000 golden franks ,but because of the government change in Greece, and heavy losses in Cilicia , the French government stopped supporting the Greeks until a small period between the Battle of Kütahya-Eskişehir and the end of the Battle of the Sakarya . The British government were also uneasy, but they preferred to wait. The Greeks, afraid of losing
6318-524: Was pushed into exile by the Venizelists, was bitten by a monkey kept at the Royal Gardens and died within days from sepsis . After King Alexander died without heirs, the legislative elections scheduled to be held on 1 November 1920, suddenly became the focus of a new conflict between the supporters of Venizelos and the Royalists. The anti-Venizelist faction campaigned on the basis of accusations of internal mismanagement and authoritarian attitudes of
6399-574: Was re-renamed to 5th Infantry Division. From 1924, the division was based again in Chania in Crete, comprising the 14th (Chania), 43rd ( Heraklion ) and 44th ( Rethymno ) Infantry Regiments. With the arrival of British troops that took over the defense of the island in late 1940, the division was transferred to the Albanian front where it participated in the January–February offensives against
6480-483: Was supposed to prevent. Arnold J. Toynbee blamed the policies pursued by Great Britain and Greece, and the decisions of the Paris Peace conference as factors leading to the atrocities committed by both sides during and after the war: "The Greeks of 'Pontus' and the Turks of the Greek occupied territories, were in some degree victims of Mr. Venizelos's and Mr. Lloyd George's original miscalculations at Paris." One of
6561-417: Was to provide strategic depth to the defence of Smyrna. To that end, the Greek zone of occupation was extended over all of Western and most of North-Western Anatolia. In return for the contribution of the Greek army on the side of the Allies, the Allies supported the assignment of eastern Thrace and the millet of Smyrna to Greece. This treaty ended the First World War in Asia Minor and, at the same time, sealed
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