Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922: Encyclopedia II - Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922 - Political Background

Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922 - Political Background

This political context of this conflict is linked to secret agreements on sharing of Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI. Millitary history begins with the Armistice of Mudros.

Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922 - 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 Smyrna (current day İzmir), all of which, at that time, had clear majority Greek populations. After the armistice Greek troops occupied Smyrna and the surroundings in May 1919 under cover of French, British and American ships.

Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922 - Treaty of Sèvres

Meanwhile the former Ottoman general Mustafa Kemal (later Kemal Atatürk) was forming a Turkish nationalist movement at Ankara on April 23, 1920, which repudiated the Treaty of Sèvres and prepared for defense what they believed was their national land. 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 Kemalist forces before they were ready to attack the Greek perimeter at Smyrna. 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.

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 Smyrna.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Political Background", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki