Turkish War of Independence: A Visual History

The Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923) followed the Ottoman defeat in the First World War and the Allied occupation of Constantinople and Anatolia. When Greek troops landed at Smyrna in May 1919, Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) organised a nationalist movement in Ankara, defied the sultan and the Treaty of Sevres (1920) that partitioned Anatolia, defeated the Armenians in the east and the French in Cilicia, and stopped the Greek advance at the Sakarya (1921) before the Great Offensive of August 1922 drove the Greeks into the sea at Smyrna, which burned. The Armistice of Mudanya and the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) recognised a sovereign Turkey in its present borders; a population exchange moved 1.5 million people, the sultanate was abolished and the Republic proclaimed on 29 October 1923.

When it was fought: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Turkish War of Independence. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Greek-Turkish population exchange and displacement, 1922-1923

Timeline of the Turkish War of Independence

1. 1919
   Greek landing at Smyrna; Kemal at SamsunMay.
2. 1920
   Grand National Assembly; Treaty of Sevres; Armenians defeated
3. 1921
   Inonu; Sakarya
4. 1922
   Great Offensive; Smyrna; Chanak; sultanate abolished
5. 1923
   Treaty of Lausanne; Republic proclaimed

Occupation and Ankara

The Armistice of Mudros (October 1918) let the Allies occupy the straits and Constantinople; Italy landed in Antalya, France in Cilicia, and on 15 May 1919 Greece, with Allied blessing, occupied Smyrna, massacring Turks. Kemal, sent to Samsun as inspector on 19 May, instead convened congresses at Erzurum and Sivas, and after the British dissolved the Ottoman parliament in March 1920 opened the Grand National Assembly in Ankara. The sultan condemned him to death; the Treaty of Sevres of August 1920 gave Greece eastern Thrace and Smyrna, Armenia the east and the Allies zones of influence.

East, south and the Sakarya

Karabekir defeated the Armenian republic in autumn 1920 (Treaty of Gumru); the Soviets, courting Ankara, sent gold and guns and fixed the border at Kars in 1921. French forces were harried out of Cilicia by 1921. The Greeks advanced towards Ankara in 1921 after Inonu; in the 22-day Battle of the Sakarya in August-September Kemal, as commander-in-chief with dictatorial powers, held them 80 km from the capital. Italy and France made separate deals and withdrew.

The Great Offensive and Lausanne

On 26 August 1922 the Turks broke the Greek line at Dumlupinar and captured the Greek commander; the Greek army fled to the coast, burning towns as it went, and Turkish cavalry entered Smyrna on 9 September. Four days later the fire that destroyed the Christian quarters and killed thousands broke out. Kemal's troops faced the British at Chanak; London backed down and the Mudanya armistice returned eastern Thrace. The Assembly abolished the sultanate in November; the Treaty of Lausanne (24 July 1923) recognised Turkey's borders and mandated the Greek-Turkish population exchange. Ankara became the capital and the Republic was declared on 29 October 1923.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Ottoman Empire (1299 to 1922)
• British Empire (1583 to 1997)
• Byzantine Empire (395 to 1453)
• Italian Empire (1882 to 1947)
• Qajar Empire (1789 to 1925)
• Soviet Union (USSR) (1922 to 1991)

Wars of the same era and region

• World War I (1914 to 1918)
• Greek War of Independence (1821 to 1829)
• Balkan Wars (1912 to 1913)
• Russian Civil War (1917 to 1922)
• Kurdish-Turkish conflict (1978 to present)
• Greek Civil War (1946 to 1949)

8 surprising things about the Turkish War of Independence

1. The Treaty of Sevres was signed in a porcelain factory and, Turks say, was as fragile as its china.
2. Kemal was formally sentenced to death by the sultan's government in 1920 while he was organising the resistance.
3. The Chanak crisis of September 1922 brought down Lloyd George's government.
4. The population exchange was defined by religion, so Turkish-speaking Christians left Anatolia and Greek-speaking Muslims left Crete.
5. Smyrna's fire destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters; who started it is still bitterly disputed.
6. The Soviet Union was the first state to recognise the Ankara government and supplied it with 10 million gold roubles.
7. Kemal was given the surname Ataturk, 'father of the Turks', by the parliament in 1934.
8. The war's Turkish name is Kurtulus Savasi, the war of liberation, and 30 August is Victory Day.

Sources

• Turkish War of Independence Wikipedia
• Kemal Ataturk Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Treaty of Lausanne Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Andrew Mango, Ataturk (1999) John Murray

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