Great Offensive Explained
| Conflict: | Great Offensive |
| Partof: | the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22) of the Turkish War of Independence |
| Date: | 26 August – 18 September 1922 |
| Place: | Western Anatolia (Afyon, Kütahya, Uşak, İzmir) |
| Territory: |
|
| Result: | Turkish victory
|
| Combatant1: | Ankara Government |
| Combatant2: | Greece |
| Commander1: | Mustafa Kemal Pasha
Fevzi Pasha
İsmet Pasha |
| Commander2: | Georgios Hatzianestis
Nikolaos Trikoupis
Kimon Digenis |
| Strength1: | |
| Strength2: | |
| Casualties1: | - 2,318 killed, 9,360 wounded, 1,697 missing and 101 prisoners
- Total: 13,476[5]
|
| Casualties2: | - 35,000 killed and wounded, 15,000 prisoners
- Total: 50,000[6] [7] [8] [9]
According to the other sources100,000[10] [11] [12]
|
The Great Offensive (Turkish: Büyük Taarruz) was the largest and final military operation of the Turkish War of Independence, fought between the Turkish Armed Forces loyal to the government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and the Kingdom of Greece, ending the Greco-Turkish War. The offensive began on 26 August 1922 with the Battle of Dumlupınar. The Turks amassed around 98,000 men, the largest number since the beginning of the war, to begin the offensive against the Greek army of approximately 130,000 men.[13] [14] From 31 August to 9 September, the front moved a distance of 300km (200miles) as the Greek troops retreated.[15] The Turkish army lacked motorized vehicles; its forces consisted of infantry and cavalry units, and logistical support was provided by a supply system based on ox carts.[16]
The Turkish troops reached the sea on 9 September with the capture of İzmir. The operation ended on 18 September 1922 with the capture of Erdek and Biga. The staggering defeat caused great dissent within the Greek army and a general loss of morale, which led to unwillingness to continue fighting. On top of this, numerous Greek divisions had been encircled and destroyed as effective fighting units, which meant that the Greek army had lost its offensive capabilities and was unable to organize a controlled retreat, leading to numerous Greek POWs.
Advance
The offensive started with the Battle of Dumlupınar, where the Turkish army defeated the Greek army within four days, paving the way for a rapid offensive. After Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's order issued in the Forces of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the main part of the Turkish Army began moving toward İzmir and a secondary force began moving from Eskişehir toward Bursa.[17] The commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in Asia Minor, Nikolaos Trikoupis, surrendered on 29 August.[18] [19] On 7 September, Aydın, Germencik and Kuşadası fell under Turkish control. On 16 September, the last Greek troops left Çeşme, and two days later the Greek III Corps left Erdek. The British Chief of Staff expressed his admiration for the Turkish military operation.[20]
See also
Bibliography
- Kemal Niş, Reşat Söker, Türk İstiklâl Harbi, Batı Cephesi, Büyük Taarruz’da Takip Harekâtı (31 Ağustos – 18 Eylül 1922), Cilt 2, Kısım. 6, 3. Kitap, Genkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1969.
- İsmet Görgülü, Büyük Taarruz: 70 nci Yıl Armağanı, Genelkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1992.
- Celal Erikan, Komutan Atatürk, Cilt I-II, Üçüncü Basım, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul, 2001, .
External links
Notes and References
- Belgelerle Türk tarihi dergisi, Editions 28–31, Menteş Kitabevi, 1999, page 35
- A. Dural: His Story: Mustafa Kemal and Turkish Revolution,, iUniverse, 2007, page 93
- Nizamettin Nazif Tepedelenlioğlu: Bilinmiyen taraflariyle Atutürk, Yeni Çığır Kitabevi, 1959, page 64
- Assertion of unitary, independent national states in central and southeast europe (1821–1923), Bibliotheca historica romaniae Edition 62, Edited by Viorica Moisuc and Ion Calafeteanu, Section des sciences historiques de l'Académie de la République Populaire Roumaine., 1980, page 340 (footnote 94)
- Ali Çimen, Göknur Göğebakan: Tarihi Değiştiren Savaşlar, 2. Edition,, page 321.
- https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70D15F83B5D1A7A93CAA91782D85F468285F9 Armistice sought by Greeks as Turks press near Smyrna
- Book: Clodfelter . Micheal . Warfare and armed conflicts : a statistical encyclopedia of casualty and other figures, 1492/2015 . 1476625859 . 346 . Fourth.
- Chronicling America – Historic American Newspapers, Turk Cavalry Routs Greeks, The Ogden standard-examiner (Ogden, Utah), 7 September 1922, page 2.
- https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/09/08/99066324.pdf Armistice Sought By Greeks As Turks Press
- Stephen Joseph Stillwell, Anglo-Turkish relations in the interwar era, Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2003, ISBN 0773467769, page 46
- Richard Ernest Dupuy, Trevor Nevitt Dupuy, The Harper encyclopedia of military history: from 3500 BC to the present, ISBN 0062700561, HarperCollins, 1993, page 1087
- Revue internationale d'histoire militaire - Issues 46-48, University of Michigan, 1980, page 227
- Bruce Clark: Twice a Stranger: The Mass Expulsions That Forged Modern Greece And Turkey, Harvard University Press, 2006,, page 22.
- International Committee of Historical Sciences, 1980, page 227.
- International Committee of Historical Sciences. 1980, page 227.
- International Committee of Historical Sciences, 1980, page 227.
- International Committee of Historical Sciences. Commission of comparative military history, Revue internationale d'histoire militaire (Editions 46–48), University of Michigan, 1980, page 227.
- "Trikupis" veya "Trikopis", Büyük Larousse Sözlük ve Ansiklopedisi, 22. Cilt, Milliyet Yay., İstanbul.
- Aggelomatis, Chr., "Chronicle of Great Tragedy" (The Epic of Asia Minor), Estia, 1963, pp. 194-5
- Elisabeth Özdalga: The Last Dragoman: The Swedish Orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as Scholar, Activist and Diplomat, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, 2006,, page 62.
