Great Offensive

Great Offensive
Part of Greco-Turkish War (1919–22)
Field Marshal Mustafa Kemal at Kocatepe
Date 26 August – 18 September 1922 Location Western Anatolia (Afyon, Dumlupınar, Uşak, İzmir Result Decisive Turkish victory Liberation of İzmir Greek Army withdrawal from Western Anatolia Armistice of Mudanya End of the Turkish War of Independence
Belligerents
Grand National Assembly	Greece
Commanders and leaders
Mustafa Kemal Fevzi Çakmak İsmet İnönü	Aristidis Stergiadis
Strength
98,670 infantry 5,286 cavalry 323 artillery [1][2][3][4]	130,000 infantry 1,300 cavalry 348 artillery [1][2][3][4]
Casualties and losses
2,318 killed, 9,360 wounded, 1,697 missing and 101 prisoners Total: 13,476[5]	By 7 September: 50,000 (35,000 killed and wounded, 15,000 prisoners)[6] Total: 100,000[7][8]

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, during the Greco-Turkish War. The offensive began on 26 August 1922 with the famous Battle of Dumlupınar. Turkish troops reached the sea on 9 September 1922 with the recapture of İzmir. It was ended on 18 September 1922 with the liberation of Erdek and Biga. The Turks amassed around 104,000 men, the largest number since the beginning of the war, to start their offensive on 26 August and to drive the Greek army of over 200,000 men^[9][10] out of western Anatolia. A pursuit operation started on a 400-kilometre-wide (250-mile) front.^[11]

The units of the Turkish army marched for 10 days (31 August to 9 September), covering a distance of 300 km (190 mi) while simultaneously fighting the Greek troops.^[12] The Turkish army lacked all kinds of motorized vehicles, its forces consisting of only infantry and cavalry units and its logistical support provided by a primitive supply system based on mainly ox-carts.^[13] Within two weeks, the Turkish army had driven out the Greek army completely out of Anatolia.^[14] From 26 August to 9 September, the Turks chased the fleeing Greeks 400 km (250 mi) to İzmir, which was later abandoned by the Greek soldiers. Consequently, the Greek occupation of Smyrna, which had begun in May 1919, ended on 9 September 1922 in an event known as the Liberation of İzmir. The Great Offensive ended on 18 September 1922 with liberation of Erdek and Biga.

After Dumlupınar

Turkish cavalry during mopping-up operation, August 1922

Turkish infantry waiting in a trench for the order to attack during the artillery preparatory fires

Advance

31 August

Turkish V Cavalry Corps, Kızıltaş Deresi, Murat Dağı, Murat Çayı,

Trikoupis, Bazan

Greek 5th Division, Abine, Eşme

Greek 4th Division, Oysu village

Turkish I Corps

Francos Group of Greek I Corps, Hallaçlar, Ahatköy, Uşak, Kapaklar, Kırka

Turkish IV Corps

1 September

Fahreddin Pasha (Altay) and officers of Turkish V Cavalry Corps

After Mustafa Kemal's order issued in the Forces of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the main part of the Turkish Army started moving towards İzmir. A secondary force started moving from Eskişehir in the direction of Bursa.^[11]

2 September

Tricoupis

Nihat (Tok) Commander of the 1st Battalion of the 69th Regiment of the 23rd Division

Greek 15th Division, Kütahya – Simav

Turkish 61st Division

3 September

Kula, Alaşehir

4 September

Turkish V Cavalry Corps, Alaşehir, Salihli

promotion of Turkish officers

Retreating Greek troops burn down Turkish villages.

5 September

Francos

Plastiras, Salihli, Kasaba (Turgutlu)

Turkish 1st Cavalry Division

6 September

Turkish 3rd Cavalry Division

Greeks, Kula, Eşme, Salihli, Alaşehir

Turkish 73rd Infantry Regiment

Turkish 14th Cavalry Division

Fahreddin (Fahrettin Altay): Kılıca kuvvet!

7 September

Greek soldiers retreating.

Turkish V Cavalry Corps, Turkish I Corps, Turkish II Corps

Greeks, reinforcement to İzmir. Aydın, Germencik and Kuşadası were liberated.

8 September

Edgard Quinet

Greeks, Çeşme

Menemen Boğazı, Hamidiye, Nif (Kemalpaşa)

Francos, Balçova, Urla Peninsula

Izzeddin (İzzettin Çalışlar)

9 September

I Corps, Nif (Kemalpaşa), II Corps, Manisa, IV Corps, Kasaba (Turgutlu)

III Corps, Kazancıbayırı, Bursa

Turkish 4th Cavalry Regiment Captain Sherafeddin (Şerafettin İzmir)

Turkish 14th Cavalry Regiment Captain Zeki (Doğan)

Turkish 1st Cavalry Division Mürsel (Bakû)

Belkahve

Greek POW officers in Ankara, 29 September 1922.

Aftermath

Greek 18th Regiment, Seydiköy

16 September, last Greek troops left Çeşme.

15th Division, 13 September, Dikili.

Greek III Corps, 18 September, left Erdek.

The British Chief of Staff expressed his admiration for the Turkish military operation.^[15]

See also

• List of high-ranking commanders of the Turkish War of Independence
• Occupation of Smyrna
• Great Fire of Smyrna

References

1. Belgelerle Türk tarihi dergisi, Editions 28–31, Menteş Kitabevi, 1999, page 35 (Turkish)
2. A. Dural: His Story: Mustafa Kemal and Turkish Revolution, ISBN 0595412513, iUniverse, 2007, page 93
3. Nizamettin Nazif Tepedelenlioğlu: Bilinmiyen taraflariyle Atutürk, Yeni Çığır Kitabevi, 1959, page 64 (Turkish)
4. 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)
5. Ali Çimen, Göknur Göğebakan: Tarihi Değiştiren Savaşlar, 2. Edition, ISBN 9752634869, page 321. (Turkish)
6. Armistice sought by Greeks as Turks press near Smyrna, New York Times, published 8 September 1922
7. Richard Ernest Dupuy, Trevor Nevitt Dupuy, HarperCollins (Firm): The Harper encyclopedia of military history: from 3500 BC to the present, HarperCollins, 1993, Issue 4, ISBN 0062700561, page 22.
8. Stephen Joseph Stillwell: Anglo-Turkish relations in the interwar era, Edwin Mellen Press, 2003, ISBN 0773467769, page 46.
9. Bruce Clark: Twice a Stranger: The Mass Expulsions That Forged Modern Greece And Turkey, Harvard University Press, 2006, ISBN 0674023684, page 22.
10. International Committee of Historical Sciences, 1980, page 227.
11. International Committee of Historical Sciences. Commission of comparative military history, Revue internationale d'histoire militaire (Editions 46–48), University of Michigan, 1980, page 227.
12. International Committee of Historical Sciences. 1980, page 227.
13. International Committee of Historical Sciences, 1980, page 227.
14. Christopher M. Andrew, Alexander Sydney Kanya-Forstner: The Climax of French Imperial Expansion, 1914–1924, Stanford University Press, 1981, ISBN 0804711011, page 232.
15. Elisabeth Özdalga: The Last Dragoman: The Swedish Orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as Scholar, Activist and Diplomat, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, 2006, ISBN 9789186884147, page 62.

Footnotes

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. (Turkish)
• İsmet Görgülü, Büyük Taarruz: 70 nci Yıl Armağanı, Genelkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1992. (Turkish)
• Celal Erikan, Komutan Atatürk, Cilt I-II, Üçüncü Basım, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul, 2001, ISBN 975-458-288-2. (Turkish)

External links

• "9 Eylül 1922 İzmir'in Kurtuluşu" ("9 September 1922 Rebelation of İzmir"), Tarihten Kesitler, General Staff of the Republic of Turkey. (Turkish)
• İzmir Marşı (Izmir March) (lyrics) in Google Videos. (Turkish)
• Stock Footage – Turkish civilians and Nationalist forces, led by Ataturk, battle to drive invaders from Anatolia, after World War I. Critical Past