Turkish War of Independence facts for kids

Quick facts for kids

Turkish War of Independence

Part of the Revolutions of 1917–1923
in the aftermath of World War I

Clockwise from top left: Leaders meeting at the Sivas Congress; Turkish people carrying supplies to the front; Kuva-yi Milliye soldiers; Turkish horse cavalry; Turkish Army's capture of Smyrna; troops in Ankara's Ulus Square preparing for battle.

Date	19 May 1919 – 11 October 1922 (Armistice) 24 July 1923 (Peace) (4 years, 2 months and 5 days)
Location	Anatolia, Southwestern Caucasus, Upper Mesopotamia, and East Thrace
Result	Turkish victory
Territorial changes	Establishment of the Republic of Turkey

Belligerents

Turkish Nationalists:
Ankara Government
(1919–1920; 1920–1923)

Supported by:

Green Army
(1919–1920)

Russian SFSR

Ukrainian SSR

Azerbaijan SSR

Bukharan PSR

Italy

France
(from 1921)

Khilafat Movement

Alawite rebels

Kurdistan

Entente:

Greece

France
(until 1921)

French West Africa

Armenian Legion

Algeria

Morocco

Tunisia

United Kingdom

India

Armenia
(in 1920)

Georgia
(in 1921)

Istanbul Government

Seperatists:

Green Army
(1920–1921)

Pontic Greeks rebels

Kurdish rebels

Commanders and leaders

Mustafa Kemal Pasha

Mustafa Fevzi Pasha

Mustafa İsmet Pasha

Kazım Karabekir Pasha

Fahrettin Pasha

Ali Fuat Pasha

Refet Pasha

Nureddin Pasha

Ethem the Circassian

Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi

Mahmud Barzanji

Ibrahim Hananu

Saleh al-Ali

Ujaymi al-Sudan

Constantine I

Alexander I

Eleftherios Venizelos

Anastasios Papoulas

Georgios Hatzianestis

Leonidas Paraskevopoulos

Kimon Digenis (POW)

Nikolaos Trikoupis (POW)

Henri Gouraud

Drastamat Kanayan

Movses Silikyan

Sir George Milne

Mehmed VI

Damat Ferid Pasha

Süleyman Şefik Pasha

Anzavur Ahmed Pasha

Strength

May 1919: 35,000
November 1920: 86,000
(creation of regular army)
August 1922: 271,000

Dec. 1919: 80,000
1922: 200,000–250,000

60,000

30,000

20,000

7,000 (at peak)

Casualties and losses

13,000 killed
22,690 died of disease
5,362 died of wounds or other non-combat causes
35,000 wounded
7,000 prisoners

24,240 killed
18,095 missing
48,880 wounded
4,878 died outside of combat
13,740 prisoners

1,100+ killed
3,000+ prisoners

~7,000

264,000 Greek civilians killed
60,000–250,000 Armenian civilians killed
15,000+ Turkish civilians killed in the Western Front
30,000+ buildings and 250+ villages burnt to the ground by the Hellenic Army and Greek/Armenian rebels.

Notes

a. Kuva-yi Milliye came under command of the Grand National Assembly after 4 September 1920.
b. Italy occupied Constantinople and a part of southwestern Anatolia but never fought the Turkish army directly. During its occupation Italian troops protected Turkish civilians, who were living in the areas occupied by the Italian army, from Greek troops and accepted Turkish refugees who had to flee from the regions invaded by the Greek army. In July 1921 Italy began to withdraw its troops from southwestern Anatolia.
c. The Treaty of Ankara was signed in 1921 and the Franco-Turkish War thus ended. The French troops remained in Constantinople with the other Allied troops.
d. The United Kingdom occupied Constantinople, then fought against directly Turkish irregular forces in the Greek Summer Offensive with the Greek troops, however after this the United Kingdom would not take part in any more major fighting. Moreover the British troops occupied several towns in Turkey such as Mudanya. Naval landing forces had tried to capture Mudanya as early as 25 June 1920, but stubborn Turkish resistance inflicted casualties on British forces and forced them to withdraw. There were many instances of successful delaying operations of small Turkish irregular forces against numerical superior enemy troops. The United Kingdom, which also fought diplomatically against the Turkish National Movement, came to the brink of a great war in September 1922 (Chanak Crisis).
e. The Ottoman controlled Kuva-yi Inzibatiye ("Caliphate Army") fought the Turkish revolutionaries during the Greek Summer Offensive and the Ottoman government in Constantinople supported other revolts (e.g. Anzavur).
f. Greece took 22,071 military and civilian prisoners. Of these 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 Turkish War of Independence (May 19, 1919 – July 24, 1923) was a major conflict. It happened after the Ottoman Empire lost World War I. Parts of the empire were taken over by other countries. This war was fought by the Turkish National Movement. They fought against Greece in the west, Armenia in the east, and France in the south. They also fought against some local groups and British and Ottoman troops around Istanbul. This war was part of a bigger effort to resist the breakup of the Ottoman Empire.

Why the War Started
The Rise of the Turkish National Movement
Key Battles and Victories
The Birth of Modern Turkey
Images for kids
See also

Why the War Started

After World War I ended, the Ottoman Empire signed an agreement called the Armistice of Mudros. But the winning countries, known as the Allied Powers, kept occupying and taking land. They were following secret agreements like the Sykes–Picot Agreement. Ottoman military leaders did not want to give up their forces. This led to a big problem. The leader of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, sent a respected general named Mustafa Kemal Pasha. He was sent to Anatolia to bring back order. But Mustafa Kemal became a leader of the Turkish nationalists. They resisted the Ottoman government and the Allied powers.

To gain control in Anatolia, the Allies asked the Greek Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, to send troops. These troops occupied Smyrna (now İzmir). This made tensions worse and started the Turkish War of Independence.

The Rise of the Turkish National Movement

Mustafa Kemal and his supporters formed a new government in Ankara. This was called the Government of the Grand National Assembly. They did this because the Ottoman government in Istanbul seemed to be giving in to the Allied powers. The Allies then forced the Ottoman government to stop its own laws and close its parliament. They also made them sign the Treaty of Sèvres. This treaty was very unfair to Turkish interests. The new "Ankara government" said this treaty was illegal.

Key Battles and Victories

During the war, local fighters worked with Syrian rebels. They defeated the French forces in the south. Turkish units also worked with Bolshevik forces to divide Armenia. This led to the Treaty of Kars in October 1921.

The fighting in the west was called the Greco-Turkish War. At first, Greek forces faced unorganized resistance. But İsmet Pasha organized the local fighters into a regular army. This new army fought the Greeks in the First and Second Battle of İnönü.

The Greek army won the Battle of Kütahya-Eskişehir. They decided to march towards Ankara, the nationalist capital. This stretched their supply lines very thin. The Turks stopped their advance in the Battle of Sakarya. Later, they launched a big attack called the Great Offensive. This attack pushed Greek forces out of Anatolia in just three weeks. The war ended when İzmir was taken back by the Turks. This led to a new agreement called the Armistice of Mudanya.

The Birth of Modern Turkey

The Grand National Assembly in Ankara was recognized as the true Turkish government. They signed the Treaty of Lausanne in July 1923. This treaty was much better for Turkey than the earlier Sèvres Treaty. The Allied forces left Anatolia and Eastern Thrace. The Ottoman government was removed, and the rule by a sultan was ended.

On October 29, 1923, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey declared the Republic of Turkey. This assembly is still Turkey's main law-making body today. The war brought an end to the Ottoman era. There was also a population exchange between Greece and Turkey, where many people moved between the two countries. With Atatürk's reforms, Turkey became a modern, secular nation. In March 1924, the Ottoman caliphate, a religious leadership role, was also ended.

The war and events before it greatly changed who lived in Turkey. Many Christian people, including those who spoke Greek and Armenian, left or were forced to move from Anatolia. This led to a big increase in the Muslim population, from about 80% to 98%.

Images for kids

Front page of İkdam on November 4, 1918, announcing "The Three Pashas Escaped"
Grand Vizier Ferid Pasha, a leader of the Freedom and Accord Party
People who moved from the Balkan Wars waiting to cross the Bosphorus to Anatolia, Sirkeci, Istanbul, 1912
Sultan Mehmed VI
Ahmed Tevfik Pasha and Rıza Tevfik at the Paris Peace Conference
Greek troops marching in İzmir in May 1919.
A large gathering at the Sultanahmet demonstration, May 25, 1919
Hellenic Army troops advancing during the 1920 Greek Summer Offensive
Allied forces occupying Istanbul
A newspaper from March 18, 1920 (The Gray River Argus, New Zealand)
The opening of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
A British officer checking Greek troops and trenches in Anatolia
Borders and areas of influence of the Ottoman Empire based on the Treaty of Sèvres (1920). This treaty was later replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
Areas controlled by the Ankara government and the Allies.
A 1922 painting showing the Turkish recapture of İzmir on September 9, 1922
A political cartoon: Greek king Constantine running from a bomb labeled "KEMAL"
Hatıra-i Zafer (Memory of Victory) by Hasan Sabri in 1925.