Minor Asia Campaign and Its Consequenses

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From the Book a Short History of Modern Greece, 1821-1956 by Edward S. Forster

The opening of hostilities in Asia Minor
OPERATIONS in Asia Minor began at the end of March 1921. The Greek General Staff (who seem to have had no idea of the growing strength of the Turkish National Movement and the support which it was receiving from other countries) were convinced that victory was certain and that Greece would receive a vast extension of territory. The dream of Constantinople again in Greek hands was at last to come true, and Constantine was hailed in the Royalist press as destined to be crowned Emperor in Santa Sophia.

Condition of the Greek Army.
But the enterprise was doomed from the first. The army was ill-equipped 1 and lacking in munitions, and there were no funds in the Treasury to remedy these deficiencies. The Corps of officers was rent by political differences; many of those who had led the Greek divisions to victory on the Macedonian front had been superseded by the appointment of Royalist sympathizers, who had taken no part in the operations of 1918 and had had no training in the latest developments of warfare. So many adherents of the Government in power had received promotion that there were more generals and colonels than posts for them to fill. In these conditions the Army required an experienced Commander-in-Chief who could enforce an iron discipline and stand up against the pressure exerted by the politicians. General Papoulas, who received the appointment, was singularly lacking in these qualifications, his chief claim to command being that he had suffered for his loyalty to King Constantine in his exile. He proved incompetent and was continually at loggerheads with the General Staff.

The advance into Asia Minor.
At first the Greek Army made appreciable progress in its advance into Asia Minor. There was as yet no considerable Turkish force to oppose it but merely bands of irregulars who carried on guerrilla warfare, in which every little success gained by the Greeks was hailed as a brilliant victory. The important railway-junctions, however, of Afium Karahissar and Eski Shehr were captured, but the Greeks sustained a serious reverse to the northwest of the latter town on 2nd April and were compelled to retreat. On 11th June King Constantine left Athens for Smyrna with M. Gounaris, who had become Prime Minister in April, M. Theotokis, Minister of War, and General Dousmanis representing the General Staff. The last-named urged that the King should assume the supreme command of the Army, but this was opposed by the politicians, with the result that the King held aloof from the direction of affairs

Attitude of the Entente Powers.
In June the Greek Army was concentrated in two groups, a smaller body at Brousa and the main body near Ushak. Not only were these two groups widely separated from one another but the main body was served by a single railway-line from Smyrna which passed through enemy country and required a large detachment of troops to guard it. During the same month the British, French, and Italian Governments, who in May had proclaimed a state of neutrality towards both the Greeks and the Turks in the zone which they occupied in the area adjoining the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara, volunteered their services to negotiate peace between the belligerents, but the Greeks rejected their offer.

The offensive of June 1921.
A fresh offensive opened on 15th June and resulted in the recapture of Afium Karahissar and Eski Shehr and an advance first to Katahia and then to Sivri Hissar, which lies some sixty miles from Ankara, the seat of the Turkish Nationalist Government. The Greek G.H.Q. seems to have thought that the Turkish withdrawal was a rout, but, in fact, the retirement had been made in perfect order. The Greek Commander-in-Chief is said to have wished to halt at the point which he had reached and avoid further risk, but the Prime Minister and Minister for War urged that Ankara must be captured and the enemy defeated.

Difficulties of the ground.
The country over which the Greeks had now to advance was a more or less desert and waterless land mostly devoid of inhabitants -- a formidable obstacle to an army almost entirely lacking in the means of communication and transport. It involved indescribable hardships and privations for the Greek Army. On the plateau of Central Asia Minor the rainy season sets in early

in the autumn and the roads, which are mere cart-tracks, soon become morasses almost impassable to heavy wheeled traffic.
The enemy allowed the Greeks to advance until they reached a battle-ground of Mustapha Kemal's own choosing -- the line of the Sakharia River, where the heights on the farther bank formed an ideal position for an effective defence.
On 7th August the Greek Commander-in-Chief issued orders, in which he said: 'The whole army will attack so as to annihilate the principal enemy force, will pursue them until they are dispersed, and will then advance to Ankara and destroy the enemy's stores there and the railway line'.

Defeat of the Greeks on the Sakharia River.

But fate had decided otherwise. The Greek Army was exhausted by its long march through the desert; it was short of every kind of food, except meat, which could not be cooked for lack of fuel; petrol had run short, and the horses were weak through lack of barley and forage; the ammunition was almost at an end and could not be replaced. The Turkish Army, on the other hand, was entrenched in a strong position not far from its base, was fighting in defence of its newly-chosen capital and was inspired with enthusiasm for the Nationalist Movement; above all its leader, Mustapha Kemal, was a born military genius. The result was a foregone conclusion -a disastrous defeat, though the Greek soldiery fought with characteristic stubbornness. The casualties were enormous, and would have been even greater if the enemy had done more to press home their advantage.

Retreat of the Greeks.
September was occupied with the retreat to the line Eski Shehr -- Afium Karahissar, and at the end of the month King Constantine returned to Athens broken in health. It remained for Greece to find a solution for an impossible situation, the gravity of which was hidden as far as possible from the Greeks at home. The only possible course seemed to be to appeal to the Powers to help Greece out of the impasse, and the Prime Minister accompanied by M. Baltatzis, his Minister for Foreign Affairs, set out for the European capitals.

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Greece appeals to the Powers.
In Paris there was nothing to be done, since the French had been supporting the Turks, with whom on 20th October they concluded the so-called ' Franklin-Bouillon Agreement', under which Mustapha Kemal received an ample supply of arms, munitions, and equipment. Italy was, as usual, unfriendly, and all the hopes of the Greek envoys centred on Great Britain, whose Prime Minister had given a formal blessing to their war effort. In an interview at the Foreign Office the situation was laid before Lord Curzon, and the Greek Ministers agreed to place the interests of their country in the hands of the Powers. They were told that, until a new Conference could be held, they must hold on in their present position, although winter was approaching. As the British Government could only act in concert with France, further delays ensued and new negotiations had to be begun when M. Poincaré succeeded M. Briand as Premier. In March 1922 the Paris Conference proposed an armistice, which Greece accepted, but Turkey insisted that this should be preceded by the evacuation of Asia Minor, and to this the Powers refused their assent.

M. Gounaris resigns.
On 12th May M. Gounaris resigned and, after M. Stratos had failed to form a government, a Coalition Cabinet was arranged, which included these two ministers, under the premiership of M. Protopapadakis, who as Minister of Finance had raised a forced loan by cutting all the banknotes in half. The first act of this government was to dismiss General Papoulas and appoint in his place the perhaps even more incompetent General Hadjanestis. In July the Greek High Commissioner in Smyrna proclaimed the independence of the Smyrna Vilayet, a move which had no effect on the situation.

Defeat of the Greeks and destruction of Smyrna.
At the end of August 1922 the Turks at last attacked and quickly occupied Afium Karahissar and, breaking through the line of defence, drove the Greeks before them and reached Smyrna on 9th September. Amid scenes of indescribable horror the greater part of the town was sacked and burnt. Only a poor remnant of the Greek population managed to escape. It was a sorry end to an adventure which should never have been undertaken and which Great Britain should either have discouraged or else supported with adequate aid.
The Greek Government, after decreeing the demobilization of the routed Greek Army, resigned on 8th September.


Abdication and death of King Constantine.

Meanwhile a large body of officers, headed by Colonel Plastiras, had taken refuge in the Island of Chios off the coast of Asia Minor, where they collected a considerable number of men and some units of the navy. Having matured their plans, they sent aeroplanes over to Athens, where they dropped copies of a proclamation demanding the abdication of King Constantine in favour of the Crown Prince and threatening to come to Athens with an army of 15,000 men. Though there were troops still loyal to the Crown and ready to fight, King Constantine, realizing that it was no moment for a fratricidal struggle when Greece was defeated and humiliated, took what was no doubt the only possible course in the interests of the country and abdicated, leaving Greece from the same little port of Oropos as on his previous departure. He settled at Palermo in Sicily, where he died in the following January, and the Crown Prince ascended the throne as King George II. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that on this occasion King Constantine, who had had no part in the decision to make war on Turkey or in its military direction, was made a scapegoat for disasters for which he was in no degree responsible.

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M. Venizelos decides to remain abroad.
One of the first acts of the Revolutionary Committee was to invite M. Venizelos to return to Athens, but on 1st November he declared that he had definitely retired from public life, a decision which was confirmed by a letter of 19th November; but he consented to remain at Lausanne and plead the cause of Greece at the negotiations which were in progress there to settle the differences between Greece and Turkey.

Trial of the ex-Ministers.
Meanwhile the Revolutionary Committee had appointed a Commission of Inquiry which was to fix the blame for the disasters in Asia Minor. The Commission decided that three ex-Premiers, two ex-Ministers, and the late Commander-in-Chief ( MM. Gounaris, Protopapadakis, Stratos, Baltatzis, Theotokis, and General Hadjanestis) should be brought to trial before a military Court Martial. On 29th October the British and Italian Ministers at Athens issued a warning that to try politicians for their acts while in office would produce a painful impression abroad. On 12th November the Revolutionary leaders called on M. Zaïmis and invited him to assume office, but he refused to do so unless the Revolutionary Committee was first dissolved. Thereupon the Committee formed a Cabinet from among their own adherents. On 23rd November the British Minister at Athens informed M. Politis, the Foreign Minister, that, unless the Government gave a favourable reply to the British representations, he had orders to break off diplomatic relations. Meanwhile at Lausanne Lord Curzon begged M. Venizelos to use his influence to stop the proceedings of the Court Martial and dispatched Commander Talbot, formerly naval attaché at Athens, to intercede with the Government.

Verdict and execution of the ex-Ministers.

The trial, which had dragged on for a fortnight, was brought to an end on 28th November, when all the accused were sentenced to immediate execution. M. Gounaris, who was seriously ill and had never appeared in court to plead his own cause, was dragged from his bed, and all the unfortunate victims were taken in lorries outside the city and shot. They refused to have their eyes bandaged and remained cool and collected to the end. When Commander Talbot arrived in Athens, all was over; but he was able to save Prince Andrew of Greece, who was to have been brought to trial on the charge of disobeying orders while in command of the right wing of the army in Asia Minor, and was allowed to escort him out of the country.

Effect of the executions on foreign opinion.
The awful tragedy of the executions caused a painful impression throughout the civilized world, and Great Britain broke off diplomatic relations with Greece. There was a general feeling that, if the battle on the Sakharia River had resulted in a Greek victory, the murdered Ministers and the Commander-in-chief would have been hailed as national heroes.

Attitude of M. Venizelos towards the trial.
It has been urged by his critics that M. Venizelos might have exerted his influence to prevent the executions. He certainly refused to take any steps while the trial was in progress, but on 28th November, when the verdict was made public, he telegraphed from Lausanne laying stress on the fatal effect which the execution of the sentences would have in Government circles in England and on public opinion everywhere. He stated that, though he was averse to interfering in home affairs, he felt it his duty to point out that the executions would render his position as spokesman of Greece at the Lausanne negotiations extremely difficult. If M. Venizelos had felt in a position to make an earlier and a more vigorous protest, he might perhaps have prevented a pitiful tragedy
It may be pointed out that of the members of the Court Martial only two out of nine belonged to the Venizelist party.

[Lord]

The questionabel stand of Stergiades would be also interesting to know...
as an Ypato Armostis (Political commander)..of Smyrna
i searched alot to know specific infos about hem...But never found something
except hes biography and that he died in "Italy"
Treator / Spy What was this man?

Regards