Greek landing at Smyrna

Greek landing at Smyrna
Part of Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) campaign of Turkish War of Independence
Men of the 1/38 Evzone Regiment at the Smyrna quay
Date May 15, 1919 Location Aidin Vilayet, Ottoman Empire Result Occupation of Smyrna
Belligerents
Kingdom of Greece Naval support: United Kingdom France Italy United States	Ottoman Empire Turkish National Movement (political; no troops)
Commanders and leaders
Colonel Nikolaos Zafeiriou¹	Ali Nadir Pasha² Hürrem Bey³ Ali Bey⁴ Kâzım Bey⁵
Strength
20,000 soldiers	200 soldiers
Casualties and losses
2 killed and 6-20 wounded	30-40 killed (killed in captivity or during surrender) 40-60 wounded
1: Commander of the Greek 1st Division, 2: Commander of the Ottoman XVII Corps, 3: Commander of the Ottoman 56th Division, 4: Commander of the 172nd Infantry Regiment (Ayvalık), 5: Commander of the 173rd Infantry Regiment (Urla)

The Greek landing at Smyrna (modern-day Izmir) was a military operation by Greek forces starting on May 15, 1919 which involved landing troops in the city of Smyrna and surrounding areas. The Allied powers sanctioned and oversaw the planning of the operation and assisted by directing their forces to take over some key locations and moving warships to the Smyrna harbor. During the landing, a shot was fired on the Greek 1/38 Evzone Regiment and significant violence ensued with Greek troops and Greek citizens of Smyrna participating. The event became important for creating the three-year long Greek Occupation of Smyrna and was a major spark for the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).

Prelude

At the end of World War I (1914-1918) and with the Armistice of Mudros that ended the Ottoman front of World War I, the allies began a series of peace talks focused on the Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. During Paris Peace Conference, 1919 the Italians landed and took over Antalya and began showing signs of moving troops towards Smyrna. When the Italians left the meeting in protest over other issues, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos pushed a concocted report in the peace negotiations alleging that the Christian populations were under direct threat to convince France and the U.S. to support a Greek takeover of the Aidin Vilayet centered in Smyrna. Borders and terms of the Greek occupation were not decided but in early May 1919, the Allied powers supported Greek troops landing in Smyrna and moved a number of battleships into the area to prepare for the landing.

Turkish reactions

The Society for the Defense of Ottoman Rights in Izmir (İzmir Müdafaa-i Hukuk-ı Osmaniye Cemiyeti) was organized to prepare for the arrival of Greek troops. Nureddin Pasha was appointed governor of the Aidin Vilayet and Aidin Area Command (Aydın Bölge Komutanlığı), and supported activities of the Society for the Defense of Ottoman Rights in Izmir. But he resigned under pressure of the Allied Powers. "Kambur" Ahmed Izzet Bey was appointed as new governor on March 11, and retired general Ali Nadir Pasha was appointed to the post of military commander on March 22, 1919.

Allied fleet

In the early weeks of May 1919, allied warships entered the area to prepare for the operation. British Admiral Somerset Gough-Calthorpe was the primary commander for the operation involving British, U.S., French, Italian, and Greek forces. On May 11, 1919, Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol, the Commander of US Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters), came to Izmir from Istanbul on a battleship. The British forces would occupy Karaburun and Uzunada, French forces would occupy Urla and Foça, Greek forces would occupy Yenikale fortress.

The Greek Landing at Smyrna

Greek troops marching on Izmir's coastal street, May 1919.

On May 14, 1919, the Greek mission in Smyrna read a statement announcing that Greek troops would be arriving the next day in the city. Smith reports that this news was "received with great emotion" by the Greek population of the city while thousands of Turkish residents gathered in the hill that night lighting fires and beating drums in protest. Later, translations of proclamations issued by the Turks during this occasion, showed that the intention was purely pacific resistance. The same night, several hundred prisoners, mostly Turks, were released from a prison, with the complicity of the Ottoman authorities and Italian major in charge of the prison. Some of them armed purchased arms from a depot near the barracks.

Greek occupation of Smyrna started on May 15, 1919 where thousands were gathered on the seafront, waving Greek flags on the docks where the Greek troops were expected to arrive. The Metropolitan of Smyrna, Chrysostomos of Smyrna blessed the first troops as they arrived at 8:00 a.m. A colonel, who had neither the will nor the prestige to force himself relentlessly on his men, was in charge of the operation and neither the appointed High Commissioner nor high-ranking military individuals were there for the landing resulting in miscommunication and a breakdown of discipline. Most significantly, this resulted in the 1/38 Evzone Regiment landing north of where they were to take up their post. As a result, they had to march south passing a large part of the Greek celebratory crowds and the Ottoman government Konak and the barracks of Ottoman troops. Someone fired a shot (Smith indicates that no one knows who fired the shot) and chaos resulted with the Greek troops firing multiple shots into the Konak and the barracks. The Ottoman troops surrendered and the Greek regiment begun marching them up the coast to a ship to serve as a temporary prison. Allied officers in the harbor reported seeing Greek troops bayoneting multiple Turkish prisoners during the march and then saw them thrown into the sea. Prisoners were forced to shout Long live Venizelos and Long live Greece. Donald Whittall, a British citizen and one of the few neutral observers during the landing, remarked about the treatment of Turkish prisoners, "They were made to go through no end of humiliation and received a good deal of knocking about". Whittall estimated that thirty unarmed prisoners were slaughtered. Most of the atrocities were committed by the Greek crowd and Greek soldiers, who could barely restrained from shooting the prisoners by their officers. The captain of the HMS Adventure reported, that a Turkish officer, marching with his hands up, veer out of line. He was hit by a Greek soldier's rifle butt on the back of his head. When he tried to stand up he was hit again and bayoneted, before the top of his head was blown off.

Violence and disorder followed the landing and Greek troops and Greek citizens of Smyrna participated in these actions. Some shops belonging to Jews were also plundered by Greek soldiers. For the days following the landing, Greek troops arbitrarily detained around 2,500 people. Looting of Turkish houses in the city and in the surrounding areas began on the night of May 15 and continued for many days after that. The The Inter-Allied Commission of Inquiry reported that:

On 15 and 16 May, countless acts of violence and looting targeted at the Turkish people and their homes took place in the town. Fezzes were stolen, preventing the Turks from leaving their homes. Many women were raped. Some people were murdered. The acts of violence and looting were committed for the most part by a mob of Greeks from the town, although it has been proven that soldiers also joined in and that the military authorities took no effective measures to stop the acts of violence and looting until it was too late.

Admiral Calthorpe left the area on May 21 and on May 23, the Greek commander in the area went against orders developed by the Allies and Venizelos by ordering the expansion of military operations in Aydin and Şuhut. These operations initially did not face significant resistance, but ethnic violence erupted along the way leading to significant violence and chaos; particularly in the Battle of Aydin from May 27 until June 27, 1919. In many areas, Greek forces demobilized the Ottoman police and then exited the area resulting in Turkish mobs looting Greek property and killing Greek citizens. This was a retaliatory strike, as result of atrocities committed by Greek soldiers and civilians in Smyrna and surroundings against Turks.

When the atrocities were exposed and condemned by the British House of Commons on 26 June, Venizelos faced British diplomatic pressure to conduct an official inquiry. Court martial on August 15, 1919 led by the Greek High Commissioner for the violence on May 15 and May 16 pronounced 74 convictions (including 48 Greeks, 13 Turks, 12 Armenians and one Jew).

According to the Inter-Allied Commission of Inquiry, the casualties on 15 May were as follows: Greek army (2 killed, 6 wounded); 100 Greek civilians (20 killed, 20 drowned, 60 wounded); 300-400 Turkish civilians killed or wounded. Eyewitnesses in Smyrna, reported higher civilian casualties regarding the Turks. The U.S. Naval Officer of the USS Arizona, which was berthed at the Smyrna harbor, estimated 300-500 Turks killed with a total of 700-1000 casualties. Regarding the Greek casualties, he estimated 2 killed and 15-20 wounded soldiers, 20-30 killed and 40-50 wounded civilians Reverend MacLachlan, a Canadian in charge of the international college at Smyrna, estimated 400-600 Turks killed.

Impacts

Main article: Occupation of Smyrna

The Greek army from the first started showing the signs that they had not come for a temporary occupation but rather for a permanent annexation; to incorporate western Anatolia to greater Greece. It was already clear to some Turks where Greeks had occupied. Turkish reaction to these developments was instantaneous and violent. While there were big demonstrations against Allied Forces in Istanbul, in Anatolia first armed clash occurred on 28 May at Ödemiş between a small body of Turks and Greek army. Afterwards, guerrilla warfare flared up along the line of Greek advance.

The Greek Landing at Smyrna created the Smyrna Zone that administered the area from 1919 until September 9, 1922. After the violence in May 1919, many of the allies began to limit their support for the operation: France, the United States, and Italy all became resistant to permanent Greek occupation and the dead-born Treaty of Sevres in 1920 gave administrative control of the area to Greece, while Turkey would retain sovereignty, with permanent sovereignty to be decided after 5 years. The Greek reign of Smyrna ended when Turkish forces entered Izmir on September 9, 1922 and occupied the city.

See also

• Megali Idea
• Occupation of Smyrna
• Hasan Tahsin

Bibliography

• Celal Erikan, Komutan Atatürk, Cilt I-II, Üçüncü Basım, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul, 2001, ISBN 975-458-288-2. (Turkish)
• Hakkı Güvendik, Türk İstiklâl Harbi, Batı Cephesi, Yunanlıların Batı Anadolu'da İstila Hareketlerine Başlamaları, İzmir’in İşgali, Mustafa Kemal Paşa'nın Samsun’a Çıkması, Millî Mukavemet'in Kurulması (May 15ıs – 4 Eylül 1919), Cilt 2, Kısım. 1, Genkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1963. (Turkish)
• Michael Llewellyn Smith, Ionian vision : Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-1922., C. Hurst, 1999, London, New edition, 2nd impression.
• Zekeriya Türkmen, Mütareke Döneminde Ordunun Durumu ve Yeniden Yapılanması (1918–1920), Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 2001, ISBN 975-16-1372-8. (Turkish)

External links

• Greek Occupation of Izmir and Adjoining Territories: Report of the Inter-Allied Commission of Inquiry (May–September 1919), SAM, 1999.
• Greek atrocities in the Vilayet of Smyrna (May to July 1919) Inedited documents and evidence of English and French officers.