The Smyrna Catastrophe 1922 – End of Greco -Turkish War
Smyrna Catastrophe September 1922
On September 13th, 1922, Smyrna (now Izmir), one of the wealthiest cities of the Ottoman Empire, on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, inhabited mostly by Greeks, Jews and Armenians, went up in flames.
Smyrna before the great fire of September 1922
Greek forces, which had occupied the city for the past three years, retreated under attack from the Turks, marking the end of the Greco-Turkish War, bringing about the largest compulsory population exchange in history and the creation of the Turkish Republic.
This tragedy came to be known as the “Smyrna Catastrophe” or “The Asia Minor Disaster”.
The Greco – Turkish War (1919–1922)
Map of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922).
The Greco – Turkish War commenced, when Greek forces, later joined by local Greek and Armenian untrained volunteers, landed in Smyrna, on 15th of May 1919.
Many acts of violence, including murder, rape and looting, followed the landing, mainly commited by a mob of local Greeks from the city, whilst the military authorities looked on but made no attempt to stop the mayhem.
Greek forces land in Smyrna, 15th of May 1919
On 26 June, the atrocities were condemned by the British House of Commons.
This resulted in Eleftherios Venizelos, a significant politician and leader of the Greek national liberation movement, being forced to make an official inquiry.
A Court martial, held on August 15, 1919, led by the Greek High Commissioner, led to seventy four convictions.
Crowds gathered to welcome the Hellenic Fleet in Smyrna in May 1919.
Only a few days before the end of WWI, the Western Allies and the Ottoman Empire, which was defeated in the war, had signed the “Armistice of Mudros”, stating that The Ottoman Empire was to be divided up amongst the Allies.
The Allies awarded Greece the city of Smyrna and authorized Greece to occupy Ottoman regions, resulting in the Occupation of Smyrna by Greek forces.
For Greece, this justified the Greek foreign policy goal of re-taking Constantinople and re-establishing the Byzantine Empire, or “Greater Greece”.
The Turkish Great Offensive:
The end of the Greco – Turkish War
Greek lithograph depicting the Battle of Sangarios River (Sakarya) during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922, a part of the Turkish War of Independence.
Originally, the Greek forces’ plan was to remain in the area surrounding Smyrna, by the summer of 1920 though, supported by Britain, plan B was put into action and they headed for Ankara and by October 1920, they had taken power over northwestern Anatolia.
Greek Evzone’s retreat to Smyrna,1921, after the battle of Sakarya (Greco-Turkish War 1919-1922).
The Greeks however, were met with Turkish revolutionary forces using guerilla tactics, which slowed down their progress immensely, and by 1921, after heavy losses during the Battle of Sakarya, the Greek advance came to a halt and they were forced to retreat to Smyrna.
Greek soldiers retreat during the last stages of the Asia Minor Campaign, August-September 1922.
On 26th August 1922, Turkey set in motion a brutal attack “The Turkish Great Offensive” crushing the Greek forces.
Defeated, the Greek forces evacuated Smyrna on the 8th of September 1922.
Turkish troops enter Smyrna
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 1881 – 1938, Turkish field marshal, revolutionary statesman, the founding father of the Republic of Turkey,
On the 9th of September, the Turkish Nationalist forces, led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, entered Smyrna and raised the Turkish flag, signifying the Liberation of Izmir.
Turkish troops entering Smyrna 9th september 1922
Four days later, on the 13th of September 1922, Smyrna, a cosmopolitan city, with a larger Greek population than Athens, the Greek capital, was burning.
The fire started in the Armenian quarter of the city and raged until September 22nd, resulting in the deaths of 10,000 to 125,000 Greek and Armenians.
The port of Smyrna, one of the busiest in the area, was burned to the ground.
Smyrna burning
HMS Iron Duke and the Great Fire of Smyrna, 1922.
The fire completely destroyed the Greek and Armenian quarters of the city; the Muslim and Jewish quarters escaped damage.
Around 80,000 to 400,000 Greeks and Armenians rushed to the waterfront to escape from the fire, where Turkish troops had closed off the quay, trappingng them within the fire zone, pillaging their shops, looting their homes and separating the men from the women.
Leaving Smyrna after the Asia Minor Disaster. September 1922
Panic broke out with terrified refugees jumping into the water to escape the flames, children were trampled and many ill and elderly died from fear.
The Asia Minor Disaster September 1922.
A British sailor, who witnessed the horrific fire from the deck of the HMS King George, described the scene:
“There were the most awful screams one could imagine… It was a horrible scene; mothers with their babies, the fire raging over their heads… and the people all screaming.”
By September 22nd, the fire was finally out and on 24th; the first Greek ships entered the harbor to rescue around 150,000–200,000 people.
Refugees leaving Smyrna after the Asia Minor Disaster of September 1922
About another 30,000 Greek and Armenian men were deported to the interior of Anatolia, many dying under the harsh conditions or executed along the way.
The Greco-Turkish War and the 3,000-year Greek presence on Anatolia’s Aegean shore was over, as was the vision of a “Greater Greece”.
Map of the 1920 Greater Greece of Venizelos from the National Historical Museum of Athens.
Population Exchange
With the war over, peace negotiations began; Britain, France and Italy, along with other nations, came to the conclusion that, to avoid the deaths of more innocent civilians, a compulsory population exchange was the answer.
On October 16, 1922, Greek statesman, Eleftherios Venizelos, in a letter to the League of Nations, requested an exchange of Greek and Turkish populations.
Eleftherios Venizelos 1864 – 1936, a significant politician and leader of the Greek national liberation movement
An agreement was signed at Lausanne, Switzerland, on 30 January 1923, by the governments of Greece and Turkey.
The exchange involved at least 1.6 million people; 1,221,489 Greek Orthodox from Asia Minor and 355,000–400,000 Muslims from Greece.
Refugee children from Turkey in Greece in 1923.
The Birth of the Republic of Turkey
On October 29, 1923, the Grand Turkish National Assembly announced the creation of the Republic of Turkey.
Today, this war, religious differences and squabbles over territory, still cause tensions between Greece and Turkey.
Related Posts:
Rebetiko; the Greek Blues, the Music of Life.The Legacy of “The Catastrophe of Smyrna” (1922)
