page_title: Occupation of Smyrna
section_title: Developments in the Greco-Turkish War
hierarchical_section_title: Occupation of Smyrna / Developments in the Greco-Turkish War
caption_attribution_description: English: Greek soldiers and civilians in front of Smyrna clock in the summer of 1920. After the Treaty of Sevres. Ελληνικά: Έλληνες στρατιώτες και πολίτες μπροστά από το μεγάλο ρολόι της Σμύρνης. Καλοκαίρι 1920, μετά την υπογραφή της Συνθήκης των Σεβρών.
context_page_description: The occupation of Smyrna was the military control by Greek forces of the city of Smyrna and surrounding areas from 15 May 1919 until 9 September 1922. The Allied Powers authorized the occupation and creation of the Zone of Smyrna during negotiations regarding the partition of the Ottoman Empire to protect the ethnic Greek population living in and around the city. The Greek landing on 15 May 1919 was celebrated by the substantial local Greek population but quickly resulted in ethnic violence in the area. This violence decreased international support for the occupation and led to a rise of Turkish nationalism. The High Commissioner of Smyrna, Aristeidis Stergiadis, took a firm stance against discrimination against the Turkish population by the administration; however, ethnic tensions and discrimination remained. Stergiadis also began work on projects involving resettlement of Greek refugees, the foundations for a University, and some public health projects. Smyrna was a major base of operations for Greek troops in Anatolia during the Greco-Turkish War.
context_section_description: In 1920, the Smyrna zone became a key base for the Greek summer offensive in the Greco-Turkish War.  Early in July 1920, the allies approved operations by the Greeks to take over Eastern Thrace and territory around Smyrna as part of ongoing hostilities with the Turkish Nationalist movement.  On 22 July 1920, Greek military divisions crossed the Milne line around the Smyrna zone and began military operations in the rest of Anatolia.
  International negotiations between the allies and the Ottoman administration largely ignored the increasing conflict.  In early 1920, Lloyd George was able to convince the new French Prime Minister, Alexandre Millerand to accept Greek control of Smyrna, but under Turkish suzerainty.  Negotiations were further refined in April 1920 at a meeting of the parties in Sanremo which was designed to discuss mostly issues of Germany, but because of increasing power of the nationalist forces under Kemal, the discussion shifted to focus on Smyrna.  French pressure and divisions within the British government resulted in Lloyd George accepting a time frame of 5 years for Greek control over Smyrna with the issue to be decided by the League of Nations at that point.  These decisions, i.e. regarding a Greek administration but with limited Turkish sovereignty and a 5-year limit, were included in the text of the Treaty of Sèvres agreed to on 10 August 1920.  Because the treaty largely ignored the rise of nationalist forces and the ethnic tension in the Smyrna zone, Montgomery has described the Treaty of Sèvres as "stillborn".  However, with the signing of the Treaty of Sèvres, the Ottoman Vali Izzet Bey handed over authority over Smyrna to Stergiadis.
  In October 1920, Venizelos lost his position as Prime Minister of Greece.  French and Italians used this opportunity to remove their support and financial obligations to the Smyrna occupation and this left the British as the only force supporting the Greek occupation. Smyrna remained a key base of operations for the ongoing war through the rest of 1920 and 1921, particularly under General Georgios Hatzianestis.
  A significant loss at the Battle of Sakarya in September 1921 resulted in a retreat of Greek forces to the 1920 lines.  The ensuing retreat resulted in massive civilian casualties and atrocities committed by Greek and Turkish troops.  Jensen summarizes the violence writing that "The Turkish population was subjected to horrible atrocities by the retreating troops and accompanying civilian Christian mobs. The pursuing Turkish cavalry did not hesitate in kind on the Christian populace; the road from Uşak to Smyrna lay littered with corpses."
caption: Greek soldiers and civilians at the Smyrna clock tower, summer 1920.
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