page_title: Greek landing at Smyrna
section_title: The Greek landing
hierarchical_section_title: Greek landing at Smyrna / The Greek landing
caption_attribution_description: English: March of the Greek Army in Smyrne/Izmir, May 2, 1919. Ελληνικά: Σκηνή από την παρέλαση της ελληνικής 1η μεραρχίας στην προκυμαίας της Σμύρνης, 07.50 π.μ., 2 Μαίου 1919
context_page_description: The Greek landing at Smyrna 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.
context_section_description: On the afternoon of May 11, 1919, the Commander of the 1st Infantry Division of the Hellenic Army, positioned in Kavala, Colonel Nikolaos Zafeiriou, received orders for the operation. The next morning, the landing force, consisting of 13,000 soldiers, as well as auxiliary personnel, 14 transport ships and escorted by 3 British and 4 Greek destroyers, headed to Smyrna. Zafeiriou's order to his soldiers, who learned about their destination only after the departure, was the following:
  Wherever we may go, we must know that we are going to liberate our brethren under alien rule. The enthusiasm filling our hearts is fully justified but any improper manifestation of this enthusiasm will be entirely out of place. We must not forget that when we reach our destination we shall meet Turks, Jews and Europeans of other denominations. Everybody should be treated in the same way. In a little while they will become our brothers as if they were true Greeks.
  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 not 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.
  The Greek occupation of Smyrna started the following day, 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 08:00. 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 crowds celebrating the landing and also the Ottoman government Konak and the barracks of Ottoman troops. A Turk 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 humiliation and received a good deal". But Whittall estimated that thirty unarmed prisoners were slaughtered.  The captain of HMS Adventure reported that a Turkish officer, marching with his hands up, veered 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 Inter-Allied Commi
caption: Greek troops marching on Izmir's coastal street, May 1919
exif: {"Image ExifOffset": "26"}