The Probert Encyclopaedia of Warfare

GRECO-TURKISH WARS

The first Greco-Turkish War was fought between April and May 1897 between Greece and Turkey over control of the island of Crete, then under Turkish rule. A rebellion on Crete in 1896 and a call for union with Greece led to Greek military intervention in 1897 on the island. Halted by a blockade established by the European powers, Greece then attacked Turkey in April 1897. After one month of war and several severe defeats, Greece accepted an armistice. The second Greco-Turkish War was fought between 1921 and 1922 between Greece and Nationalist Turks, led by Kemal Atatuerk, who refused to recognise terms of the Treaty of Sevres, signed in 1920, between Greece and the Ottoman Turkish government. Greece invaded Anatolia and, after initial Greek victories, the Turks under Atatuerk drove the Greeks out. The war was ended by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Greece gave up eastern Thrace, and the two countries exchanged minority populations.
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