Battle of Sakarya

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict = Battle of Sakarya


caption = Panorama of Sakarya, by Sergey Prisekin.
partof = the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
date = August 23 - September 13, 1921
place = Sakarya
result = Turkish victory
combatant1 = Turkish Revolutionaries
combatant2 = Greece
commander1 = Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
commander2 = nowrap|Constantine I of Greece (nominal) Anastasios Papoulas (actual)
strength1 = between 95,000 and 105,000 (75,000 combatants) Fact|date=February 2007
strength2 = 120,000 (77,000 combatants) Fact|date=February 2007
casualties1 = 3,250 dead 13,800 wounded 5,070 missingFact|date=February 2007
casualties2 = 3,677 dead, 18,869 wounded, 354 missingFact|date=February 2007

The Battle of Sakarya, also known as the Battle of Sangarios, was an important engagement in the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) and Turkish War of Independence . The battle was fought from August 23 to September 13, 1921, close to the banks of Sakarya River in the immediate vicinity of Polatlı, which is today a district of the Turkish capital Ankara.

Active stage

In June 1921, the Greek army advanced to the Sakarya River, less than 100 km west of Ankara. On July 28, the decision to seek out and destroy the Turkish Army was taken. Papoulas planned convergent thrusts, eastwards across the Sakarya River and northwards against the Turkish lines on the Ilica, a shallow tributary of the Sakarya. On August 23, 1921, the Greeks attacked and broke through the Ilica line. Before them rose the Haymana plateau, convert|3000|ft|m high, dotted with higher hills, the chief of which were Mangal Dagi in the South and Chal Dagi in the centre. The Greeks took Mangal Dagi after the Turkish commander evacuated it without permission from the Turkish command, much to Mustafa Kemal Pasha's fury. In the face of Greek progress, Kemal ordered that no unit was to fall back even if neighbouring units did. Fevzi Pasha, the Turkish Chief General Staff, decided to hold on around Chal Dagi and brought in reinforcements. The shortening of the Turkish defensive line also helped.

The Greeks took Mount Çal ("Dağı") after fierce fighting on September 2, 1921. Unknown to him, Papoulas was also considering retreat, disheartened by the heavy losses despite the important successes. He ordered retreat from September 4, after taking permission by the Greek government to act as he considered best. The Turks counter-attacked and took Mount Çal ("Dağı") on September 8, but were unable to pursue the enemy as their violent counter-attack was stopped by the Greek 7th division. The twenty-one day battle of attrition officially ended on September 13, 1921. The Greeks retreated in good order and still hoped to defend their base at Smyrna (İzmir). They appealed to the Allies for help, but early in 1922, Britain, France and Italy decided that the Treaty of Sèvres could not be enforced and should be revised.

It was this battle when Mustafa Kemal Pasha said when the Greek Army breached Turkish lines: "There is no defence-line there is defence-surface, and that surface is the whole country". In fact it was a remake of an ancient cavalry tactic of Turkish armies, Kemal modernized and generalised it to modern armies, later in World War II, USSR also won the war against Germans by the help of this tactic.

Results

In March 1922, the Allies proposed a ceasefire, but Mustafa Kemal Pasha refused stating there could be no settlement while the Greek army remained in Anatolia. In August, the Turks launched a new offensive, defeating the Greeks at the Battle of Dumlupinar near Afyon on August 30, 1922. Shortly after on September 9, 1922, the Turkish army recaptured Smyrna. The Great Fire of Smyrna followed a few days after the capture.

References