Schlacht am Sakarya

Vorlage:Otheruses Vorlage:Infobox Military Conflict Vorlage:Campaignbox Greco-Turkish War Vorlage:Refimprove 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. Before them rose the Haymana plateau, Vorlage:Convert 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.

At Duatepe observation hill. Fevzi Çakmak, Kazım Özalp, Mustafa Kemal, Ismet Inönü and Hayrullah Fişek

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 on September 4, after receiving permission from 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 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: "We will not defend a line, but we will defend an area. That area is the whole nation". The prevalent doctrine at that time indicated that when a defensive line was breached, the defending army retreated to a defensible position behind their lines en masse. In Battle of Sakarya, the reaction of the Turkish army to a breach was to retreat a few kilometers back and form a new line without regard of defensibility. This tactic forced the Greek army to repeatedly assault a defensive line and limited the ground gains by the Greek Army at a cost of heavy casualties for both sides.

This battle is also known as the "officers battle" by the Turks since such a large percentage of the casualties were young officers. It is also one of the longest battles in history, where the general slaughter went on for 21 days nonstop.

Results

After a string of defeats of Greeks by the Turkish nationalists, in March 1922 the Allies had proposed a ceasefire, but Mustafa Kemal Pasha refused stating there could be no settlement while the Greek army remained in Anatolia.

Continuous Greek advances in Asia Minor were first checked at Inonu where Battles of Inonu took place in 1921. With Battle of Sakarya Turks took the initiative and Greek fortunes never recovered after that. This was the last defensive battle of the Turks in their War of Independence. In August 1922, 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 Izmir.

Right after Battle of Sakarya, Ankara Government signed Treaty of Kars with Russians, and Treaty of Ankara with the French.

It was after this battle that Turkish Parliament gave the title of Ghazi to Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

Bibliography

"Büyük Dönemeç Sakarya Meydan Muharebesi", İbrahim Artuç, Kastaş Yayınları, İstanbul, 1985, 10.5 x 19 cm, 349 sayfa, Türkçe, Karton Kapak., ISBN No: 978975763997X