In the USA, there seems to be the wide spread assumption that since the Greeks hated the Turks so much, it was a foregone conclusion that Greece would enter World War One on the side of the Allies. This is a misconception. Greece was seriously divided in public opinion as to whether to aid the Allies or Central Powers. The current ruler of Greece had strong ties to Germany and a lot of economic influence existed in Greece. The pro-Allied factions were rallied around the Prime Minister Venizelos. Diplomatic efforts and promises of territorial expansion were given by both sides. In April 1915 the Allies gave control of Eprios region of southern Albania to Greece. Prime Minister Venizelos was still forced to resign in October 1915.

However the Balkan situation became grave for the Allies in 1915 In part because the pro-Allies faction in Greece had weakened, the Allies felt it necessary to invade NEUTRAL GREECE in order to provide supplies to the hard pressed Serbian Army. The aid did not help. The Austro-Bulgarian Offensive had essentially conquered Serbia with Serb exiles fleeing to Italian and Greek territory. Bulgarian and Turkish troops advanced into Greek territory to halt the Allied advance. The Allies had to occupy much of Thessely to establish a defensive line. The Allied effort in Greece was assisted by a faction of supporters for Venizelos.

The bad news for the Allies continued as a Anglo-French Landing party tried to gain control of government facilities in Athens but were repulsed. Also, the 1916 Bulgarian Campaign against Roumania achieved unimagined success. The Allies also declared de facto control over the Greek railroads and telegraph lines in 1916.

With such aggressive Allied actions against a neutral Greece, it is surprising that in 1917, the Greek government with the pro-German King Constantine now in exile, declared war on the Central Powers. The Allies had promised to give the Greeks in addition to Albanian Eprios, a large portion of Bulgarian held Thrace and the Turkish Smyrna area in Asia Minor.

When the Greeks entered in the War, they did so with enthusiasm and contributed to the Allied war effort in the Balkans. In addition, they provided troops for an Allied expedition to Southern Russia to assist the “White ‘ democratic faction of the Russian army. Many authors had speculated that this action was conducted in part to ensure Allied support for Greek actions in Asia Minor.

The Allies had planned to force Turkey to cede their claim to land in territory in Palestine, Arabia and Mesopotamia. In addition they had plans to (carve up) partition the Ottoman Empire among Britain, Italy, France, Russia, and Greece. In addition a number of ethnic regions would be able to declare self-determination and form there own countries. Such plans when made public caused a violent reaction among the Turks who exterminated or exiled a large number of Armenians and Kurds during the war.

One such self-determined country was the Republic of Pontus located in northeastern Turkey along the Black Sea coast. It was to be an Hellenic-Armenian state. Independence was declared in 1917 during the war and an irregular army was raised. (The flag was a Greek flag with a black eagle over the St George’s Cross in the canton.), The Ottomans viewed these actions as traitorous and conducted violent campaigns against them. The government collapsed in 1919.

Once the war was over, the Allies began the partitioning. Italy which held the Dodeecanese islands off the coast of Asia Minor gained the Albanian territory.

The Greeks send troops to Southern Russia to assist the Allied (mainly French and Roumanians) Interventionist efforts to support the White Army. The Greek troops are involved in serious fighting in coastal Crimea and near Odessa. After a year the Greeks are withdrawn and replaced by additional Roumanian troops.

The Greeks spend 1919-1922 in the Asia Minor campaign to not only secure the territory ceded by the Ottomans but to expand their sphere of influence. The Ottoman Empire Army had splintered in the support of the Sultan. Many units supported individual commander rather than the Sultan. These Turkish units were often referred to by the name of the commander to which they were loyal. For example the Kermalist were loyal to General Kermal. The Greeks had not expected the stiff resistance put up by the Turks, especially the nationalists under Kermal. The Greeks had not planned for the return of vast number of Turks from the far reaches of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, instead of a demoralized and Fragmented Ottoman force, the Greeks fought a determined Turkish foe. The Turks were now fighting in their homeland with short supply lines and a united nationalist vigor.

As a result the Turks gained an upper hand over the overextended Greek positions. The Turks drove the Greeks not only from their captured territory but also drove them from the mainland of Asia Minor.

Greece During the Era of the Great War

Introduction
Political Background
Chronology of Key Events 1913-1922
Key Battles