Armies of the Greek-Turkish War 1919-22

An Osprey on a Balkan subject is of course a must buy and this title in the Men-at-Arms series by Philip Jowett is no exception.

After World War I, the Greeks attempted to extend their territory in Anatolia around the City of Smyrna (Izmir). They launched an offensive in Anatolia against the nationalist Turks commanded by Kemal Ataturk, who had defied the Ottoman government’s treaty commitments. In April, the Greeks were repulsed, but renewed their attack in July and advanced toward Ankara. However, they were defeated at the Sakarya River (Aug. 24–Sept. 16, 1921). By September 1922, the Turks had captured Smyrna and driven the Greeks out of Anatolia. 

The Treaty of Lausanne (July 24, 1923) obliged Greece to return eastern Thrace and the islands of Imbros and Tenedos to Turkey, as well as to give up its claim to Smyrna. The two belligerents also agreed to exchange their Greek and Turkish minority populations in a massive ethnic cleansing.

This book follows the usual Osprey MAA format. A chronology of the campaign and a description of both armies, organisation and equipment. Plenty of photos and of course colour plates.

For the wargamer, Greek armies of WW1 will work fine, although they were a bit ragged by this conflict. Turkish forces were very varied and WW1 figures will look a bit too regular.

A less well known conflict with pretty tragic consequences for whole populations, but well covered in this publication.

Here are some 28mm Greeks from my collection.