ELEFTHERIOS VENIZELOS

Greece had always coveted Anatolia which was a part of the Ottoman Empire but had been in antiquity a Greek dominated area. Further, people of Greek ethnicity and culture, who hundreds of years ago use to be the vast majority were after the hundreds of years of Ottoman rule and migration were then the largest minority in Anatolia. After the Turks lost the First World War as a consequence of their allying with Germany, and had been stripped of its Arab territories. Also, Turkey had just undergone a revolution and the old order was displaced. Venizelos saw this as an opportunity to get back Anatolia and sent a military invasion force to land at Smyrna (Ismir to the Turks), the largest city of Anatolia where despite the Greek minority in all of Anatolia, Greeks were a small majority in Smyrna. Greece was accused of making war on the Muslim Ottoman Turks. This was his answer to the British press. The invasion was initially successful but was then repulsed by the Turk revolutionists lead by their great patriot Ataturk who defeated the Greek forces handily despite the fact that they were hastily organized, untrained together, and much more poorly equipped than the Greeks. Turkey was very corrupt until the Ataturk reforms, but Greece was arguably even moreso.

In the aftermath of World War I the Greeks invaded Turkish held Smyrna to "protect" the ethnic Greek population there. It was a great military blunder and exposed the Greek military to the Turks. This isI a candid private statement of the fact that admission of a military blunder would cause the government to fall that never was made public,

In the aftermath of World War I the Greeks invaded Turkish held Smyrna to "protect" the ethnic Greek population there. It was a great military blunder and exposed the Greek military to the Turks. This isI a candid private statement of the fact that admission of a military blunder would cause the government to fall that never was made public,

Greece had always coveted Anatolia which was a part of the Ottoman Empire but had been in antiquity a Greek dominated area. Further, people of Greek ethnicity and culture, who hundreds of years ago use to be the vast majority were after the hundreds of years of Ottoman rule and migration were then the largest minority in Anatolia. After the Turks lost the First World War as a consequence of their allying with Germany, and had been stripped of its Arab territories. Also, Turkey had just undergone a revolution and the old order was displaced. Venizelos saw this as an opportunity to get back Anatolia and sent a military invasion force to land at Smyrna (Ismir to the Turks), the largest city of Anatolia where despite the Greek minority in all of Anatolia, Greeks were a small majority in Smyrna. Greece was accused of making war on the Muslim Ottoman Turks. This was his answer to the British press. The invasion was initially successful but was then repulsed by the Turk revolutionists lead by their great patriot Ataturk who defeated the Greek forces handily despite the fact that they were hastily organized, untrained together, and much more poorly equipped than the Greeks. Turkey was very corrupt until the Ataturk reforms, but Greece was arguably even moreso.