From the right: Turkish artillery units, the forward operation of a Turkish cavalry unit during the
Battle of Dumlupınar, the last Turkish soldiers to join the attack being sent off from Ulus Square with ceremonies and prayers, Turkish infantry units wait in the trenches for the attack, Greek soldiers on backward way.
The Great Offensive (
Turkish: Büyük Taarruz) was the largest and final military operation of the
Turkish War of Independence, fought between the
Turkish Armed Forces loyal to the
government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and the
Kingdom of Greece, ending the
Greco-Turkish War. The offensive began on 26 August 1922 with the
Battle of Dumlupınar. The Turks amassed around 98,000 men, the largest number since the beginning of the war, to begin the offensive against the
Greek army of approximately 130,000 men.[10][11] From 31 August to 9 September, the front moved a distance of 300 km (190 mi) as the Greek troops retreated.[12] The Turkish army lacked motorized vehicles; its forces consisted of infantry and cavalry units, and logistical support was provided by a supply system based on
ox carts.[13]
The Turkish troops reached the sea on 9 September with the
capture of İzmir. The operation ended on 18 September 1922 with the capture of
Erdek and
Biga. The staggering defeat caused great dissent within the Greek army and a general loss of morale, which led to unwillingness to continue fighting. On top of this, numerous Greek divisions had been encircled and destroyed as effective fighting units, which meant that the Greek army had lost its offensive capabilities and was unable to organize a controlled retreat, leading to numerous Greek POWs.
^
abAssertion of unitary, independent national states in central and southeast europe (1821–1923), Bibliotheca historica romaniae Edition 62, Edited by Viorica Moisuc and Ion Calafeteanu, Section des sciences historiques de l'Académie de la République Populaire Roumaine., 1980, page 340 (footnote 94)
^Ali Çimen, Göknur Göğebakan: Tarihi Değiştiren Savaşlar, 2. Edition,
ISBN9752634869, page 321. (in Turkish)
^Clodfelter, Micheal. Warfare and armed conflicts : a statistical encyclopedia of casualty and other figures, 1492/2015 (Fourth ed.). p. 346.
ISBN1476625859.
^Chronicling America – Historic American Newspapers,
Turk Cavalry Routs Greeks, The Ogden standard-examiner (Ogden, Utah), 7 September 1922, page 2.
^Bruce Clark: Twice a Stranger: The Mass Expulsions That Forged Modern Greece And Turkey, Harvard University Press, 2006,
ISBN0674023684,
page 22.
^International Committee of Historical Sciences, 1980,
page 227.
^International Committee of Historical Sciences. 1980,
page 227.
^International Committee of Historical Sciences, 1980,
page 227.
^International Committee of Historical Sciences. Commission of comparative military history, Revue internationale d'histoire militaire (Editions 46–48), University of Michigan, 1980,
page 227.
^"Trikupis" veya "Trikopis", Büyük Larousse Sözlük ve Ansiklopedisi, 22. Cilt, Milliyet Yay., İstanbul.
^Aggelomatis, Chr., "Chronicle of Great Tragedy" (The Epic of Asia Minor), Estia, 1963, pp. 194-5
Kemal Niş, Reşat Söker, Türk İstiklâl Harbi, Batı Cephesi, Büyük Taarruz’da Takip Harekâtı (31 Ağustos – 18 Eylül 1922), Cilt 2, Kısım. 6, 3. Kitap, Genkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1969. (in Turkish)
İsmet Görgülü, Büyük Taarruz: 70 nci Yıl Armağanı, Genelkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1992. (in Turkish)
Celal Erikan, Komutan Atatürk, Cilt I-II, Üçüncü Basım, Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul, 2001,
ISBN975-458-288-2. (in Turkish)