Graeco-Turkish wars (1897, 1921-2), two wars between the Greeks and the Ottoman Turks, both of which resulted in Greek defeat. The first, also known as the Thirty Days War, was a result of a rebellion by local Greeks against Turkish rule in February 1896 on Crete. The Greeks sent arms and supplies to the insurgents. The Greek government then decided upon direct intervention and on 21 January 1897 mobilized the Greek fleet. The following month, Greek troops were landed on the island and a union with Greece proclaimed. However, the European great powers, fearing serious disturbances in the Balkans, blockaded the Greeks and prevented support being sent from the mainland. Thwarted by this, the Greeks sent an army led by Crown Prince Constantine against the Turks in Thessaly and Epirus. The Greek high command proved remarkably inept and were consistently beaten by the German-trained Turkish army. Yielding to international pressure, the Greeks withdrew from Crete and accepted an armistice on the mainland on 20 May 1897.
The second Graeco-Turkish war occurred in the aftermath of WW I. Under the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920, the Greeks had been assigned the right to administer Izmir. In the face of growing Turkish nationalism, the Greek government decided to send 100, 000 troops into Anatolia ostensibly to protect the Greeks in the area in January 1921. The Turks under Kemal Atatürk withdrew after some Greek successes. The Greeks, despite poor logistics, advanced on Ankara. They were checked by Atatürk at Sakkaria and fell back in the wake of a Turkish counter-offensive. Smyrna was captured by the Turks in November and the Greeks were finally driven out of Anatolia in the following year. Under the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, the Greeks lost the major gains they had made after WW I and some 1.3 million Greeks were forced to leave Anatolia.
— Chris Mann
