Looking for a history of events for the Greco Turkish War of 1897? Want to know about the military operations and how the Greco Turkish war ended? Our guide gives you the facts & information you want to know.
The Greco Turkish war is also known as the Thirty Days’ War due to the victory that the Turks gained over the Greeks in a matter of weeks in the year 1897. The Muslims had long been ruling over Turkey but towards the end of the 18th century they were facing severe stagnation and decline. It was during these times that they had lost much of their territory which once spread over three continents. None the less the main cause of the Greco Turkish war was the fact that there was the agitation of the Greeks over the Ottoman Empire’s control over Crete. This is because the majority of the population in Crete was Greeks because of which the Greeks were triggered to take action against the weakening Empire.
Greco Turkish War 1897
Sultan Abdul Hamid was the leader of the Ottoman Empire during that time. The island of Crete saw a rebellion break out in the year 1896. In an attempt to capitalize on the situation the Greek’s dispatched their army to Crete in order to win back the island. The military action was intervened by the European powers and Greece was restricted from pursuing its plans. On returning back to the homeland the Greeks now planned an alternative strategy in which they decided to move up Northwards through Thessaly and Epirus. Much to the Greeks contempt they were largely outnumbered by the six divisions under Ethen Pasha that numbered around 60,000 men with the seventh division on its way. The Greeks on the other hand led by their crown prince Constantine were 46,000 in number. The naval forces of Greece were however heavy upon the Turks who were out gunned and outnumbered on the waters.
Military Operations Greco Turkish War
Furthermore the Greeks attempted to instigate a rebellion in Macedonia resulting in a confrontation with the Turkish army in Mati. The overwhelming Turkish army forced them to retreat from the battle ground. The Greek leadership tried to reestablish themselves again near Pharsala in an attempt to plan a counter attack on the Turks. The Greek soldiers however had had enough and the only reason why they managed to stay alive was because the Sultan ordered a cease fire and escorted them to safety on May 20th.
On the battle field of Epirus the Turkish army under the command of Ahmet Hifzi Pasha was twice the size of the Greek and easily managed to simmer them down. The city of Arta was bombarded on the 18th of April in an attempt to finish things off by the Turks but they failed to take the city under their control. Forced to retreat the Turkish army reached Philippiada where they lay in wait for the advancing Greek forces. Their counter attack was foiled by the Turks as Greek reinforcements failed to arrive on time. On the 15th of May the Greek army retreated but not without enduring major losses.
The Greco Turkish war was over within weeks. Greek ended up paying a huge amount of indemnity and was warned of lending any support to a rebellion. Both the parties signed a peace deal with the Ottomans gaining but a small amount of land on the 20th of September with the consent of the European powers.
