The Formation of the National Forces in the Western Front Sector in the National Struggle

The Ottoman Empire, which was defeated in World War I, had to sign the Armistice of Mudros. Under the terms of the armistice, the Ottoman army was demobilized and thus its power of defense was taken away. Anatolia was immediately occupied in accordance with Article 7 of the Armistice. On May 15, 1919, in the face of the occupation of Izmir by the Greeks and the atrocities committed, the Kuvâ-yı Milliye, which gathered different elements of the region under one roof under the leadership of officers with national sensitivities, was formed. Four days after the occupation of Izmir, protests were organized against the occupation with the directives of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who landed in Samsun. The progress of the occupation from Izmir to other regions led to the emergence of regional armed resistance, that is, national forces. The Kuvâ-yı Milliye, which was formed to resist the occupations and was the first nucleus of the National Struggle, replaced the regular army, which was disbanded after the armistice, and fought against the enemy. The Kuvâ-yı Milliye, which were regional armed resistance groups whose administration was not dependent on a center, continued to fight against the enemy until the establishment of the regular army, despite all kinds of obstacles by both the Istanbul Government and the occupation forces. In this process, especially on the Western Front, soldiers, state officials, religious officials, former Committee of Union and Progress members, zeybeks, the efes and the notables of the region supported the Kuvâ-yı Milliye, thus strengthening the Kuvâ-yı Milliye and rapidly organizing it in the surrounding provinces. With Kuvâ-yı Milliye, the Turkish Nation began to fight for its very existence.

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