A Report on the Operation of the Greek Army in Thrace (1920)

The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire from the 19th century onwards was accompanied by territorial losses. In the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1878, which is known as the 93 War in history, a large geography in the Balkan geography was lost. With the defeat in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the Ottoman Empire was left with only Eastern Thrace. Starting in 1914, World War I was supposed to stop the downward trend and take back the lost territories, but the opposite happened and Eastern Thrace, the last remaining territory in the Balkan geography, was also occupied. After the October 30, 1918 Armistice of Mudros, the French, who stepped into Eastern Thrace, evacuated the region after January 1919 and turned their attention to Istanbul, the Straits, Cilicia and Syria. After the French, Greece began to settle in the region on January 18, 1919. However, the actual occupation operation of Greece started on July 20, 1920 and soon the territory of Eastern Thrace up to Istanbul came under the sovereignty of Greece. In this study, the joint report prepared by the British Military Delegation and the Greek General Staff on the Greek army's occupation of Thrace in June and July 1920 will be discussed. Within the framework of the report, headquarters operations, supply, transportation, infantry, artillery and cavalry units, health, administration and management will be covered. In the preparation of the study, the British National Archive (TNA) was mainly utilized and the British newspaper The Times was also used. When necessary, the study has also been supplemented with local sources to ensure the integrity of the subject.

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