Liberation of Smyrna: The Greek Army Liberates Smyrna, May 2, 1919

On May 15, 1919 (Old Style: May 2), one of the most emblematic events in modern Greek history took place: the landing of the Greek army in Smyrna, which marked the beginning of the Asia Minor Campaign. This action was not arbitrary; it was a decision made by the Supreme Allied Council of the victorious powers of World War I and occurred within the framework of implementing the terms of the Armistice of Mudros, signed with the Ottoman Empire in October 1918.

Greece was officially instructed by the Allies to take responsibility for maintaining order and protecting the population in the broader Smyrna region — in the Vilayet of Aydin, as the area was then administratively known — as there was a clear threat that the city might be occupied by Italian forces, who were preparing a unilateral descent into Ionia.

Acting on behalf of the Entente, the Greek army assumed both military and administrative control of the region. Its presence would last for more than three years during a turbulent period, until the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922 and its final withdrawal on September 6 of that year (Old Style: August 24), tragically sealing the end of the Greek presence in Asia Minor.

This event was not merely a military operation; it marked the beginning of one of the most dramatic and significant chapters in modern Greek history. Elias Venezis, a native of Ionia and an eyewitness to the unfolding tragedies, described this moment with the sensitivity of his prose as:

“One of the most moving chapters of our modern history began. It has the structure of an ancient drama, its relentless necessity, the climax of passion and brilliance, the density of action. And in the background, the lurking fate.”
(Asia Minor Farewell, Estia, 1956)

The path to this moment had begun on October 30, 1918, when the defeated Ottomans signed the armistice at the port of Mudros in Lemnos. With the end of the Great War, the old geopolitical order of the Ottoman Empire began to collapse, and in its place emerged a new constellation of states based on the principle of national self-determination. Specifically, the liberation of Christian populations from Islamic rule was now seen as an imperative of the international climate.

Greek Claims and the Mandate of the Entente

The idea of Greek claims over Ionia had already been proposed in 1915 through British offers of territorial compensation in exchange for Greece’s entry into the war on the side of the Entente. However, the dominance of pro-German royalists and the ensuing National Schism postponed the realization of this idea and gave room to Italian ambitions. Nevertheless, the goal of incorporating Ionia into Greek territory remained a core objective of the Liberal Party’s foreign policy.

Eleftherios Venizelos had already shaped a geopolitical vision that saw Greece as dominant in the Aegean — not only to protect against future threats but also as a means of safeguarding the cultural and national continuity of Hellenism. The eastern Aegean coast — with Smyrna as its crown jewel — was viewed as an essential complement to the national body, both strategically and historically. This vision aligned with the legitimate aspirations of the large and vibrant Greek community of the Ottoman Empire, which had suffered persecution and violence under the genocidal policies of the Young Turks in previous years.

The historian Konstantinos Svolopoulos, in his study The Decision to Expand Greek Sovereignty into Asia Minor, notes that the presence of substantial Greek populations outside the borders of the Greek state as defined in 1832 created unresolved problems in terms of national integration. As he characteristically wrote:

“Throughout the entire course of the 19th century and the early 20th century, public life in the free Greek kingdom was dominated, in all its expressions, by the impulse to liberate those of the same nation who, against their will, remained under Ottoman rule… Smyrna held the central position in a broader region where Hellenism had prevailed over time.”

Thus, the landing at Smyrna was not merely the military culmination of a successful diplomatic effort, but the theatrical beginning of a national drama, deeply rooted in the past and casting ominous shadows on the future. Behind the enthusiasm for the realization of the Great Idea, fate was lurking — as Venezis prophetically foresaw — preparing to manifest itself with full force.

The Greek Claim to Smyrna: From Historical Justification to Allied Action

On December 31, 1918, Greece submitted an official memorandum to the Paris Peace Conference, articulating its national claims. The Greek delegation’s arguments extended beyond mere geostrategic rationale or demographic data; they also invoked historical rights, which, as they argued, supported the case for Greek presence and sovereignty in the regions of Ionia. It was the voice of a nation seeking to reclaim its ancestral homelands, centuries after their loss.

The opportunity to realize this vision soon arose. In May 1919, amidst the fluid postwar landscape, the leaders of the victorious powers — British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Premier Georges Clemenceau, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson — proposed that Greece occupy Smyrna in order to prevent a surprise seizure by Italian forces, which had already begun preparations for unilateral military action. This proposal, stemming from growing Allied distrust of Italy’s expansionist ambitions, presented the Greek government with a unique opportunity.

Eleftherios Venizelos, a leader of geopolitical foresight and liberal audacity, immediately recognized the significance of the moment. He seized the opportunity, and the Greek army, acting under Allied mandate, landed in Smyrna. From that point forward, the issue ceased to be merely military and took on a political and national dimension: the integration of the region under full and recognized Greek sovereignty.

The first step toward this goal was institutionalized with the Treaty of Sèvres in August 1920. According to its provisions, the administration of the Smyrna zone was assigned to Greece, with a clear stipulation that full annexation would be subject to approval by its inhabitants through a plebiscite to be held after five years.

Within this historical framework, two fundamental needs appeared to be served: on the one hand, the strategic securing of the Aegean Sea through a Greek presence on its eastern coast; on the other hand, the protection of the Greek populations of Asia Minor, who since 1914 had suffered systematic persecution, deportations, and massacres as part of the genocidal policies of the Young Turks.

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, expressing the humanitarian principles of his Fourteen Points, recognized the justice of the Greek claim. A characteristic statement of his reads:

“I feel strong sympathy toward any just effort to alleviate the severe suffering of the Greeks of Asia Minor. No other people have suffered more or more unjustly than they have…”

He also affirmed the necessity of freeing these populations from the “brutality and oppression inflicted upon them by powerful and authoritarian governments.”

Was There Another Path?

Reflecting on the historical context, one may wonder whether there was an alternative course. At that time, Greece stood among the victorious powers of the Great War, having suffered relatively few military losses between 1916 and 1918. Meanwhile, the Hellenism of the Ottoman Empire — a population of at least two million souls — had endured the barbarity of a genocide that had been premeditated and methodically executed. Given this historical and moral weight, the claim to Smyrna was not merely an act of national ambition; it was primarily an attempt to restore justice and protect a people on the brink of annihilation.

The Geopolitical Opportunity and the Vision of National Fulfillment

The international climate in the late 1910s clearly favored Greek aspirations. The global upheaval caused by the Great War had created an unprecedented rupture in the balance of power that for centuries had sustained the Eastern Mediterranean under the crumbling shadow of the Ottoman Empire.

In this fluid geopolitical environment, Venizelos’ Greece sought to position itself as the power that would fill the vacuum left by the collapse of the old Ottoman order. As historian Konstantinos Svolopoulos aptly notes, the power that could facilitate the expansion of Greek borders was Great Britain. At that moment, Britain was at the peak of its naval and global dominance and, most importantly, had by then abandoned the long-standing policy of preserving Ottoman “integrity,” which for decades had hindered the national ambitions of the Empire’s subject peoples.

The Arrival of Kemal and the Rise of the Turkish Nationalist Movement

Just four days after the emblematic landing of the Greek army in Smyrna, on May 2, 1919, another dramatic event occurred across the Aegean — one that would prove decisive for the unfolding of the Asia Minor Catastrophe. With the approval of the Allies and by order of the Sultan, the Ottoman officer Mustafa Kemal Pasha was appointed to travel to Pontus, ostensibly to restore order and protect Christian populations. On May 19, Kemal landed in Samsun; however, his mission would soon become a cover for a radical transformation — the overthrow of the Ottoman regime and the launch of a new, harsh nationalist struggle.

From that point on, Mustafa Kemal distanced himself from the Sublime Porte and emerged as the leader of a movement whose central objective was not only the overthrow of the old Ottoman order but, more importantly, the establishment of a Turkish national state, purged of the “threats” posed by the ethnic groups that had long formed the fabric of the empire.

The ideological and organizational foundation of this new movement was a continuation of the earlier paramilitary and nationalist groups — those responsible for the bloodshed in the East between 1914 and 1918, during which mass killings and deportations of Armenians and Greeks were carried out. The Kemalist camp, in its early phase, did not resemble the characterization given by later apologists. It was not an “anti-imperialist” movement in the sense of resisting foreign rule, but rather a clearly anti-minority and ethnically cleansing project.

This is confirmed by progressive voices in contemporary Turkey, such as sociologist Attila Tuygan, who, in his essay "Genocide for the ‘Motherland’” (included in the collective volume Genocide in the East, E-Historical Editions, 2013), states clearly:

“The claim that the Turkish War of National Liberation was fought against imperialism is unfounded.”

This view is further supported by the distinguished historian and genocide scholar Taner Akçam, who demonstrates that:

“The war of liberation was not waged against the invaders but against the minorities.”

The Associations for Defense and Rights (Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyetleri), which constituted the operational arm of the Kemalist movement, were not born as a response to Western imperialism, but as a reaction to the presence and national aspirations of Greeks and Armenians. As highlighted in the relevant literature, among the first associations founded after the Armistice of Mudros (October 1918), three explicitly targeted Armenians and two targeted the Greeks of the Ottoman Empire.

Thus, already by 1919, while Greece — under international legitimacy — was striving to restore the rights of Asia Minor Hellenism, Turkish nationalism was being built upon the eradication of that very presence. The Kemalist movement was not merely a reaction to the Greek landing; it was the culmination of an ethnic homogenization project that had begun in 1914 and would be completed with the end of the Asia Minor Campaign — at an unspeakable cost for the Christian populations of the East.

The Chronicle of the Landing at Smyrna (May 1919)
The Greek landing at Smyrna, an event of great historical significance for the course of Modern Hellenism, was not the result of circumstantial politics but the fruit of long-standing national aspirations and mature diplomatic maneuvers in a favorable international environment.

The mandate of history
On May 8, 1919 (April 25, Old Style), the 1st Division of the Greek Army — also known as the "Iron Division" — under the command of Artillery Colonel Nikolaos Zafeiriou, received orders to prepare for embarkation. The division was then stationed in Eleftheroupoli, Kavala, and its mission, as described by Eleftherios Venizelos himself, was an honorable and unique episode in the long history of the national army.

The Prime Minister of Greece, in an enthusiastic and inspiring telegram to the troops, emphasized the symbolic importance of the mission:

"It has been decided by the Great Powers that the Greek army will occupy Smyrna and ensure order there... It is necessary that every man of the Division be inspired by the awareness that he represents Greece... The confidence you will inspire in all foreign elements, and especially in the numerically superior Turkish population, will largely determine the realization of our national aspirations..."

Departure toward historic destiny
On May 13 (April 30, Old Style), the 1st Division embarked on Greek and allied ships and departed from the port of Eleftheroupoli heading to Smyrna. The convoy was escorted by four Greek and three British destroyers, signifying the official and allied dimension of the mission.

The next day, May 14 (May 1, Old Style), the convoy stopped at the port of Gera in Lesbos. At that time, Smyrna was aflame with anticipation and national excitement. The Greek community of the city had already been informed of the imminent event, and crowds gathered around the perimeter of Saint Photini Church. The hall of the Metropolitan Palace was crowded with people awaiting the arrival of the Greek High Commissioner, Admiral Ilias Mavroudis.

Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Smyrna, a leading figure of the local Greek community, took the podium and with a majestic and nationally charged speech announced the thrilling news:

"Brothers, the fullness of time has come. The aspirations of centuries are fulfilled... Small and glorious Greece, thus enlarged, will march swiftly toward a most glorious future... The question was to set foot once and for all on Asia Minor and Thrace, and now that foot has been firmly placed."

He concluded with passion and emotion:

"Long live our Great Homeland Greece! Long live Greek Smyrna! Long live Venizelos! Long live our admiral Ilias Mavroudis! Long live our union with Mother Greece!"

The landing and occupation of the city
At noon on May 14, military units disembarked from the Greek battleships Averof, Lemnos, and Kilkis, capturing strategic points along the waterfront and reinforcing the guard of the Greek consulate. At the same time, the Turkish outer fortress of Smyrna was seized.

Simultaneously, allied troops (mainly French, Italian, and British) landed to protect their respective commissions, highlighting the multinational importance of the operation and the role of the Greeks as a stabilizing force for order.

May 15, 1919 (May 2 Old calendar) will be indelibly recorded in the collective memory of Hellenism as a day of vindication. The Greek presence in Ionia now acquires an official character and institutional status, bearing not only the hope of national completion but also the weight of a historic mission.

The Landing of the Greek Troops at Smyrna (May 15, 1919)
At dawn on May 15, 1919 (May 2 Old Style), the Greek convoy set sail from the bay of Gera in Lesbos bound for Smyrna. The historic mission was entering its final phase. A few hours later, the first signs of the impending occupation became visible in the city.

Early in the morning, a proclamation — printed in Greek and Turkish at the presses of the Amaltheia newspaper — was posted on the walls of Smyrna, through which the Commander of the Greek Occupation Army addressed the inhabitants:

"I hereby inform you that, by order of my government (acting in agreement with the Allies), I am proceeding with the military occupation of Smyrna and its surroundings. This occupation aims to ensure the security of the populations and the general protection of lawful order..."

This announcement aimed to calm anxieties, reassure the various ethnic groups of the city, and give an official character to the military presence.

At 7:30 a.m., the ocean liner Patris was the first to enter the port of Smyrna, triggering an outburst of enthusiasm among the Greek inhabitants who had flooded the waterfront. It was followed by the ships Atromitos, Themistoklis, Adriatikos, and Elda, carrying troops and equipment.

At 7:50, from the bridge of the battleship Averof, Major General Nikolaos Zafeiriou gave the signal for disembarkation. The bugler of the Patris sounded the call, and the first Evzones of the 1/38 Regiment stepped onto Ionian soil.

The Unexpected Clash
The operation proceeded smoothly until 10:30, when gunfire was heard from the customs area and nearby waterfront buildings. Initially, the shots were thought to be celebratory. However, it soon became clear that it was an organized attack by hidden Turkish soldiers and armed civilians. The 1/38 Regiment, then marching toward the Headquarters, came under fire.

The clash lasted about an hour. The Greek forces managed to prevail, but with losses. The first casualties of the Asia Minor Campaign were recorded: Evzones Vasileios Dalaris and Georgios Papakostas.

Greek casualties amounted to 2 dead soldiers and 42 wounded, including 9 civilians. On the Turkish side, there were 5 dead and 16 wounded, including civilians. There were also 47 dead of other ethnicities, a result of the confusion and crossfire in this multiethnic city.

The Consequences of the Clash
After suppressing the uprising, the Greek forces proceeded with mass arrests. Among those detained were the Turkish military commander of Smyrna, Nadir Pasha, two generals, 28 senior officers, 123 junior officers, 540 soldiers, and approximately 2,000 irregular armed men. Smyrna had now effectively and symbolically come under Greek control.

The Establishment of Greek Administration
On May 19, 1919 (May 8 Old Style), Aristeidis Stergiadis arrived in Smyrna, appointed by Eleftherios Venizelos as the High Commissioner of Greece in Asia Minor. His presence marked the transition from military to political administration and the effort to establish a governance that would guarantee order, justice, and coexistence in a multiethnic environment.

The Treaty of Sèvres and the Smyrna Zone
Greece’s military presence in Smyrna was also legally consolidated by the Treaty of Sèvres, signed on August 10, 1920 (July 28 Old Style). According to Articles 65 to 83 of the treaty, Greece was granted administration of the area known as the Smyrna Zone, with the provision that after five years and following a referendum by the local population, the territory could be permanently annexed to the Greek state.

A centuries-old dream had begun to take shape and substance. However, as history would show, the endeavor would prove fragile...