Battle of Gediz | |||||||
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Part of Greco-Turkish War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Greece | Kuva-yi Milliye | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Leonidas Paraskevopoulos |
Ali Fuat Cebesoy Çerkes Ethem | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
13th Division[2] |
61st Division 11th Division Kuva-yi Seyyare[2] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Initially 1 Division[3] (12,000-15,000 men) | 8,000 men | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
42 killed 123 wounded |
181 killed 135 wounded[4] |
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The Battle of the Gediz was fought between pro-Turkish Kuva-yi Milliye forces and the Greek forces near the Gediz River in the city of Gediz. The Turkish forces attacked Gediz in order to find out if a force composed mainly of irregular forces could compete with the Greek army in a larger battle. Although the battle temporarily stopped the Greek advance towards Ankara, it also showed that the irregular forces lacked discipline and experience; they had no chance in open field battles against the Greeks. The experiences gained in this battle, lead the GNA to the conclusion that it would be necessary from now on to establish and fight with a regular army against the Greek army instead of irregular forces.
References[]
- ↑ Talat Yalazan: Türkiye'de vahşet ve soy kırımı girişimi: (15 Mayıs 1919 - 9 Eylül 1922). 15 Mayıs 1919 - 13 Eylül 1921, Gnkur. Askeri Tarih ve Stratejik Etüt Başkanlığı yayınları, Genelkurmay Basımevi, 1994, page 139. (Turkish)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ayfer Özçelik :Gediz Taarruzu, Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi (Number 21, Volume: VII, July 1991) (Turkish)
- ↑ Uluğ İğdemir: Atatürk, Turkish National Commission for Unesco, 1963, page 79.
- ↑ Sabahattin Selek: Anadolu ihtilâli (Volume 1), Kastaş 1912-1922 Türk savaşları belgeseli , Kastaş A.Ş. Yayınları, 1987, page 114. (Turkish)
The original article can be found at Battle of the Gediz and the edit history here.