Salvation and Catastrophe: The Greek-Turkish War, 1919–1922

The Greek-Turkish War of 1919–1923—also known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Liberation and the Asia Minor Campaign—was one of the key aftershocks of the First World War. Internationally better known for its aftermath, the Compulsory Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Catastrophe of Ottoman Greeks, and the foundation of the Republic of Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the war has never been given a holistic treatment in English, despite its long shadow over the Greek-Turkish relationship. The contributors in this volume address this gap by brining to the fore, on its centenary, aspects of the onset, conduct, and aftermath of this war. Combining insights from the study of international relations, political science, strategic studies, military history, migration studies, and social history the contributions tell the story of leaders and decisions, battles and campaigns, voluntary and involuntary migration, and the human stories of suffering and resilience. It is aspects of the story of the last gasp of the Great War in Europe, brought to its final end with Treaty of Lausanne of 1923.

Table of Contents:
Part I: Onset Chapter 2: Profiling the Political and Military Leaders of the War Chapter 3: The Correlates of Obsession: Selectorate Dynamics and the decision of Venizelos for military intervention in Asia Minor Part II: Conduct Chapter 4: The Asia Minor Catastrophe: The causes of the Greek defeat. Chapter 5: The Greek Military Strategy in the Asia Minor Campaign, 1919-1922: An Application of Clausewitz’s Theory on Culmination Chapter 6: Decisive Battles of the Asia Minor Campaign 1921-1922 Chapter 7: Legacy of the Stormtroop: The Influence of German Assault Troop Doctrines in the Great Offensive Chapter 8: Life in the Rear: The Muslims of Greece during the Anatolian War (1919–1922) Part III: Aftermath Chapter 9: Kemalism on the march: Greece’s military campaign in Asia Minor as Turkey’s birth act Chapter 10: The Greek-Turkish War and the Waves of Migration: Redemption or Devastation? Chapter 11: The Tale of Karamanlis: Inbetween the Two Worlds Chapter 12: Between Memories of Persecution and Refugee Experience: The Armenians in Greece in the Aftermath of the Greek-Turkish War

About the Author :
Konstantinos Travlos is assistant professor of international relations at Özyegin University.

Review :
This multi-disciplinary collective volume is a major contribution to the scholarship on the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. It will be of lasting value in understanding that momentous conflict, the long shadow of which still affects relations between Greece and Turkey. Salvation and Catastrophe: The Greek-Turkish War, 1919 is a really welcome contribution to a field in need of greater attention and understanding. As a genuinely interdisciplinary piece of work, this book offers deep insights into the military struggle that defined the makings of modern Greece and Turkey. Students of history and strategic studies will gain much from the quality of the research present in each of the chapters, much of which is drawn from largely under-utilized archival sources. It is a book that certainly sets a high standard for aspiring scholars of the Greco-Turkish conflict. Published at its centenary, this timely volume presents a balanced and highly-systematic analysis of the 1920–1922 Greco-Turkish war, which, to this day, continues to fuel the competing Greek and Turkish nationalisms. The volume will be a necessary starting point for those wanting to promote a critical engagement with the past in the two countries. On the centenary of the War of Turkish Independence we are rewarded with the publication of Salvation and Catastrophe: The Greek-Turkish War, 1919–1922. This book is a great introduction to the rarely remembered story of a major and last regional war between Turkey and Greece. Even in these countries the war remembered for its consequences not itself. Salvation and Catastrophe is a well-researched and effectively presented work which successfully illustrates contested character and legacy of the war. It is always difficult to establish consistency and integrity in an edited work. However, editor Konstantinos Travlos does his best in bringing diverse perspectives and disparate chapters together by providing a good introduction and a postscript. The most important contribution of the book is to band Turkish and Greek scholars together to discuss a pivotal but controversial event in harmony. It also does a great service in making a wide range of Turkish and Greek perspectives and sources in English. Salvation and Catastrophe is a very important book for serious readers of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Greece and the interwar period.