Turkish War of Independence Research

Historical Context

World War I's aftermath weakened and left the Ottoman Empire vulnerable. The Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918 enabled the Allies to seize strategic Ottoman territories. Large cities such as İstanbul and İzmir were occupied by foreigners in 1919 and 1920. The Treaty of Sèvres, which had been signed in 1920 by the Ottoman regime under strong pressure from the Allies, plotted the division of Anatolia between Greece, Italy, France, and Armenia. The Turkish nationalists vehemently rejected this treaty as a death sentence to the Turkish fatherland.

During this period of upheaval, local resistance movements cropped up in many areas of Anatolia but were largely uncoordinated, lacking a centralized command or unified leadership. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who was a retired Ottoman military officer, recognized the need for coordinating these fragmented groups and taking the field against the invaders as a coordinated national force.

Having come to Samsun on 19 May 1919, he began to coordinate the resistance movement into an organized force for safeguarding Turkish independence. His eulogized Amasya Circular stated that the country's independence was in jeopardy and called for national unity. This was the beginning of the Ankara Movement, which was a fierce opposition to foreign control and the Ottoman Sultan government, which had become illegitimate to nationalists.