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The Turkish War of Independence: A Military History, 1919-1923
The dramatic story of the turbulent birth of modern Turkey, which rose out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire to fight off Allied occupiers, Greek invaders, and internal ethnic groups to proclaim a new republic under Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk).
It's exceedingly rare to run across a major historical event that has no comprehensive English-language history, but such was the case until The Turkish War of Independence brought together all the main strands of the story, including the chaotic ending of World War I in Asia Minor and the numerous military fronts on which the Turks defied odds to fight off several armies to create their own state from the defeated ashes of the Ottoman Empire.
This important book culminates Erickson's three-part series on the early 20th-century military history of the Ottomans and Turkey. Making wide use of specialized, hard-to-find Western and Turkish memoirs and military sources, it presents a narrative of the fighting, which eventually brought the Turkish Nationalist armies to victory. Often termed the "Greco-Turkish War," an incomplete description that misses its geographic and multinational scope, this war pitted Greek, Armenian, French, British, Italian, and insurgent forces against the Nationalists; the narrative shows these conflicts to have been distinct and separate to Turkey's opponents, while the Turkish side saw them as an interconnected whole.
• Completes a trilogy of books by Edward J. Erickson on the conventional wars of the Ottoman and Turkish armies in the early 20th century, the first two of which are Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912–1913 (2003) and Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War (2001).
• With no comprehensive English-language military history available, fills a massive gap in our understanding of this important war and Turkey's founding on the centenary of Turkey's birth
• Contains the first reconciliation of combatant estimates of military and civilian casualties in the Turkish War of Independence
• Analyzes the Turkish War of Independence as an early example of modern "hybrid-war" (combination of differing types of wars―in this case, simultaneously conventional, unconventional, counterinsurgency, and political-economic-information warfare)
It's exceedingly rare to run across a major historical event that has no comprehensive English-language history, but such was the case until The Turkish War of Independence brought together all the main strands of the story, including the chaotic ending of World War I in Asia Minor and the numerous military fronts on which the Turks defied odds to fight off several armies to create their own state from the defeated ashes of the Ottoman Empire.
This important book culminates Erickson's three-part series on the early 20th-century military history of the Ottomans and Turkey. Making wide use of specialized, hard-to-find Western and Turkish memoirs and military sources, it presents a narrative of the fighting, which eventually brought the Turkish Nationalist armies to victory. Often termed the "Greco-Turkish War," an incomplete description that misses its geographic and multinational scope, this war pitted Greek, Armenian, French, British, Italian, and insurgent forces against the Nationalists; the narrative shows these conflicts to have been distinct and separate to Turkey's opponents, while the Turkish side saw them as an interconnected whole.
• Completes a trilogy of books by Edward J. Erickson on the conventional wars of the Ottoman and Turkish armies in the early 20th century, the first two of which are Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912–1913 (2003) and Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War (2001).
• With no comprehensive English-language military history available, fills a massive gap in our understanding of this important war and Turkey's founding on the centenary of Turkey's birth
• Contains the first reconciliation of combatant estimates of military and civilian casualties in the Turkish War of Independence
• Analyzes the Turkish War of Independence as an early example of modern "hybrid-war" (combination of differing types of wars―in this case, simultaneously conventional, unconventional, counterinsurgency, and political-economic-information warfare)
- GenresHistory
364 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2021
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61 people want to read
About the author
Edward J. Erickson
30 books11 followersEdward J. Erickson is a retired regular U.S. Army officer at the Marine Corps University and is an authority on the Ottoman Army during World War I, a subject on which he has written widely. Erickson is also an associate of International Research Associates, Seattle, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 17, 2023
I have been waiting for an English language treatment of this war in a comprehensive volume which is separated from biography. This delivers in every conceivable way. We get a narrative account of each front as well as the diplomatic back and forth which was continuous during the unfolding of the combat. There is a primary focus on the evolution of the Turkish nationalist army but still quite a bit of detail on the Greeks as well.
My only complaint, which is not the fault of the author, is that this important work is so damn expensive. I get that a small amount of printed copies could do this to physical copies when it comes to niche works, but for e-books? Come on.
My only complaint, which is not the fault of the author, is that this important work is so damn expensive. I get that a small amount of printed copies could do this to physical copies when it comes to niche works, but for e-books? Come on.
March 25, 2024
Impressive. Not without fault for sure, but Erickson's work is comprehensive, level-headed, serious and has the potential to be a cornerstone in the literature in the coming years. Not to be missed.
November 2, 2021
Blow-by-blow account of the war. Could have used some more political and biographical background for context but it certainly delivers on what the title promises.
June 29, 2025
Edward Erickson's previous monographs (at least the ones that I've read), have left me with the impression that he is probably the best English-language historian of the Turkish military today. This work did nothing to dent that impression, as he works through the diktats that were handed down to the post-1918 Ottoman state in defeat, how surrounding states tried to help themselves to a chunk of said polity, and how Mustafa Kemal (later Ataturk) literally rallied the troops and led the new Turkish Republic to victory.
In the aggregate this is not news, but what Erickson does very well is to turn the "War of Turkish Liberation" into a process, as Kemal and the "Nationalists" reconstructed a battle-worthy army, bought themselves time, and handed a crushing defeat to the Greek "Field Army of Asia Minor" in 1922, and daring the Great Powers to do something about it.
What lifts this book above being a nuts-and-bolts staff study (heavy use is made of Greek and Turkish official history) is that Erickson never loses sight of the diplomatic and political developments that had an impact on military operations (the Greeks were often their own worst enemies). Erickson also never loses track of the humanitarian disaster of it all.
Certainly not the first book you should read on the subject, but if you've read a good biography of Ataturk, or one of the general studies of the Great War in the Middle East, you should get a lot out of this work.
In the aggregate this is not news, but what Erickson does very well is to turn the "War of Turkish Liberation" into a process, as Kemal and the "Nationalists" reconstructed a battle-worthy army, bought themselves time, and handed a crushing defeat to the Greek "Field Army of Asia Minor" in 1922, and daring the Great Powers to do something about it.
What lifts this book above being a nuts-and-bolts staff study (heavy use is made of Greek and Turkish official history) is that Erickson never loses sight of the diplomatic and political developments that had an impact on military operations (the Greeks were often their own worst enemies). Erickson also never loses track of the humanitarian disaster of it all.
Certainly not the first book you should read on the subject, but if you've read a good biography of Ataturk, or one of the general studies of the Great War in the Middle East, you should get a lot out of this work.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews