Turkish-Greek War
Ottoman victory at Domokos. (Artist's impression of the Ottoman court painter Fausto Zonaro from the 20th century)
| date | February 3 to December 4, 1897 |
|---|---|
| place | Greece , Crete , Epirus and Thessaloniki |
| output | Victory of the Ottoman Empire |
| consequences | Formation of the Cretan State in 1898 |
| Peace treaty | Treaty of Constantinople (1897) |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 120,000 men | 75,000 men |
| losses | |
|
approx. 1,400–1,500 men |
approx. 500–600 men |
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The Turkish-Greek War for Crete , also known as the "Thirty Days War ", Blacks '97 ( Greek Μαύρο '97 Mauro '97 ) and Unfortunate War ( Ατυχής πόλεμος Atychis polemos ), took place in 1897 between the Kingdom of Greece and the Ottoman Empire . The intervention of the great powers ( Russian Empire , France , United Kingdom and Kingdom of Italy ) led to an almost complete autonomy of Crete .
In May 1896 an uprising of the Greek Orthodox majority against the Turkish rule broke out on the island of Crete . On February 15, 1897, Greek troops landed on Crete to support the rebels. An ultimatum of the Ottoman Empire to call back the armed forces was not followed. As a result, the fighting began on April 7th.
The war ended with a victory for the Ottomans. The Greek troops under Crown Prince Constantine were decisively defeated in both Crete and Thessaly . The Ottoman troops had recently been restructured by German military advisors. Under pressure from the great European powers, Crete was given extensive autonomy in the peace treaty of December 4, 1897 . The island was declared an international protectorate under the government of Prince George of Greece . In fact, however, the protectorate was only multinational (Russian-British-French-Italian).
The war cost about 2,000 lives, of which 1,400 to 1,500 were on the part of the Ottoman Empire and 500 to 600 on the part of Greece.
In addition, Greece suffered a significant loss of state sovereignty. With the national bankruptcy of 1893 , it had lost its creditworthiness . Without new foreign loans, however, it was unable to pay the reparations demanded by the Ottoman Empire . Greece was therefore forced to resume debt service and the repayment of old loans from before 1893 and had to agree to the demand of the credit powers for the establishment of an international (multinational) financial control . The Ottoman Empire, which had also been under international (multinational) financial control since 1881, was of little use from the Greek payments. The credit powers almost completely offset them against the debts of the empire.
literature
- Mehmet Uğur Ekinci: The Origins of the 1897 Ottoman-Greek War. A Diplomatic History. (PDF; 7.9 MB) University Bilkent, Ankara 2006.
- Mehmet Uğur Ekinci: The Unwanted War. The Diplomatic Background of the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897. VDM, Saarbrücken 2009, ISBN 978-3-639-15456-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Mehmet Uğur Ekinci: The Origins of the 1897 Ottoman-Greek War. A Diplomatic History. (PDF; 7.9 MB) Bilkent University, Ankara 2006, page 80 (English)
- ^ Foundation House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany: 1897 Chronicle