Today in History – 9 November

The commander of the Western Front

The Western Front was divided in two as the North and South sections on November 9, 1920; Colonel İsmet Bey and Refet Bey (Bele) were appointed as the commanders of the North and South sections, respectively.

The war with the Greeks had actually begun on May 15, 1919 following the occupation of İzmir. After invading the area designated by the Allied States, the Greek army had proceeded towards inner Anatolia. KuvayıMilliye (National Forces) was unable to resist the powerful Greek army and the situation took a turn for the worst.

The Grand National Assembly Government created the Western Front on June 25, 1920 to remedy the situation and assigned Ali Fuat Pasha as its commander. However, faced with the challenge of regrouping the scattered forces, the government decided to divide the Western Front in two on November 9, 1920. Mustafa Kemal Pasha’s request from the two commanders İsmet Bey and Refet Bey was to rapidly transform the National Forces into an organized army, as it had become evident that it would be impossible to defend Anatolia with non-uniform forces alone.