Second Battle of İnönü

Battle context

The Second Battle of İnönü, fought between March 23 and April 1, 1921, marked a turning point in both the Greco-Turkish War and the broader Turkish War of Independence. Prior to this engagement, Greek forces had advanced through Asia Minor against mostly irregular Turkish resistance, accumulating a record of success. At İnönü, a Greek force of approximately 30,000 was halted by an Ankara Government force roughly half its size under İsmet Pasha, inflicting higher casualties on the larger Greek army. This outcome represented the first major check on the Greek advance and demonstrated that the Ankara Government's forces could hold organized defensive positions against a conventionally superior opponent. The battle shifted momentum in the western theater and lent credibility to the Nationalist military effort at a critical stage of the independence struggle.