Abstract

At the end of WWI the Turks of Thrace desired unity and independence, preferably in the framework of a broader Muslim-Ottoman state. This expectation clashed with Lloyd George’s and Venizelos’ plans, and also with the strategic designs of Mustafa Kemal, who was not interested in the reconquest of Western Thrace. Moreover, Kemal expected the Turkish civil and military authorities of Eastern Thrace would put up a powerful and effective resistance to Greek occupation, whereas the resistance was quite feeble. As a consequence, in the official annals of republican Turkey the events in Thrace between 1918 and 1920 have remained an embarrassing grey area