Atatürk’s Unlikely Victory: Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923)

How did a defeated, occupied empire give rise to an independent Turkey? Explore the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923) and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s role in turning a seemingly impossible struggle into victory.

In 1918, the Ottoman Empire was beaten and exhausted. Four years later, an army supported by farmers, teachers and women hauling ammunition on ox carts reached the Mediterranean shore, winning a war the victors of World War I thought was already over.

This historical documentary follows the struggle from the landing at Samsun to a parliament in a half-finished clubhouse in Ankara, through the Battle of Sakarya, the Great Offensive and the Treaty of Lausanne. Discover how Mustafa Kemal built a resistance network, forged an army and planned the victory.

Alongside him were İsmet, Fevzi, Kâzım Karabekir, Halide Edib, the efes of the Aegean mountains and the unnamed women who carried ammunition through the snow. Their stories reveal the military, political and civilian efforts behind Turkish independence.

Featuring rare archival films and photographs from 1911–1933, period newspapers, custom-researched front-line maps and music from historic shellac records.

Who do you think is the most underrated figure of this war? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Selected sources

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Nutuk (1927) and A Speech delivered by Ghazi Mustapha Kemal (1929)
Halide Edib, The Turkish Ordeal (1928)
Erik Jan Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History (2017)
Andrew Mango, Atatürk (1999)
M. Şükrü Hanioğlu, Atatürk: An Intellectual Biography (2011)
Sina Akşin, Turkey: From Empire to Revolutionary Republic (2007)
Ryan Gingeras, Fall of the Sultanate (2016)
Michael Llewellyn Smith, Ionian Vision (1998)
Frederick Maurice, The Armistices of 1918 (1943)
Selahattin Tansel, Mondros'tan Mudanya'ya Kadar (1973)
TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi

Footage note

Some film footage consists of later reenactments from the 1920s and 1930s. These are labeled on screen.

Image and film credits

Wikimedia Commons: 8 photos, 3 films; public domain / CC BY 4.0.
Internet Archive, including Prelinger Archives and Manaki Brothers: 3 films; public domain / CC BY 4.0.
Musée départemental Albert-Kahn, Hauts-de-Seine; Gadmer, Léon, Passet and Sauvageot: 6 photos, 4 films; CC BY 4.0 / CC0.
National Archives (USA): 1 photo, 10 films; public domain / CC0.
Library of Congress: 16 photos; public domain.
Australian War Memorial: 3 photos; public domain.
ELIA/MIET – Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive, Foto Nikos Zografos 1919: 3 photos; CC BY 4.0.
Halidé Edib, The Turkish Ordeal (1928): 5 photos; public domain.
Private collections and museums in Turkey, photographers unknown: 3 photos; public domain.
Contemporary books and magazines, including Ellison (1923), Price (1923) and Current History (1921): 3 photos; public domain.
Turkish archives: BOA, TBMM, İBB Atatürk Kitaplığı and Sebilürreşad: 4 photos; public domain.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica; Agence Rol and Agence Meurisse: 7 photos; public domain.
Yves Le Guellec / Europeana 1914-1918: 1 photo; CC BY-SA 3.0.

CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

Map credits

Borders: OpenHistoricalMap contributors (CC0).
Coasts, rivers and lakes: Natural Earth (public domain).
Relief: Terrain Tiles by Mapzen/AWS, including SRTM and NASA/USGS.
Place names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).
Fronts and occupation zones: Turkish General Staff, Türk İstiklal Harbi; Hellenic Army General Staff (ΔΙΣ); Milne despatch (London Gazette, 1921); Çaykıran; Hovannisian, The Republic of Armenia; treaty texts of Moscow, Kars, Ankara and Lausanne.