The "Chanak Crisis" in the years of peace and "normalcy" following World War 1 destroyed Lloyd George, threw Winston Churchill out of Parliament and brought Britain to the brink of war with a strong and newly unified Turkey. Now tor the first time British historian David Walder reveals the secrets of the most serious British crisis in the Middle East prior to Suez.
In 1922 Britain was faced with the prospect of waging war with a handful of troops against the entire Turkish army. This confrontation, centering around the insignificant little seaport of Chanak, was the culmination of a series of disastrous diplomatic decisions made by the same British statesmen who had designed the strategy of the First World War. In 1919, Lloyd George had given the Greeks a large part of defeated Turkey as a reward for joining the Allies. Three years later the Greeks were in a state of ruin. Their king was dead of a monkey bite, the Turks, under Kemal Ataturk, had swept the Greek army into the sea, and only hopeless refugees and tiny Allied garrisons at Constantinople and. Chanak stood between the Turks and the final destruction of Greek integrity.
The other partners of the Grand Alliance made their peace with the Turks-the French and Italians made secret agreements, and Canada and Australia disassociated themselves from Britain. London nevertheless gave orders to open fire and then sat back to see what would have, been a calamitous war, but for the wisdom and coolness of General 'Tim" Harrington, the commander-in-chief at Constantinople. Disobeying orders, he risked his career and exercised great skill and patience to bring the Turks to a negotiated peace.
Using Cabinet papers and testimonies of participants, David Walder brings incisive historical scholarship to this dramatic tale of international intrigue and diplomatic bungling.
David Walder received his master's degree in history from Oxford University. He served with the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars in the Middle and Far East; after which he became a: barrister for ten years, and was a Member of Parliament in the Conservative Party from 1961-66. He has written political articles and military and historical reviews for many periodicals, including The Observer, Town Magazine, The Scotsman, and The Daily Telegraph. Author of four books-Bags of Swank, The Short List, The Gift Bearers, and The Fair Ladies of Salamanca-he is presently working on a history of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), to be published by Macmillan.
Contents
Prelude / 1
Who is to have Constantinople?
1 This damned system of alliances / 19 2 The interests of Greece demand that she should observe complete neutrality / 29 3 J cannot refrain from expressing my astonishment and regret / 40 4 These ignorant and irresponsible men / 53 5 The Turk was still alive / 69 6 I do not know what is happening in Greece / 87 7 The whole thing is a ramp / 107 8 As unpleasant towards Kemal as possible / 128 9 Anything short of decisive victory was defeat / 150 10 There is nothing to fight about a'!Y more / 169
11 Work on the defences continued all day / 187 12 A stand for something which was not of any great value / 206 13 Do you not think it terrible that I should be treated in this manner? / 224 14 We are living on a sort of volcano 243 15 The moment to avert the disaster has arrived / 263 16 Like Sir Edward Grey in 1914 / 283 17 We cannot alone act as the policemen of the world / 303 18 A dynamic force is a very terrible thing / 310 19 With the British Union Jack flying high / 335
Finale / 353
Sources / 362
Bibliography / 366
Index / 370
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
One of the most important sources for this book has been the recollections of a large number of the participants in the drama which took place in Greece and Turkey during the period 1919-23.
I should therefore like to thank all those who gave me assistance by interview and correspondence, or who lent me documents or photographs; in particular: Field Marshal Earl Alexander, Brigadier Sir Norman Gwatkin, Brigadier J. S. Blunt, Colonel J. Judge, Colonel W. A. Asher, Lieutenant-Colonel J. A. Codrington, Major J. B. Carmichael, Major L. Ridgway, Major I. N. Tubbs, Captain G. Whitaker, Mr. W. T. Henson and Mr. Harold Wykes.
I am grateful to Major F. C. Bedwell, who searched on my behalf among the remaining papers of General Sir Charles Harington, which are in the possession of his widow, Lady Harington.
Owing to periodic defence reorganisations, a number of regiments and units which served in Greece and Turkey have disappeared from the Army List, and in consequence many of their records of service and war diaries have been lost or discarded. Nevertheless a number of serving and retired officers entered into the spirit of my search for information, but for reasons of space I have been forced to list their names in my note on sources at the end of this book. I must, however, pay particular thanks to Major John Ainsworth, who unearthed a great deal of valuable material at the R.H.Q. of the Royal Sussex Regiment; and to Major P. R. Adair, Regimental Adjutant of the Coldstream Guards, who assisted me enormously in contacting retired officers of his regiment. To one of these, Captain A. B. C. Reynolds, I am indebted for many kindnesses and for the opportunity to inspect and use his splendid contemporary photographs.
Like many other writers on subjects involving military matters, I am obliged to Mr. D. W. King of the Ministry of Defence (War Office) Library for the unfailing help I received from him and his staff, in particular Mr. C. A. Potts, for whom no request was too much trouble. The assistance I received from the Royal United Services Institution Library also went a long way to make this book possible.
I should like to record my indebtedness to the Libraries of the House of Commons, The Times and the London Library. Mr. G. Reynolds, M.P., then Minister of Defence for the Army, was most helpful in allowing me to see certain War Office papers, and I must thank the Rt. Hon. William Whitelaw, M.C., M.P. and Mr. Geoffrey Block of the Conservative Research Department for their guidance with regard to the first ‘‘22 Committee’.
No one would dare to write anything touching upon the life of Kemal Ataturk without constant recourse to Lord Kinross's definitive biography. I should also like to thank Lord Kinross for his advice on sources, as also Mr. John Terraine and the Hon. C. M. Woodhouse.
With regard to my documentary sources contained in the Public Record Office and previously unpublished, the mass of material only became coherent in the hands of Mrs. Joan St. George Saunders, who also stormed on my behalf the twin fortresses of the British Museum Reading Room and the Newspaper Library at Colindale. To Mr. A. J. P. Taylor, who presides benignly over the Beaverbrook Library, I am much indebted for further unpublished material and background information from the Lloyd George papers, and I should like to thank him and the staff of the library for their kindness and efficiency.
Throughout the writing of this book ~ have been assisted by Lady Paulina Pepys, whose research, industry and enthusiasm have all been invaluable. Finally I should like to thank Mrs. Meriel Rebbeck, who, on this occasion as on others, has had the unenviable task of reading my handwriting.
Needless to say, all judgments, opinions and prejudices expressed are my own.
D.W.
The Chanak Affair
David Walder
The Macmillan Company
The Macmillan Company The Chanak Affair David Walder
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 6fr18248
First American Edition 1969
First published in Great Britain in 1969 by Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd
