Chronography of Greece &Turkey
See
below for classical� Olympic Games
Page last
modified 23 October 2023
Click
Here for map showing frontiers of Greece, 1830 � present day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_S%C3%A8vres Possible territorial effects of the Treaty of
Sevres.
See also Cyprus
See also Islam
28 May 2023, In Turkey, Recep Erdogan
won the run-off vote by the margin of 52% to 48%.
10 January 2023, King Constantine II, last
King of Greece, died aged 82.
10 July 2020, The Turkish Council of State voted unanimously to
reconvert the Hagia Sofia museum back into a mosque. There were protests from
Greek Christians, noting that the building had been built as a church in AD 537 for
Byzantine Emperor
Justinian, before conversion to a mosque in 1470, and then a museum
in 1934 as Turkey secularised under Attaturk. There were suspicions that the
move by Turkish President
Erdogan was intended to distract from Turkish economic problems.
10 August 2018, US President Trump announced a doubling of
tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium. The US was in dispute over the
detention of a US pastor on dubious charges of terrorism. There were concerns
over Turkish
President Erdogan�s increasingly authoritarian rule. Erdogan
refused to raise interest rates, and the Turkish lira plummeted in value.
16 April 2017, A referendum in Turkey was narrowly won by President
Erdogan, with 51.3% of the vote. The victory gave him wider powers.
31 December 2016, A nightclub in Istanbul packed with New Year�s Eve
revellers was attacked by a gunman who killed 39 and injured 69.
19 December 2016, The Russian Ambassador to Turkey was shot dead in
an art gallery in Ankara by an Islamist gunman in revenge for the Russian
intervention to support pro-Assad forces in Syria. Turkey was in opposition to
the Russian policy in Syria, being very anti-Assad.
10 December 2016, An explosion at a football match in Istanbul
killed 35 people and injured 155. Kurdish militants were blamed.
15 July 2016, A military coup began in Turkey. The military wanted to preserve the secular nature of Turkey and were
against the Islamist policies of President Erdogan. However by 16 July 2016 the
coup had failed, with 161 dead, over 1,400 injured and some 3,000 arrested.
24 November 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian jet fighter that was
taking part in Russia�s pro-Assad campaign in Syria, against both ISIS and
non-ISIS rebels. Turkey said the aircraft had transgressed into Turkish
airspace, and was warned several times. Russia denied the warnings, and it
appeared the jet had at most been in Turkish airspace for 2 or 3 seconds as it
(might have) crossed a finger of Turkish territory jutting into Syria.
Greek Debt Crisis 2010 (2002, 1992) - 2015
5 July 2015, A referendum
in Greece solidly rejected the austerity measures demanded by the IMF and
Brussels as a condition of further loans to Greece to rescue its economy.
However these measures were largely implemented after the Greek banks and stock
exchange closed and drastic limits were imposed on cashpoint withdrawals.
25 January 2015, In Greece the
Left-Wing populist party Syriza, led
by Alexis
Tsipras, won the elections. Greece was suffering the effects of an
austerity programme having gone through a major recession and owing massive
debts to the EU. Syriza now threatened to default on Greece�s repayment
schedule, much to the consternation of Germany. Greek debts in 2015 amounted to
175% of its GDP, with 25% unemployment.
27 October 2011, An emergency meeting in Brussels concerning
the Greek Debt Crisis.� A writedown of 50% of Greek bonds was agreed,
recapitalisation of European banks, and an increase in the bailout fund of the
European Financial Stability facility.
2 May 2010, The EU and the IMF
agreed a Euro 110 billion bailout for Greece; Greece would adopt austerity
measures.
2002, Greece adopted the Euro.
2 December 1992, The Prime
Minister of Greece, Constantine Mitsotakis, dismissed his entire
Cabinet after dissent over austerity measures broke out.
29 October 2014, 150 Kurdish fighters set off from Erbil (Kurdish
Iraq) to travel through� Turkish
territory to reinforce Kurdish fighters across the Turkish-Syria border
battling ISIS in the Syrian border town of Kobani. ISIS began to lose ground
there, as Syrian Kurds were reinforced by US arms drops and US air strikes against ISIS. The
fight for Kobani assumed increased importance as the global TV media focussed
on the battle from just across the border in Turkey. The issue of Turkey
allowing Kurdish reinforcements across its territory was sensitive because
Turkey has its own Kurdish minority region in the south-east.
2013, The European
Court of Human Rights demanded that Turkey pay Euro 90 million compensation in
damages to Greek Cypriots. Turkey refused to comply.
31 May 2013, Turkish police burnt down a protestors camp in Gezi Park, Istanbul. The protests were
against plans to redevelop the park, one of the few green spaces in the city,
for commercial uses.
6 December 2008, Rioting
in Greece after Greek police shot a 15 year old in the head, killing him.
2007, Turkish-Armenian community leader Hrant
Dink was assassinated.
22 July 2007, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan was re-elected President of Turkey. There were concerns that
his Islamic sympathies might threaten the secularism of Turkey.
2006, Talks on Turkey joining the EU broke down over the northern Cyprus
issue.
28 November 2006, Pope Benedict XVI
began a visit to Turkey He expressed support for their bid to join the EU, but
also spoke of the need to respect freedom of worship, an oblique reference to
the freedom of Christian worship there.
2003, Mr
Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the AK Party became President in Turkey. Restrictions on
using the Kurdish language in Turkey were eased.
Erdogan took power
20 November 2003, Suicide bombers struck again in Istanbul at the
British Consulate and the headquarters of the HSBC bank. They killed 27,
including the British
Consul, Roger
Short.
1 March 2003, Turkey refused to allow
the US to use its territory for attacks on Iraq.
5 November 2001, Turkey introduced its new
20 million lira banknote. It was worth about �8.50.
8 February 2000, In Turkey, Kurdish
supporters of Abdullah
Ocalan declared a ceasefire, and Ocalan was granted an indefinite
stay of execution.
29 June 1999, In Turkey, Kurdish
separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan was sentenced to death.
15 February 1999, Turkish agents in
Kenya captured Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan and took him to Turkey to
stand trial. His supporters then planted bombs in Turkey, in 3/1999.
23 June 1996, Andreas Papandreou, Greek statesman, born
1919, died.
2 July 1993, In
Turkey, arson attack on a hotel in Sivas by Sunni Islamist terrorists protesting against Salman
Rushdie�s book The Satanic
Verses. The Turkish writer Aziz Nesin had publiushed excerpts from Rushdie�s
book, as was then staying in the hotel. He escaped the fire, but 36 people,
mainly Shia intellectuals, died.
14 June 1993, Tansu Ciller
became Turkey�s first woman president.
17 April 1993, President
Turgut Ozal of Turkey, who oversaw the country�s rapid economic development in
the 1980s, died.
1991, Turkey relaxed some laws that repressed Kurdish culture.
Speaking Kurdish was now allowed, but publishing or broadcasting in Kurdish
remained banned; it was also an offence to own a recording of Kurdish music.
1987, Turkey applied to join the EEC.
19 March 1985, Turkey
lifted martial law in 11 of its 67 provinces, but it remained in force in 23
provinces.
6 December 1983, Turkey�s
National Security Council dissolved, ending three years of military rule.
24 April 1983. Turkey restored political parties.
18 October 1981. The first Socialist government in Greece was
elected under Andreas
Papandreou.
1 January 1981. Greece
became the 10th member of the European Community.
12 September 1980, General Kenan Evren headed a military takeover
in Turkey. Demirel
was ousted.
15 October 1979, Bulent Ecevit, leader of the governing leftist
secular Republican People�s Party, resigned amidst growing unrest in Turkey. At
the start of 1979, martial law was in force in 13 of Turkey�s 67 provinces, due
to clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims. In April 1979 unrest in Kurdish
regions caused martial law to be instituted in a further 6 provinces. There
were also Left-Right wing clashes. The Turkish Army began to ally with the
Right wing opposition Justice Party, led by Suleyman Demirel. Demirel
took over governing Turkey, and announced that during Ecevit�s 22-month rule, there
had been 2,444 murders by terrorists. However the killings continued. The US
was hoping to store nuclear weapons at its bases in Turley, but Ecevit
had not allowed this, without USSR approval, which was not given.
24 August 1975, The officers responsible for the military
coup in
12 June 1975. Greece
applied to join the EEC.
8 December 1974, Greece voted against restoring the monarchy
by 62%.
17 November 1974. The rule of the colonels ended in Greece,
and Karamanlis
became Prime Minister.
19 August 1974, The US Ambassador to Nicosia, Rodger Davies, was shot dead during
a Greek Cypriot demonstration outside his Embassy.
1 August 1974, Restoration of the 1952 Constitution in Greece.
27 July 1974.� Greek military leaders handed political power
to a civilian government.
23 July 1974, The Greek �Colonels� military junta resigned.� Civilian rule returned to Greece, under President
Karamanlis.
25 December 1973, Ismet Inonu, Turkish statesman, died aged 84.
14 November 1973, Greek students, in a protest against the
military rule of the Colonels, occupied the Polytechnical School of Athens. The
protest was ended by brutal police violence.
5 August 1973, A terrorist attack at Athens Airport
left 3 dead and 55 wounded.
1 June 1973. The Greek
monarchy was abolished and George Papadopoulos
became first president of the Republic.�
The Greek Colonels (see 21 April 1967 and 13 December 1967) alleged that
ex-King Constantine
II was plotting to overthrow their regime from exile.
15 April 1973, Naim Talu, former civil servant,
formed the new Turkish Government.
23 May 1973, The Greek Government foiled a naval mutiny.
10 April 1970, The Greek
government relaxed martial law.
17 September 1968, Marie-Chantal,
Crown Princess of Greece, was born
1 November 1968, Georgios Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece,
died.
13 December 1967, King
Constantine II
fled
21 April 1967. Colonels in
17 August 1964, Greece withdrew its forces from NATO because of
tension with
6 March 1964, Constantine II
became king of the Hellenes, succeeding his father Paul I.
29 October 1961, General elections in Greece were won by the
National Radical Union. Constantine Karamanlis became Prime Minister.
17 September 1961. The ex-President of
27 May 1960, President Adnan
Menderes (1889-1961)
of Turkey was ousted in an army coup.� He
founded the Democratic Party in 1945 and became Prime Minister in 1950.
Pro-Western, he took Turkey into NATO in 1952. However he was also sympathetic
to Islam, and the Turkish army, very secularist, found this intolerable. The
Army believed that Menderes posed a threat to the secularisation
of Turkey begin by Ataturk in the 1920s. Ultimately, severe
inflation from 1954 eroded Menderes�s support in the towns; Menderes
relied on rural peasant support.� Menderes
was forced to assume dictatorial powers in April 1960, just before his
overthrow. See 17 September 1961. In September 1990 Menderes was posthumously
�rehabilitated� and given a State Funeral, attended by the Turkish President.
14 June 1959, The US agreed to provide Greece with nuclear
information and supply ballistic missiles.
27 October 1957, Celal Bayar was re-elected President of
Turkey.
16 October 1957, Syria declared a State of Emergency
following Turkish troop movements on the Syrian border. US Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles warned the USSR against attacking Turkey.
5 October 1955, Karamanlis became Prime Minister of Greece,
succeeding Alexander
Papagos on his death.
6 September 1955, Anti-Greek
riots in
24 February 1955, Turkey and Iraq signed the Baghdad Pact. This was
an alliance of mutual support against Communist activity within their borders
or as an external threat. Iran joined later in 1955.
27 November 1954, Istanbul�s ancient bazaar was devastated in
a� fire that destroyed 2,000 shops and caused
�178 million damage.
23 August 1954,
Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey signed a treaty of mutual assistance.
16 November 1952,
In Greece, Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos
formed a government after the success of Greek Rally in the elections.
18 February 1952, Greece and
20 September 1951, NATO
invited Greece and
14 May 1950, First free elections in
Turkey. Voters ousted President Ismet Inonu�s Republican People�s
Party, which had held power since the Turkish Republic was founded by Kemal Ataturk
in 1923. The 5-year-old Democratic Party, led by Celal Bayer, gained power. The
Democrats wanted more free enterprise, and blamed Republican economic policies
for the high cost of living.
2 April 1950 Recep Peker, Prime Minister of Turkey
1946�1947, died aged 61
16 October 1949, The Greek civil war ended with the defeat of the
rebels.
20 August 1948, Greek Communists were
defeated by Government forces.
27 December 1947, The Greek Government banned the Communist Party.
22 May 1947, US Congress agreed aid for
Greece and Turkey.
1 April 1947. King George II of
Greece died aged 56, and was succeeded by his brother, 45, as King Paul I.
28 September 1946, King George II returned to Greece. A referendum had shown a majority in favour of
restoring the monarchy.
1 September 1946. A Greek plebiscite favoured return the of
the monarchy.
27 June 1946, Italy ceded the Dodecanese islands to
Greece.
23 February 1945, Turkey, reluctantly, declared war on Germany
� only because the Allies had announced that only those nations who did so
would be invited to take part in the United Nations Conference at San Francisco.
2 March 1944,
The Allies stopped Lend-Lease to Turkey because of its reluctance to help the
Allied war effort.
Post War civil conflict in Greece
12 February 1945,
The Treaty of Varkiza was signed. The Greek resistance agreed to disarm and
relinquish control of all the territory it occupied in exchange for legal
recognition, free elections, and the removal of Nazi collaborators from the
armed forces and police.
20 December 1944,
British troops rescued 350 military personnel from Greek ELAS Communist fighters
at Kifissia, near Athens. Since Greece was liberated from the Nazis, there has
been a vicious power struggle between Communist and Nationalist factions.
18 December 1944,
British troops in Greece began an offensive against ELAS rebels
17 October 1944,
Rival partisans in Athens began to fight each other.
End of World War Two in Greece
13 October 1944, Athens
was liberated from the Germans, who occupied it on 27 April 1941.
4 October 1944, Allied troops landed on the
Greek mainland, at Patras.
2 October 1944. British troops landed on
2 August 1944. Turkey broke off relations with
See France-Germany, World War Two for main European events of World War Two
3/1944, The EAM (National Liberation Front) of Greece, a
Leftist coalition dominated by the KKE (Communist
Party of Greece), set up the PEEA (Political
Committee of National Liberation). This was effectively a rival to the
Greek Government-in-exile; the PEEA ran, in areas liberated from the Nazis,
systems of healthcare, education and ustice. It was vehemently opposed to the
return of King
George II. In 1945 the EAM disintegrated and the KKE took over.
After the War, the Communists, Republicans and Royalists started a civil war
that lasted until 1949.
4 December 1943, Allied leaders tried to
persuade Turkish Prime Minister Ismet Ionu to join the War. Turkey however,
being weak, feared a German invasion if it did so, and he only gave a vague
promise to possibly allow British aircraft to operate from Turkish bases.
18 June 1941, Turkey concluded a two-year non-aggression pact with
29 May 1941. Axis forces took the
capital of Crete, Canea.
20 May 1941. Germany began an aerial
invasion of
14 May 1941. Germany began a week-long bombing of Crete. On 20 May 1941 German
paratroopers attacked the islands three airfields. They managed to seize only one airfield, Maleme, but this was
enough, and the British had to evacuate
Crete, leaving 13,000 wounded behind.
27
April 1941. The
Germans occupied Athens. They held it until 12 October 1944.
22
April 1941. British
forces left Greece.
9
April 1941, Salonika
was taken by the Germans.� This cut off
28
March 1941, The Battle of Matapan, off the coast of
Crete. The British navy beat an Italian fleet, sinking seven warships for no
loss of its own.
22 March 1940, Turkey called for all large
Turkish ships in foeign waters to return home as soon as possible.
2 March 1941, Turkey made passage of the
Dardanelles by permit only.
22 November 1940. The Greeks routed the
Italians at Koritza.
29 October 1940, British troops landed in
28 October 1940. Italy invaded Greece, from Albania.� This opened a Balkan Front, and was a
complication to Hitler�s plans to invade Russia, as the British would become
involved.
2 June 1940, Constantine I, King of the Hellenes, was born
the son of King
Paul.
21 March 1940, Britain and Turkey held
secret talks at Aleppo, Syria.
See France-Germany, World War Two for main European events of World War Two
19 October 1939, In Ankara, Allied
commanders Maxime
Weygand and Archibald Wavell signed a mutual assistance
pact with Turkey.
24 June 1939, Turkey concluded a pact of
mutual assistance with
23 June 1939. Hatay, formerly the Syrian town of
12 May 1939, Turkey concluded a pact of mutual
assistance with
18 November 1938, Twenty people were trampled to death at the funeral of Kemal
Attaturk.
11 November 1938. Ismet Inonu succeeded Kemal Ataturk,
who died the day before, as President of
Turkey.
10 November 1938. Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923, died aged 57. Ismet Inonu, 54, was elected to succeed him.
31 July 1938. Bulgaria signed a non-aggression pact with
3 July 1938, By agreement with
27 April 1938. A friendship treaty was signed between
25 October 1937, Celal Bayar became Prime Minister of Turkey.
15 February 1937, The Balkan
Entente Conference was held at
5 August 1936, The Greek Communist Party attempted to call a General
Strike.� However this precipitated a Right Wing dictatorship which broke up
the Communist Party.
13 April 1936, After the inconclusive Greek general elections of
26 January 1936, a period of uncertainty, and the death of Prime Minister Demerdjis, General John
Metaxas became Greek Prime Minister.
18 March 1936, Eleutherios Venizelos, Greek politician, died.
25 November 1935, The
monarchy was restored in Greece.
3 November 1935, Plebiscite in Greece favoured the
restoration of King
George II, with 97% voting in favour.
9 June 1935, General election in Greece. The Populists
(Monarchists) won 243 seats, although the Liberal party boycotted the election,
5 May 1935, Former Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and General Nikolaos
Plastiras were sentenced in
absentia to death for their roles in the Greek coup d'�tat attempt.
Turkish secularisation
programme under Ataturk
1 January 1935. Mustafa
Kemal changed his name to Kemal Ataturk.
25
November 1934. Mustapha Kemal told all Turks to adopt a
surname by 1 January 1935. His was to be �Ataturk�, or �Father of the Turks�. He also banned hereditary titles in Turkey.
Turkey decreed that the Hagia Sofia mosque in Istanbul was now to be a secular
museum.
20 April 1931. The
Republican party of Mustapha Kemal won a landslide in the Turkish
national elections.
11 June 1930, The
Turkish Central Bank was founded, with a remit to implemnent strict monetary
policies against inflation.
28 March 1930.
Constantinople had its name changed to
3
November 1928. Turkey abolished the use of the Arabic script
and adopted the Roman alphabet. The Turkish Post Office was ordered to
return to sender all post not bearing the new-style �correct� addresses.
9
April 1928. Turkey abolished Islam
as the State religion.
2 September 1927, Mustafa Kemal
made Turkey a one-party state.
1 September 1926, Civil
marriage was established in Turkey.
17 February 1926,
Polygamy was prohibited in Turkey.
25 November 1925, In
Turkey, Kemal
Ataturk, as part of his Westernisation program, outlawed the traditional fez and substituted western hats.
25 February 1925, Kurdish
rebellion broke out in Turkey.
20 April 1924, Turkey
continued its modernisation plan, with the abolition
of tithes and the shortening of military service.
3 March 1924, Mustafa Kemal
formally abolished the caliphate, and exiled all memnbers of the House of
Osman. This ended the Ottoman Dynasty,
founded in 1290.
2 March 1924, The
Turkish National Assembly abolished the caliphate, disestablishing the Islamic religion.
29
October 1923. Mustapha Kemal proclaimed
12
October 1923. The Turkish capital was officially moved from Istanbul to Ankara.
13 August 1923. Mustapha Kemal,
(Ataturk), was elected President of
Turkey.
1
November 1922. Mustafa Kemal announced a new
5
August 1921, Mustafa Kemal became ruler of Turkey and
Supreme Commander of the army.
16 January 1933, Eleutherios Venizelos again became Prime
Minister of Greece.
31 October 1932, In Greece, after an inconclusive general election,
Prime Minister Eleutherios
Venizelos resigned and was replaced by Panyoti Tsaldaris, a moderate
Royalist.
1930, The Balkan Entente was set up. It included
Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia; it was essentially a defensive alliance
against the expansionist aims of Bulgaria, which was seeking to regain
territories lost to Greece and Yugoslavia under the Treaty of Neuilly (1919).
In the 1930, as authoritarian regimes gained power in all members of the Balkan
Entente, the entire region moved politically closer to Germany and Italy.
30 October 1930. Greece and
12 August 1930. Turkish and Iranian forces launched attacks on
Kurdish rebels.
27 June 1929, In Turkey, President Kemal outlawed Communist propaganda.
19 August 1928, Greek elections produced a victory for the
Liberals under Venizelos.
3 July 1928. In Greece, Eleutherios Venizelos was again appointed
Prime Minister, following his return in March.
30 October 1927, Admiral Paul Kondouriotis,
the President of Greece, survived an assassination attempt by a 25-year-old
waiter. Zafioios
Goussies shot President
Kondouriotis in the head as the he was leaving a conference of
Greece's mayors in Athens.
5 June 1926, At the Treaty
of Angora, Turkey accepted the
Brussels Line, setting the northern boundary of
22 August 1926, Theodore Pangalos, Greek dictator, was deposed
and imprisoned in Crete.
3 January 1926, In Greece, Pangalos assumed dictatorial
powers; in April 1926 he was elected President.
16 December 1925, The League of Nations voted to uphold the Brussels Line, dividing
21 November 1925, The Permanent Court of International
Justice agreed to the Brussels Line,
dividing
29 October 1925, Greek troops withdrew from
22 October 1925. Border dispute flared between
26 June 1925, Coup in Greece; General Theodoros Pangalos
seized power.
16 April 1925. In
2 April 1925, France and Turkey agreed on the autonomy of
Alexandretta.
28 February 1925. Kurdish
uprising in Turkey.
20 November 1924, Kurds
in Turkey rebelled; they were suppressed with considerable force.
29 October 1924, The
Council of Brussels drew the Brussels Line, dividing the villayet of Mosul into Turkish and Iraqi areas.� See 21 November 1925, 16,12,1925.
27 January 1924. Rauf Denktash,
Turkish-Cypriot politician, was born.
Return of King Constantine. Turks pushed back Greek forces. King
andicates and Greece becomes a Republic
11 January 1924, Eleutherios
Venizelos accepted the Premiership of Greece under the National
Assembly.
25 March 1924, Greece
was proclaimed a Republic, as conformed by plebiscite on 13 April 1924. Admiral Pavlos
Koundouriotis became President.
19 December 1923, King George II
left Greece at the request of the ruling Revolutionary Committee.
17 December 1923. The
Greek Army deposed King George II.
23 August 1923, The last Allied troops
left Istanbul.
11 January 1923, Constantine,
King of the Hellenes, died of a brain haemorrhage in Palermo (born 2 August 1868).
13 October 1922, The Armistice of Mudanya ended the
Greek-Turkish War. Relations between Ankara and the Allies wree settled, and
the Allies now allowed Turkish troops to enter Istanbul.
27
September 1922. Following
26 August 1922. Turkey began an
offensive against
29 July 1922. The Allies forbade
16 July 1921, Encouraged by the
British., King
Constantine of Greece began a puch against Turkisjh Nationailsts.
Greek forces initially made territorial gains in Turkey but the Turks then
rallied.
18 December 1920 King Constantine was restored to
the Greek throne.
5 December 1920, A Greek referendum result
called for the return of King Constantine, deposed by the Allies in
1917.
31 August 1923. Italy seized the Greek
24 July 1923. The Treaty
of Lausanne was signed. This restored Adrianople to
11 September 1922. The British
Mandate in
9 September 1922, The Turkish Army entered
1921, The chief organiser of the
Ottoman massacre of Armenian Christians, Talaat Pasha, was himself assassinated by a
survivor of that genocide. Pasha had rfecorded that the population of
Armenians under Ottoman rule had fallen from 1,265,000 in 1915 to just 284,157
in 1917.
20 October 1921, France recognised the Turkish Government in
Ankara.
13 October 1921, Turkey,
13 September 1921, Battle
of Sakariya. The Turks blocked a Greek force which was advancing towards
Ankara.
4 April 1921, Greek forces defeated the Turks at Eskiskehr.
3 January 1921, Turkey
concluded a peace with the Republic of Armenia at Alexandropol.�
2 December 1920, Armenia
was forced to conclude a peace treaty with Turkey
that not only annulled the Wilson Line but gave the district of Kars, formerly Russian/Armenian,
to Turkey.� This treaty also stated that
�there were no Armenian majorities anywhere in
22 November 1920, US President Wilson
set a proposed border (The Wilson Line) between Turkey and Armenia that would
have given Armenia lands as far west as Trebizond, Erzingan, and Bitlis.� However on the ground both
17 November 1920, Dowager Queen Olga became Regent of Greece.
25 October 1920, King Alexander
of Greece died of blood poisoning after being bitten by a monkey.
His father, who abdicated in 1917, resumed the throne, continuing the struggle
against Turkey.
14 November 1920, In
Greece, supporters of Venizelos were heavily defeated in general
elections.
10 August 1920. The
25 July 1920, The
Greeks took Adrianople.
9 July 1920, The
Greeks took Bursa.
24 June 1920. The Greeks defeated the Turks at Alashehr.
22 June 1920, With British
support, Greek forces attacked Turkish Nationalist troops.
20 March 1920. In response to the Syrian claim of 8 March 1920,
the Lebanese Christians proclaimed their independence, choosing as their flag
the French tricolour with a Lebanese cedar at its centre.
16 March 1920. Allied
troops occupied Istanbul; Turkey arrested the Nationalists and the Sultan
closed Parliament. Some Nationalists escaped to Ankara.
8 March 1920. Syria proclaimed
independence from Ottoman Turkey, with Emir Faisal, hero of the Arab
revolt, as King. He claimed not just the smaller
12 February 1920, A conference began in London to settle the main frontiers of Turkey to be demarcated in the Treaty of Sevres.� This conference ended on 23 February 1920,
see 19 April 1920.
28 January 1920, The new Turkish Parliament, with a
Nationalist majority, issued the Pact of Ankara affirming the integrity of
Turkish territory, based on the resolutions of the Nationalist Congress of
1919.
Campaign by
Mustapha Kemal against
further loss of Turkish territory
23 April 1920. Turkish Nationalists set up a provisional government at
5 August 1919, Kemal
declared Turkey independent of the Sultan at the Turkish Nationalist Congress.
23 July 1919, Turkish Nationalists met
at Erzurum to resist Allied plans to carve up Turkey.
11 July 1919, The Turkish Sultan
outlawed Kemal.
8 July 1919, The new Turkish Sultan Mohammed VI dismissed Mustapha
Kemal.
19 June 1919, In Turkey, Mustafa
Kemal and other nationalist leaders signed the Amasia Protocol,
declaring their resistance to the Allied plans for Turkey and the Sultan�s
co-operation with these plans.
19 May 1919, The Turkish war hero Mustapha Kemal
resisted the further reduction of Turkish territory, organising military
resistance.
15 May 1919, The Greek
Army landed at Smyrna, under the
protection of British,
French,
and US
fleets, beginning an occupation of the area by massacring Turkish civilians.
5 February 1919, Andreas
Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, was born.
2 January 1919, 1.5
million Armenians in Turkey were massacred by Turks.
26 December 1918, George Rallis,
Prime Minister of Greece, was born (died 2006).
17 November 1918, The
Communist Party of Greece was founded.
End of World War One
1 November 1918, Anglo-French troops took
31 October 1918. Ottoman
30 October 1918. (1) An armistice was concluded aboard the British warship Agamemnon, at Mudros, between
(2) Lieutenant Colonel Thomas
Lawrence, �Lawrence of Arabia�, shocked King George V by turning down the Order
of the Bath and Distinguished Service Order. Lawrence was disappointed at how
the Arabs had not achieved independence after World War One but their land had
been carved up between Britain and France.�
France, Catholic, took the Christian sites of Lebanon and Syria; Britain
took Jordan and Iraq.
26 October 1918. Aleppo, Syria, was captured from the Turks
by British and Arab troops advancing from the south.
13 October 1918, British troops occupied Tripoli,
7 October 1918, British troops took
1 October 1918. Arab forces under Emir Faisal,
including the British officer T E Lawrence, captured
22 September 1918. Turkish resistance in
20 September 1918. The British captured
18 September 1918, The British under General Allenby
started a major offensive against the Turks, pushing them north out of
Palestine, starting with a British victory at Megiddo. This offensive pushed
the Turks out of Palestine, captured Damascus, and forced the Turks to accept
an armistice on 30 October 1918.
9 September 1918. Allied victory at Megiddo.
29 July 1918. Germany severed diplomatic
relations with Ottoman Turkey.
13 June 1918. A Turkish offensive in
26 April 1918, The Turks captured Kars, Caucasus, from Russia, however
their cause was doomed as General Allenby made major gains in Palestine.
14 April 1918, Following the collapse of
the Russians,
10 February 1918, Abdul-Hamid II, Sultan of Turkey
from 31 August 1876, died (born 21 September 1842).
9 December 1917. Jerusalem was surrendered by the Turks to the British under General Allenby, who had advanced from
Gaza in 10/1917 into Judaea and on to Jerusalem. The Turks had ruled Jerusalem
since its capture from the Crusaders in 1244.
14 November 1917. Jaffa (Joppa) was
captured by the British, under General Allenby, from the Turks.
9 November 1917. Arthur Balfour, the British
Foreign Secretary, unveiled plans for a
Jewish national homeland in
31 October 1917. British forces under General Allenby
captured
Meanwhile in 1916 Britain and France
had secretly signed the Sykes-Picot
agreement to divided up the Ottoman Lands in the Middle East after the War.
France was to get the north-western half of the Fertile Crescent, that is Syria
and Lebanon; Britain was to get the south-east, Jordan and Iraq. The Catholic
church wanted French control of the Mediterranean coast, where many Maronite
Christians lived, and Britain wanted French lands between them and the Russians
to the north. Britain retained an air corridor to Iraq through Jordan; Britain
was dropping poison gas on rebellious Iraqi Arabs. France divided off Lebanon
as a Christian Republic from Syria; it also divided off Hatay and gave that to
Syria, due to lobbying from Hatay�s Turkish minority. The Allies also
considered giving Palestine to Belgium. They also, at the Treaty of Sevres (10
August 1920) backed the formation of a Kurdish State, but refused to allow the
Kurds in Iraq or Syria to be part of this State; the idea never materialised.
22 July 1917, In Greece, King
Constantine was forced to abdicate.
12 July 1917, First Battle of Ramadi. Unable to organize any attack on open
ground due to searing heat, British forces were forced to retreat during the
night while hounded by a force of 1,500 pro-Turkish Arabs.
4 July 1917, Lawrence of Arabia reassured the Arabs, who
were wary of attacking the Turkish fort of Kethira under a full moon, that �for
a while there will be no moon�. Lawrence knew a lunar eclipse was due. Turkish
defenders panicked as the moon vanished, and the fort fell to the Arabs.
29 June 1917.
12 June 1917. The pro-German King Constantine of
26
March 1917. British attack the Turks at
17 March 1917. The British heavily
defeated the Turks near
11 March 1917. The Allies captured
17 October 1916, The Allies formally
recognised the Greek Venizelos Government.
16 October 1916. The Allies took
9 October 1916, In Greece, Venizelos
formed a provisional government at Salonika.
30 September 1916, Venizelos, in Crete, began
efforts to form an alternative pro-Allied government to the one in Athens.
27 September 1916. Greece declared war on Bulgaria,
which itself had declared war on
10 September 1916. The Allies launched an
offensive in
See France-Germany
for main events of World War One
20 August 1916. The Allies began an
offensive against
5 August 1916. The British defeated the
Turks in a naval battle off
16 June 1916, The Ottoman garrison at
the Red Sea port of Jeddah surrendered to the Arabs.
9 June 1916. Sherif Hussein of Mecca led a revolt against the Ottoman Turks. The
Arabs were angered by the Young Turks nationalist and secular policies.
16 May 1916, French diplomat Francois-Georges Picot and British diplomat Mark Sykes
began a secret correspondence to decide how the Middle East would be divided up
after World War One (see also 30 October 1917). The Western Powers had already
decided that the Ottoman Empire was too vast and too corrupt to be allowed to
survive. Britain would claim Jordan, most of Iraq, and the port city of Haifa.
France� would take SE Turkey, northern
Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Palestine would be jointly administered between
Britain and France. Russia would be granted the city of Constantinople and
several Armenian-dominated regions. In fact the Russian Revolution of 1917 and
further diplomatic developments meant that not all these provisions became
reality, but the Sykes-Picot agreement set the scene for many of the issues of
the Middle East during the 20th century.
29 April 1916. British troops surrendered
to the Ottoman Turks after a siege of 143 days at Kut-el-Amara in
14 April 1916. The Allied bombarded
Istanbul.
2 March 1916, The Russians took Bitlis,
in
16 February 1916, The Russians captured Erzurum, in the Caucasus, from
13 February 1916, In the Erzurum
Offensive Russian forces advanced on the Ottoman Third Army, which
was too small to defend against the assault.
7 February 1916, The Erzurum Offensive. Russia� captured the Turkish towns of Hınıs
and Mus,
4 February 1916, In Turkey, Crown Prince Yussuf Izzedin
was assassinated.
17 January 1916. Russia began an
offensive against Turkey.
Gallipoli
Expedition
8 January 1916. Gallipoli was evacuated
by Allied troops. This was the end of an unsuccessful attempt to capture
Constantinople. See 20 December 1915.
20 December 1915. Australian, New Zealand, and British troops were
evacuated from the ill-fated Gallipoli expedition. See 25 April 1915. The aim
had been to capture the Dardanelles and Constantinople, and so knock Turkey out
of the war, and link up with the Russian Black Sea Fleet. However disease,
flies, fever, and mosquitoes, and the incompetence of the Allied commanders,
were compounded by the fact that landings were not made until two months after
Turkish positions here had been bombarded. Hence the element of surprise was
lost, and the Turks had ample time to prepare strong defences. Evacuation was
completed by 8 January 1916, without casualties. An ingenious plan involved
loading provisions onto the Gallipoli beaches in daylight, but at night men,
guns and horses were evacuated, leaving rifles set to fire automatically at
intervals. At the last moment an Allied destroyer trained a searchlight on the
Turkish lines, the Turks fired back, and under this exchange of fire the Allies
slipped away undetected.
15 August 1915, The Allied landings at Suvla, Dardanelles,
were completed.
6 August 1915. New Allied landings on Gallipoli. See 8 January 1916.
26 April 1915. Allied forces
established themselves on the Gallipoli Peninsula, having landed the previous
day, 25 April 1915. This was an attempt
to take control from the Dardanelles from Turkey, and open up a supply route to
Russia. The Allies hoped, against all evidence, that the landing itself would
provoke a coup in Turkey and remove it from the War. Russian Jews, who saw the
ottoman Empire as a barrier to a Jewish Homeland, supported the exercise.
Forces landed included 27,500 British, 18,100 ANZACs, and 16,800 French.
However the landing site was fully exposed to Turkish fire, and
evacuation of Allied troops was the only option. Also on 25 September 1915 the
Germans attacked Serbia and Allied forces had to go to Salonika to buttress
Serbian resistance (see 5 October 1915). Evacuation began on 8 December 1915
and was completed by 9 January 1916. The Dardanelles expedition cost 70,700 British casualties (26,000
dead), 25,700 Australians (7,800 killed), 23,000 French (8,000 killed), 7,100
New Zealanders (2,445 killed) and 5,500 Indians (1,682 killed). However
the evacuation was managed with very little loss of life.
22 November 1915. General Charles Vere
Ferrers Townshend was advancing by boat on Baghdad with a force of 9,000 men of the 6th Indian Division.
The land was roadless, an �arid billiard table� as he described it. At Ctesiphon, 20 miles short of Baghdad,
Townshend came up against a large, well supplied force. He was short of
supplies because a stingy and over-optimistic government in India expected him
to get all the supplies he needed in Baghdad.�
Townshend�s forces drove out the Turks
but at a loss of 40% of his men. He was now unable to withstand any Turkish
counter-attack, let alone advance further, so he retreated to Kut with 1,600 Turkish prisoners of war
and 4,500 wounded from both sides.� The
Invasion of Mesopotamia was to secure the oil but that only required the
occupation of a small area around Basra. This would, keep the Turks away from the Iranian port of
Abadan, terminus of the Anglo-Iranian pipeline which supplied the Royal navy
with oil. Kut was besieged by
the Turks, from 8 December 1915. Townshend had 13,500 inside to
feed, including some 2,500 Indian non-combatants and 2,000 sick and wounded.
There were also 6,000 Arabs. They had to contend with freezing cold and
torrential rain. A relief force never got near enough; three relief attempts
were made, at a cost of 23,000 casualties. The Indians would not eat meat,
although the oxen were slaughtered for food by the British, then the camels,
horses, and finally cats, starlings, dogs, and hedgehogs. Gallipoli had
been evacuated by the British on 8 January 1916 and elated by this, and now
with troops to spare from there, the Turks
refused a ransom of �2million (�67million in 2002 prices) to let the defenders
leave. Kut was the first siege in which supplies were dropped by air,
including flour for the Indian�s chappatis. However the Turks and their German
allies had more and better aircraft. Finally Kut surrendered on 27 April 1916, with rations down to seven ounces
of grain a day for the 12,000 men there. More Indian and British soldiers died
during the forced march from Kut to captivity in Mesopotamia or even all the
way to Turkey. However Townshend was in relatively comfortable captivity near
Constantinople.� Kut finally
fell to the Allies in February 1917, and Baghdad fell in March 1917.
5 October 1915. Allied troops landed at
28 September 1915. The British defeated the
Turks at Kut El Amara in
23 September 1915. King Constantine of
15 September 1915, The Entente (France,
21 August 1915. Italy declared war on the
19 July 1915, In Greece, the Venizelists
gained support, against the pro-German policies of Gounaris.
13 June 1915, Greek General Elections.
Venizelists won 193 of 316 seats.
27 May 1915. The Turkish government decided to deport the
entire Armenian population to
24 April 1915. The arrest in Constantinople (now Istanbul) of 235 Armenian academics, politicians,
lawyers and journalists. Another 600 were later detained. All were sent to
Anatolia, most of them slaughtered. Turkey feared they would collaborate with
Russia. On this day the Ottoman Interior Minister, Talaat Pasha, gave the order for
the Armenian Massacre. Many
Armenians were deported to the Syrian desert to die.
19 February 1915
�The Dardanelles
campaign began. A Franco-British fleet began shelling Turkish fortifications
along the Dardanelles, to open up the strategic waterway to get munitions to
Russia via the Black Sea, and deliver Russian grain to France and the UK.
Spotter planes from the aircraft carrier HMS
Ark Royal were directing the gunners by radio.
2 February 1915. The Turks were
defeated on the
See France-Germany for
main events of World War Two
14 November 1914. The Sultan of Turkey
declared a Jihad, or Holy War,
against the Allies.
6 November 1914, British troops landed at
Fao (now
5 November 1914. Following
4 November 1914. The Russians declared war on Turkey and invaded
29 October 1914, Turkish
warships bombarded the Russian ports of Sevastopol, Odessa and Novorossiysk. This provoked a declaration
of war by
1 October 1914. Turkey closed the
2 September 1914. The Ottoman Empire
mobilised its forces, in World War One.
Start of World War One
13 August 1913, Archbishop Makarios, President of Cyprus 1960-77, was born near Paphos, the son of a
farmer.
Second Balkan War
13 June 1914, Greece annexed the islands
of Chios and Lesbos from Turkey.
12 June 1914, 100 Greeks in Phocaea were
massacred by Turkish irregular troops.
14 March 1914, Peace was concluded
between
14 December 1913, Greece formally annexed
Crete.
13 November 1913, Peace was concluded between Turkey and Greece.�
17 October 1913. Serbia invaded
29 September 1913, The Treaty of Constantinople, an addition to the Treaty of Bucharest (see 10 August 1913), settled the frontier
between
21 September 1913. Turkey and
10 August 1913. The Third Treaty of
18 July 1913, Turkish forces recovered
Adrianople from the Bulgarians, who took the city in March 1917.
12 July 1913, Turkey seized
11 July 1913, Romania invaded
10 July 1913. Russia declared war on
4 July 1913, In the Second Balkan War, Greek and Serbian
armies defeated Bulgaria at Kilkis, Central Macedonia, which later became part
of Greece.
3 July 1913. Romania mobilised its
troops. in response to
1 July 1913. Greece and
29 June 1913. Bulgaria launched a
surprise attack on
24 June 1913.
18 March 1913, George I, King of Greece from 1863, was assassinated in Salonika by a Greek
called Schinasi.� Constantine I became King of Greece, in the
newly-occupied city of Salonika.� Constantine opposed the pro-Allied policy of Venizelos,
and in June 1917 the Allies forced his abdication in favour of his second son, Alexander,
who ruled until dying from a monkey bite in October 1920.� A plebiscite two months later voted
overwhelmingly for the return of Constantine I.�
However Constantine
was unfairly blamed for Greek military failure in action against
1912, Electric lighting was
introduced in Istanbul.
First Balkan War
30 May 1913. Turkey signed a peace treaty with the Balkan League (the Treaty of
London), ending their war.� Under this
Treaty Salonika was formally assigned to Greece. The Great Powers formally
recognised Albanian sovereignty.
22 April 1913. Montenegro captured Scutari
after a 6 month siege.
16 April 1913, Turkey signed an armistice
with
1 April 1913, The Turkish government
approved the terms of peace to end the
First Balkan War, losing 60,000 square miles of territory to the Balkan nations.
26 March 1913. The Balkan allies took Adrianople from
6 March 1913. Hostilities resumed in the
Balkans; the Greeks took Janina, capturing 32,000 Turks.
7 February 1913, 5,000 Turks died in a
battle with
3 February 1913. Bulgaria re-stared the
Balkan War. On 7 February 1913 a Turkish-Bulgarian battle left 5,000 Turks
dead, and on 26 March 1913 the Bulgarians captured Adrianople from
22 January 1913, Turkey accepted a
ceasefire ultimatum.
17 January 1913, Serbian troops massacred Muslims.
9 January 1913. Turkey breached the
armistice by attacking Bulgaria.
6 January 1913, A peace conference in
London broke down when Turkey refused to cede Adrianople, the Aegean Islands
and Crete.
2 January 1913. Turkey agreed to give up
almost all its European territories.
16 December 1912, The Balkan Peace Conference began in London.
4 December 1912. Turkey concluded an
armistice with
30 November 1912, Bulgaria and
28 November 1912. Albanian independence
was proclaimed and confirmed in
18 November 1912. The Serbs occupied
Monastir.
8 November 1912. The Greeks occupied Salonika.�
This was during the First Balkan War, and ended 482 years of Turkish occupation.
5 November 1912, The Serbs and Greelks routed
the Turkish Army at Monastir. Turkey lost some 20,000 men.
3 November 1912. Turkey appealed for
mediation in the war with Italy, by the great European powers.
1 November 1912. The Greeks occupied
31 October 1912, Bulgarian forces defeated the
Turks at Lule Burgas.
24 October 1912, Serbian forces defeated
the Turks at Kumanovo.
23 October 1912. The Greeks routed the Turks
at Sarandaporos.
19 October 1912. Allied Balkan armies invaded Turkey.
18 October 1912. The Ottoman Turks agreed
to cede Tripoli and Cyrenaica (now Libya) to Italy, at the Peace of
Lausanne.� Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia
declared war on Turkey. The Greek Army had been well-equipped under Venizelos,
and the Turks were pushed back, to the point where Istanbul itself was threatened;
the city was only saved by bad weather making the roads impassable and a
cholera outbreak, halting military operations.
15 October 1912, Turkey made peace with Italy at
Ouchy.
14 October 1912. The Turks invaded
8 October 1912. Montenegro declared war
on the Ottoman Empire.
1 October 1912, Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia prepared to fight Turkey.
30 September 1912, Russia mobilised its
forces in response to unrest in the Balkans.�
29 September 1912, British and French forces
quelled riots on Samos, after Turkey withdrew troops from there.�������� ������
3 August 1912. The Ottoman
Turks granted Albania limited
autonomy.
2 July 1912, Serbia allied
with
29 May 1912. Greece signed an
anti-Ottoman alliance with
First Balkan War
25 March 1912, The Greek Liberal Party led by Prime Minister
Eleftherios Venizelos won a majority of seats in elections in
Greece.
13 March 1912, Under
Russian influence (wanting to undermine Austro-Hungary), Serbia and Bulgaria
buried their territorial rivalries for the time being (but see 29 June 1913),
and, along with Greece and Montenegro, formed the Balkan League. Originally
directed against the large multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire (which
contained many ethnic Serbs within its borders), the League redirected its
efforts against Ottoman Turkey, ultimately aiming to oust the Turks entirely
from all its European territories. Serbia and Bulgaria signed a mutual defence
pact. Balkan nationalism was on the rise. The pact also divided northern
Macedonia between them. It was assumed that southern Macedonia would be divided
between Bulgaria and Greece. On 30 May 1913 the Treaty of London divided up the
Balkans amongst the members of the Balkan League, leaving Ottoman Turkey with
only a sliver of European territory immediately west of Istanbul.
Italian conquest of Turkish lands
4 May 1912. The Italians occupied the
5 November 1911. Italy announced that it had taken from Turkey the territories of Libya,
Tripolitania, and Cyrenaiaca.
20 October 1911.
Italy defeated the Turks at
30 September 1911. Italian troops attacked the
Turks in
29 September 1911. Italy
declared war on Turkey, having been
assured of the neutrality of other European countries.� The Italian Navy bombarded Preveza, and
Italian forces landed at
6 February 1911. A large part of
9 December 1910, The Turks suppressed an Arab uprising in
Palestine.
28 August 1910. Montenegro
declared independence from Turkey under King Nicholas I, 69, who ruled
for 9 years.
11 December 1910, In elections for the Greek National
Assembly, supporters of Venizelos received 300 seats out of 364.
18 October 1910, Elentherios Venizelos became Prime Minister
of Greece.
21 August 1910, First meeting of the Greek National
Assembly (officially opened by the King on 14 September 1910).
27 April 1909, Mehmed V (1844-1918) succeeded his father, Abdul Hamid II
(born 1842, died 1918; Sultan from 1876 � 1909) as Sultan of the Ottoman
Empire.
24 April 1909, The Turkish Army coup of 13 April 1909 was
suppressed, and its leaders executed.
23 April 1909. Moslem fanatics backed by the sultan massacred
at least 30,000 Armenians.
Bulgaria
gains independence from Turkey, 1903-09
19 April 1909. Turkey recognised Bulgarian independence. On 27 April 1909,
5 October 1908. Prince Ferdinand declared
8 September 1903. Turks massacred 50,000
Bulgarians.
13 April 1909, Army
insurrection in Constantinople. The First Army Corps deposed Hussein Hilmi
Pasha. See 24 April 1909.
13 February 1909, In Turkey, Kiamil Pasha, 76-year-old Ottoman
Grand Vizier, was deposed and replaced by Hussein Hilmi Pasha.
Crete moves away from Turkish rule towards union with Greece, 1898-1910
27 July 1910. Turkey threatened Greece with war if it
accepted Cretan representatives in Parliament.
6 October 1908. Crete declared itself independent of Turkey and joined Greece.
24 September 1906, Prince George of Greece resigned
as High Commissioner of Crete. Alexander Zaimis succeeded him.
21 April 1905, The Crete Assembly voted
for Union with Greece.
16 March 1900, On Crete, British
archaeologist Arthur
Evans discovered a previously unknown Bronze Age civilisation. He
called it �Minoan� after a legendary
Cretan king.
26 November 1898, Unrest in Crete against
Turkish rule (from 1669) prompted the European Powers to demand that Turkey
give Crete autonomy under a High Commissioner appointed by those Powers. This
day Prince George, younger brother of the King of Greece, was appointed. George
now tried to gain European support for a union of Crete with Greece, which was
achieved in 1913.
6 November 1898. Turkey evacuated its forces
from Crete.
Young Turks
23 January 1913, Enver Pasha, leader of the Young Turks,
entered the principal council chamber of the Sublime Porte with Talat
and Kemal
and shouted �Death to Kamil Pasha�. They forced the Grand Vizier to
resign at gunpoint and shot dead the Minister of War, General Nazim. Enver
then forced the Sultan to appoint his ally, Shevket, as Grand Vizier. The
British ensured safe passage for Kamil out of Turkey but he was never
reinstated as Grand Vizier. Enver, Talat and Kemal went on to establish a military junta to
govern Turkey.
30 December 1911, Turkey's Grand Vizier and
all the ministers resigned after opposition members of the Chamber of Deputies
boycotted the Assembly.
4 April 1909, The Young Turk, Mahmud Shevket, entered
17 December 1908, The new Turkish Parliament
convened, with a
Young Turk majority. The various ethnic groupos within the Ottoman
Empire now resisted centralised government, however kiberal it was, and
resented the Turkish language
16 August 1908, The Committee of Union and
Progress, the �Young
Turks�, announced a programme of reform and respect for the rights
of all within the Otto,man Empire, regardless of race or religion.
24 July 1908, Sultan Abdulhamid II, ruler
of the Ottoman Empire, was forced to implement reforms by the Young Turk
(Jonturkler) Movement. This included the reinstatement of the 1876
constitution and the recall of Parliament, both suspended under the
Sultan�s autocratic rule. The Young Turk Movement began in 1889 when a group of
medical students at the Istanbul Academy started a campaign to overthrow the
Sultan. The Movement spread to other colleges, and the authorities tried to
suppress it; they exiled many Young Turks to Paris, where they continued to plan
for a revolution.
6 December 1901, The
secret Turkish organization Committee of Union and Progress, composed of
members of the Young Turks movement, approved a plan to assassinate Abdul Hamid II,
Ottoman Sultan. One of the persons at the meeting, however, was a spy for the
Sultan, and informed security forces, who shut down the CUP's centre in
Istanbul.
10 January 1900, The Young Turks
published their manifesto in Cairo. It called for the modernisation of Turkey
and an end to �ineffective� Ottoman rule.
1891, The Young Turks
organised in Geneva. They wanted a return to the 23 December 1876 Constitution.
1889, The Young Turk movement was founded by an Albanian, Ibrahim Temo.
3 July 1908, In
Ottoman Turkey, Major
Ahmed Niyazi revolted against the provincial authorities, under the
autocratic rule of Sultan Abdulhamid II. The rebellion quickly
spread to other army divisions, forcing concessions by the Sultan.
8 February 1908. Czar Nicholas II ordered Russian troops to the
Iranian border after Turkey made
incursions into Iran.
28 January 1906, Markos Vafiadis, Greek General and politician,
was born (died 1992).
13 June 1905, Theodoros Delyanni, Greek statesman, born
1826, was murdered in revenge for the strict measure shad had taken against
gambling houses.
10 October 1904. Kurdish tribesmen massacred Armenians in
26 March 1904, Xenophon
Zolotas, Prime Minister of Greece, was born.
18 February 1904, Turks
besieging Shemshi Pasha massacred 800 Albanians.
17 September 1903, Turks massacred 10,000 in Macedonia.
2 August 1903, The
revolutionary organisation VMRO (Vnutrasnja Makedonska Revolucionarska
Organizacija, or Internal Revolutionary Macedonian Organisation) staged the
Illinden Uprising against Ottoman rule. They hoped to bring in the major
European powers, but the rebellion was badly organised and its leader, Gotse Delchev,
was captured and executed before it even began. The European powers avoided
involvement in the uprising and it was brutally suppressed by the Ottomans.
However post-event the Austrian Emperor Francis
Joseph, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
forced the Ottoman Government to pay compensation to Macedonia and allow in
foreign observers.
5 March 1903, A revised
German-Turkish Treaty regarding the Berlin to Baghdad railway was agreed.
Construction of the Turkish section was to begin in July 1903.
18 March 1902, Turkey
granted Germany permission to build a railway through its territory, which would ultimately link Berlin to
Baghdad.
14 December 1901, Paul I, King of Greece, was born.
9 November 1901, The Sultan of Turkey accepted a French
ultimatum to stop interfering with French interests in Turkey.
GrecekTurkish War 1897
4 December 1897. Greece and
Turkey signed a peace treaty.
20 May 1897, With Greek
troops demoralised and on the retreat, the Czar of Russia appealed to Turkey,
and an armistice was arranged.
17 May 1897, Only now did
Turkish troops attack Domokos (see 6 May 1897), this delay having given the
Greeks time to entrench good defences.
6 May 1897, The Turks
drove the Greeks from their defensive positions in front of Pharsala. The
Greeks retreated to Domokos.
27 April 1897, Turkish forces
only now reached Larissa. Neither side showed great military skill, with
political considerations interfering with good strategy.
23 April 1997, Turkish forces
reached Deliler. The Greeks could have retreated in good order to Larissa,
where a defensible position was available, but instead fled south in disorder
towards Pharsala.
19 April 1997, Turkish forces
occupied the Meluna Pass, threatening the Greek frontier town of Larissa just
10 miles to the southeast.
18 April 1897, Easter Sunday;
Edhem Pasha,
Turkish military leader, began a general advance from his headquarters at
Elassona against Greece. Turkish troops began
bombarding Arta.
10 April 1897, Greek irregular troops
crossed the frontier into Macedonia, then under Turkish rule, hoping to provoke
insurrection there.
Greek-Turkish conflict over Crete
18 June 1901, The Four European powers
controlling Crete rejected the initiative for union with Greece.
31 May 1901, The Greek National Assembly opened with Prince George,
High Commissioner for Crete, asking it to endorse a union with Greece. The
Greek delegates passed this resolution.
9 August 1900, Massacre of 200 people in
the village of Sagani, Anatolia.
17 April 1897. War broke out between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.� Turkey
accused Greece of fomenting revolt in Crete.� On 19 May 1897, after several defeats by
Turkey and having been forced to withdraw from Crete, Greece signed an
armistice with Turkey at Thessaly. Support for Greece by France and the UK saved it from total defeat,
but Greece had to pay large war indemnities to Ottoman Turkey, bankrupting the
country.
10 February 1897. Greece sent ships and troops to Crete, 4 days after Crete�s
proclamation of union with Greece.
4 February 1897, Christians in Canea, Crete, protested over the slow pace of reform by
the island�s Turkish Governor, which reforms were intended to safeguard their
rights. Turkish troops fired at the demonstrators, many of who took refuge
on European naval ships just offshore, and part of the town was burnt down.
6 February 1869, Greece agreed to withdraw
its forces from Crete, after threats from Ottoman Turkey.
11 December 1868, Greece and some European
nations had sent aid to the Christians in Crete; this day Turkey threatened to
blockade Greece unless it stopped this aid. Greece, to avoid another war,
complied, but see 1896.
Greek-Turkish War 1897
Armenian
massacre
29 August 1896. Many Armenians, perhaps 3,000 or more,
were being killed in Turkey three days after the Armenians seized the Ottoman
Bank in Istanbul, to draw the world�s attention to their fight against Ottoman
rule. The Armenian uprising began
in 1894, and they hoped to break free of Turkish rule as Bulgaria had done. Some 200,000
Armenians were killed in Anatolia. Britain�s
support for Armenia threatened the favoured position it had held for over 40
years in Istanbul. Germany began to manoeuvre to take Britain�s place, eager
to secure concessions for its Berlin to Baghdad Railway
project.
26 August 1896, Christian Armenian
Nationalists attacked the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople. This provoked a Turkish
campaign against the Armenians.
1 October 1895, In Constantinople, Muslim
Turks massacred Christian Armenians. In response, Russia made plans to take the
city.
1894, The Armenians within the Ottoman
Empire, numbering some 2.5 million, refused to pay greatly increased taxes
demanded by Sultan Abdu l Hamid II. From the late 1880s, Russia had been encouraging
these Armenians to demand greater autonomy from Turkey. This refusal of the tax
demands precipitated a massacre of thousands of Armenians by Turkish soldiers.
In turn this sparked off the raid by Armenians on the Ottoman Bank in Istanbul,
see 29/8.1896.
30 January 1890, Khaireddin, Turkish statesman, died.
19/ June 1886, Pasha Hobart, naval commander for Britain and
Turkey, died (born 1 April 1822).
9 March 1883, Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek statesman,
died.
Former
Turkish lands in Balkans redistributed
7/1881, The Greek frontier was
adjusted northwards at the expense of Turkey, adding some 300,000 people and
34,700 square kilometres to Greece.
12 March 1881, Kemal Attaturk, Turkish President, was born in
Salonika, Greece as Mustafa Kemal Pasha.
13 July 1878. At the Congress of Berlin, (Treaty of Berlin) Britain, Russia,
Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire reached agreement on
the future of the Balkan states, superseding the Treaty of San Stefano.� Northern Dobruja, formerly part of Bulgaria
under Turkish rule, was given to Romania.�
At the same time, Romania ceded Bessarabia to Russia.� Bessarabia was more desirable than Dobruja,
and Romania wanted Transylvania, which belonged to Hungary but had a mainly
Romanian population. The
independence of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro were recognised by Turkey;
Bulgaria was also divided into two parts, one of which, Eastern Rumelia, was to
be a self-governing Turkish Province.� In
1885 an uprising in Eastern Rumelia resulted in the union of that province with
Bulgaria. Russian naval expansion was limited, Austro-Hungary was allowed to occupy Bosnia-Hercegovina, the location
of Sarajevo.
Russia attacks Turkey; Western Europe alarmed at Russian expansionism
22
June 1878, At Shumen the Turks capitulated to the Russians; the
town of Shumen was ceded by Turkey to Bulgaria.�
It was renamed Kolarovgrad in 1950.
4
June 1878. Britain and Turkey signed a secret agreement by
which Britain was allowed to occupy Cyprus in return for protecting Turkey
against Russian advances in Anatolia.
3 March 1878. The Treaty of San Stefano ended the
war between Russia and Turkey. Bulgaria, Russia�s ally, was enlarged to include
much of Thrace and Macedonia, with ports on the Black Sea and Aegean. Britain
objected.� The arrival of a British fleet
on 15 February 1878 as the Russians stood at the gates of Istanbul persuaded
the Russians to make� peace. Russia and Britain were now on the brink of
war.
15
February 1878. A British
fleet arrived at Istanbul in support of the faltering Ottoman Empire. An
earlier decision to send a fleet had been reversed in January 1878.
8
February 1878. Britain
dispatched a fleet to Constantinople. A Conference concerning the growth of
Russian influence in the Balkans and the waning of Turkish power there had
broken down without agreement. In the summer of 1877 war broke out
between Russia and Turkey. Britain was
concerned that if Russia advanced to the Bosphorus, British interests in the
Mediterranean would be threatened so she intervened in favour of Turkey.
2
February 1878, Greece
declared war on Turkey.
31
January 1878. Following
the capture of Plevna (see 15 January 1877),
and also Plovdiv and Adrianople, the Russians closed in on Istanbul. The
Ottoman Turks opened truce negotiations at Adrianople.
25
January 1878, The first torpedo
was fired in warfare; a Russian boat sank a Turkish steamer.
20
January 1878, Russian
forces attacking Turkey captured Adrianople, threatening Constantinople and the
Straits.
10 December 1877,
Russian forces captured the Turkish city of Plevna (now in northern Bulgaria)
after a long siege. Turkey appealed to the European Powers to mediate.
11
September 1877, The Third Battle of Plevna.
30 July 1877, The
second Battle of Plevna.
21 July 1877, The
British Cabinet resolved to declare war on Russia if it occupied
Constantinople.
24 April 1877, After
the Turkish Parliament had met on 19 March 1877 and rejected Russian demands,
Russia declared war on Turkey.
18 November 1877. In the
Caucasus, Russia captured the fortress of Kars from Ottoman Turkey.
15 January 1877. Russia and Austria agreed
that Austria was to be neutral in any war in the Balkans between Turkey and
Russia. The two states rejected the
idea of a Slav state in the Balkans. Russia declared war on Turkey on 24
April 1877. Rumania entered the war on the side of Russia in May 1877 and a
joint Russian/Rumanian army laid siege to the Bulgarian town of Plevna. The Turks in Plevna surrendered in December
1877. See 31 January 1878.
23 December 1876, Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha, aged 54, proclaimed
a new Turkish Constitution, allowing
for representative Parliamentary Government, and also stated that the Ottoman
Empire was �indivisible�.
Serbia, Montenegro, attack Turkey but are defeated
31 October 1876. Under pressure from Russia,
Turkey agreed to an armistice with Serbia and Montenegro.
6 September 1876, British public opinion was
turned against Turkey by a pamphlet published by Gladstone, �The Bulgarian
Horrors and the Question of the East�. Russia prepared to attack Turkey, see
1877.
1 September 1876, Serbian forces were
heavily defeated by Ottoman Turkey at Alexinatz.
31 August 1876, Accession of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
Sicceeding his brother Abdul Aziz, Abdul Hamid gained prestige at
home for defeating Greece in 1897, and followed a pro-German foreign policy. His regime was autocratic and political
dissent was crushed.
9 August 1876. The Turks invaded Serbia and defeated the Serbs at Aleksinac. On 1 September 1876 the Turks again defeated
the Serbs at Aleksinatz.
1 July 1876 Montenegro
also declared war on Turkey.
30 June 1876. Serbia declared war on Ottoman Turkey.
�
30 May 1876, Abdul Aziz, 32nd Sultan of Ottoman
Turkey, born 9 February 1830, was forced
to abdicate. Succeeding his brother, Abdul Mejid, in 1861, he promised economic and political reform, but instead wasted money on
personal luxuries and grand building projects. Insurrections occurred in
Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875. He was assassinated on 3 June 1876.
31 January 1876, The �Andrassy Note� (see 30 December 1875)
was handed to the Ottoman Sultan in Constantinople.� The Sultan promised, but did nothing.
30 December 1875, Russia, Germany, and Austro-Hungary agreed on
the terms of a note to Constantinople calling
for Ottoman Turkey to deliver on its promises of equality for Christians with
Muslims and measures to protect Christians in the Balkans from persecution.� This was the so-called �Andrassy Note�, see 31 January 1876.
16 September 1875. Following
the anti-Turkish uprising in Bosnia and Hercegovina on 29 July 1875, the
Bulgarians rebelled against the
Turks, led by Khristo Botev,
in Stara Zagora.
14 June 1873. King Priam�s treasure of 8,7000 priceless
pieces was discovered in Turkey by the German � American Heinrich Schliemann. In
disinterring this treasure he destroyed what was left of ancient Troy.
6 September 1871, Death of Pasha Aali Mehmet, Turkish
statesman (born 1815). He strongly promoted Western style reforms of his
country.
1870, Heinrich Schliemann began
excavating the site of ancient Troy.
1869, Ottoman rule under Sultan
Abdul-Hamid continued to disproportionately benefit the 10% minority
Muslim population of Crete. A further rebellion by Cretan Christians started
civil conflict. European powers intervened, and after the British Vice-Consul
was killed by Muslims, Britain forced the independence of Ctete under Prince George
(1863-1913) of Greece.
2 August 1868, Constantine, King of the Hellenes, was born in
Athens (died 11 January 1923 of a brain haemorrhage in Palermo).
26 July 1867. King Otto I of Greece died.
18 June 1867, Turkey passed a law allowing, for the first time,
foreigners to own land within Turkey, except in Hejaz.
1866, Christians in Crete, resentful at Ottoman
rule, rebelled. Christian raids from the Sfakua area in the White Mountains of
Ctrete angered the Turks, and the Christians forced the surrender of an entire
Turkish army onh the Plains of Apokoronas in 1866. In 1867 Turkish revenge
raids on the fortified monastery of Arkadi caused its powder store to explode,
killing hundreds of refugee women and children there. See 11 December 1868.
18 August 1865, Alexander Mavrocordato, Greek statesman, died
(born 11 February 1791).
29 October 1864, The Greek Constitution was adopted. It
provided for a single-House Assembly elected by universal male suffrage. In
1911 a second Chamber was added.
23 August 1864, Eleutherios Venizelos,
Greek politician, was born in Crete.
6 June 1864, King George of Greece entered the Ionian Islands. They had been
ceded by Britain to Greece.
2 February 1864, Greece occupied Corfu.
14 November 1863. Britain
ceded the Ionian Islands to Greece.
29 October 1863, The new
King of Greece, George
I, arrived in Athens.
4 June 1863 A protocol between Britain, France, and Russia
provided for the incorporation of the Ionian
Islands with Greece.
23 October 1862, King Otto I, King of Greece, second son of Louis of
Bavaria, was overthrown. He had been elected King in 1832. However
his pro-German policies caused disputes. He spent the latter part of his life
in Munich.
25 June 1861, Sultan Abdul Mejid died. Born 23 April 1823,
he succeeded his father, Mahmud II, as Ottoman ruler in 1839. The Ottomans
had then just been defeated by the Egyptians at the Battle of Nisib under Ibrahim Pasha
and they would have advanced to take Constantinople, where they had
sympathisers, had Europe not intervened.
9 June 1861, Turkey
agreed with the French that Lebanon was to have autonomy, under a Christian
Governor to be appointed with the consent of both European Powers and Turkey.
19 September 1860, Andreas Metaxas, Greek politician, died in
Athens.
28 February 1857. British and
French troops ended their occupation of Piraeus,
which began on 26 May 1854.
18 February 1856, Abdul Mejid, the Ottoman Sultan, issued the
Hatt-i-Humayun Edict. This guaranteed full civic rights for his Christian
subjects, abolished torture and reformed prisons. These reforms were
effectively forced upon the Sultan by the western European Allies.
1829-54, Prelude
to Crimean War (see Russia); Western powers
concerned at Russian intervention in Turkey
26 May 1854. Franco-British forces occupied the port of Piraeus to prevent Greece
from joining the Crimean War with Russia against Turkey. See 28
February 1857.
27 March 1854. Crimean War began; Britain and France declared
war on Russia.� On 12 March 1854 the
British and French formally allied with Turkey. See 30 November 1853. The
ostensible cause of the Crimean War was a dispute between Russia, France, and
Turkey over control of the Christian Holy Places in Turkish-controlled
Palestine. The Turks refused Russia�s demands and Russia marched into the
Turkish vassal states of Wallachia and Serbia. This threatened Russian
occupation of Istanbul and hence Britain�s communications with its Indian
Empire, so Britain entered the war against Russia.
20
March 1854, Russia sent troops southwards
across the Danube, threatening Ottoman Turkey. Ultimately this posed the threat
of Russia on the Mediterranean, putting communications between Britain and
India at risk, and so was unacceptable to the UK.
12
March 1854, Britain and France made an
alliance with Ottoman Turkey.
3 January 1854, An Anglo-French squadron entered the Black
Sea, and insisted that the Russian fleet withdraw from attacking Turkey.
30 November 1853. The Russians destroyed a Turkish fleet at Sinope. On 3
January 1854 British and French fleets entered the Black Sea to protect
Ottoman Turkish coasts and shipping. See 4 October 1853, and 23 March 1854.
4 October 1853. The
Russians refused to withdraw from the Danubian Principalities, and Turkey
declared war on Russia. On 23 October 1853 the Turks, under Omar Pasha,
crossed the Danube into Wallachia. See 30 November 1853.
23
September 1853. The British fleet was ordered to Istanbul.
22 June 1853,
A Russian Army attacking Turkey,
under Prince
Mikhail Gorchakov, invaded Turkey�s Danubian Principalities.
31 May 1853,
Tsar
Nicholas I of Russia despatched troops to protect Christian
minorities in Ottoman-ruled Moldavia and Wallachia.
15
January 1850, The British fleet blocked the Greek
port of Piraeus to force the Greek Government to pay compendsation to
Gibraltar-born Jew Don Pacifico, whose home had been ransacked
during an anti-Semitic riot in 12/1849. The Greek Government agreed to pay on
26 April 1850. However the episode annoyed France and Russia, who were also
guarantors of Greek independence. This marked a new level of British
imperialism abroad.
24 December 1845, George I,
King of Greece, was born.
15 September 1843, Military
revolt against King
Otto�s absolute rule. A constitution was introduced, limiting his
powers.
1 June 1835, Otto I
assumed the Kingship of Greece.
21 September 1842, Abdul-Hamid II,
Sultan of Turkey from 31 August 1876, was born (died 10 February 1918).
13 July 1841, The Straits Convention, signed by the five
great European powers, guaranteed Ottoman sovereignty and closed the Bosporus
and Dardanelles to all foreign warships. This
was directed at preventing Russian expansion.
8 July 1833. Turkey,
by signing the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi, gave Russia the right to close the
Dardanelles Straits in times of war. This treaty was signed by the Ottoman
Sultan due to the threat faced by the Ottoman Empire from the revolt in Egypt. Europe became very concerned at growing
Russian influence over Ottoman Turkey.
14 September 1829. The Treaty of Adrianople
preserved the Ottoman Empire. Reeling
under a series of defeats, the Turks faced occupation of Istanbul by the
Russians; they held back from this for fear of destroying the Turkish Empire
entirely and starting another European War. The Turks retained nominal
sovereignty over Wallachia and Moldavia, but Russia has the real power here.
Europeans grew anxious over the growing power of Russia.
11 June 1829. The Russians defeated the
Turks at the Battle of Kulecheva, opening up a route to the Balkan Mountains.
1831-41,
Rebellion in Egypt against Ottoman rule; Russia offers to help Turley whilst
Europe hesitates
1 June 1841, Mehmet Ali became hereditary Viceroy of Egypt.
13 February 1841, The Ottoman Sultan issued a decree confirming Mehemet Ali as ruler of Egypt, also Nubia and Darfur.
27 November 1840, Under the
Convention of Alexandria, drawn up by Napier, Mohammed Ali of Egypt agreed to
return the Ottoman fleet and renounce claims over Syria, in return for
hereditary rule over Egypt.
3 November 1840, Acre was
taken by British forces.
10 October 1840, Beirut
fell to British forces. The French decided not to support Mehmet Ali of Egypt.
6 October 1840. France, Britain, and Russia
entered the war between Turkey and Egypt on Turkey�s
side. They occupied the Syria-Palestine coastland to cut off the Egyptian
Pasha from the route to Anatolia. On 4 November 1840 the British fleet
bombarded the ports of Beirut and Acre.
9 September 1840, British
gunboats bombarded Beirut and landed troops there.
15 July 1840, The Treaty of London. Britain, Austria,
Prussia and Russia agreed to form a military alliance against Egypt, which was
being pressured to give up the Ottoman fleet it held, and abandon claims on
northern Syria, Medina, Mecca and Crete.
3 October 1839, Beirut fell to the French, and Ibrahim,
surrounded by a hostile population and cut off by sea, retreated hurriedly.
11 August 1839, The
French fleet appeared off Beirut, hostile
to Ibrahim,
and this encouraged a revolt by the Syrians against the tyranny of
Ibrahim.� See 3 October 1839.
2 July 1839, Mahmud II,
Sultan of Turkey, died, aged 54. He had been poisoned, after his fleet surrendered to Egypt at Alexandria.� He was succeeded by his 16-year-old son, Adbul Mejid I.
24 June 1839. Ottoman
Sultan,
Mahmud II, launched another offensive against Mohammed Ali, Pasha of Egypt.
However this day at the Battle of Nezib
Egyptian forces under Ibrahim Pasha defeated the Ottomans. The
battle took place near the present day Turkish-Syrian border.
21 April 1839, A revolt
against Mehemet
Ali of Egypt began in Hauran,
Arabia.� The Ottoman Army invaded
Syria, only to be heavily defeated
by Ibrahim
at Nezib.
27 May 1833, See 1
November 1831, Mehemet
Ali of Egypt captured the Ottoman garrison of Acre.
4 May 1833. A peace
treaty between Turkey and Egypt gave Egypt the territories of Syria and
Cilicia, ending the war between them that began in 1832, see 21 December 1832.
20 February 1833, At Constantinople�s invitation, a Russian
squadron entered the Bosphorus.� The
Russians had promised to protect the Ottoman capital against Mehemet of
Egypt and Russia got to be effective gatekeeper of the entrance to
the Black Sea.� The western European powers had procrastinated about helping
Constantinople, whilst Russia had come up with concrete assistance.
23 December 1832, Mehemet Ali
of Egypt continued to advance towards Constantinople, defeating the Turks at Konia.
21 December 1832. Russia offered military assistance to
Turkey against Egyptian forces who were 50 miles from Istanbul. The
Egyptians had invaded Turkish lands after Turkey broke a promise to give
Syria to Egypt in return for help during the Greek war of Independence. See
4 May 1833.
1 August 1832, Ibrahim Pasha captured the city of Antioch from Ottoman Turkey during the Syrian War.
9 July 1832, Mehmet Ali
crushed an Ottoman Army at Homs, and on 17 July 1833 defeated the main Ottoman
Army at the Pass of Beilan.
15 June 1832, Mehemet Ali
captured Damascus.�
1 November 1831, Mehemet Ali,
Pasha of Egypt,
began a revolt against Sultam Mahmud, Ottoman ruler in Constantinople.�
1830-32 Formation
of the Kingdom of Greece
8 August 1832, Independent Greece
established a monarchy. Otto I, son of King Ludwig of Bavaria, became
King of Greece.
21 July 1832, The Greek frontier was
fixed, running from the Gulf of Arta to the Gulf of Lamia.
7 May 1832, Greece
was proclaimed an independent kingdom, with Otto
I as King. Britain, France and
Russia guaranteed protection. Otto ruled as an absolute monarch, surrounded
by Bavarian advisors, and his rule was unpopular.
Mehemet had helped to
suppress initial rebellions by the Greeks in Morea (southern Greece) but now
feared that Constantinople would not reward but dispose of him.� On this day Mehemet entered Syria and began a
siege of the Ottoman garrison in Acre.�
See 27 May 1833.
9 October 1831, The first
Greek President, Ioannes Kapodistrias, aged 55, was assassinated. His
brother Avgoustinous
was made provisional President.
3 February 1830. At the
London conference, Britain, France, and
Russia guaranteed Greek independence as a kingdom, under the Protocol of
London.
27 September 1829, Mount Ararat was first climbed.
16 June 1826, The insurrection of the Janissaries in Istanbul ended.
10 June 1826, The final revolt of the Janissaries in Turkey began. They
objected to the formation of a new military corps to replace them, by Mahmud.
4 April 1826, The Anglo-Russian protocol was issued.
It proposed that Greece be an autonomous State within the Ottoman Empire,
paying a tribute to the Porte, with its ruler appointed by the Sultan. In
return Ottoman Turkey was to withdraw its troops from Greece. However Sultan Mahmud
II believed he was winning against the secessionist Greeks and would
render the negotiations moot by soon reconquering Greece. Meanwhile the British
negotiator, Foreign
Minister George Canning, was in failing health and due to retire;
his successor, the Duke of Wellington, was much less concerned
about the fate of Greece.
18 July 1823, The Treaty
of Erzerum was signed, between the Sultan of Ottoman Turkey and the Qajar
Shah of Persia;
this Treaty defined their common frontier in lower Iraq. However the two powers
continued to dispute possession of the town of Muhammara, at the mouth of the
Karun River, a disagreement dating from 1812. In 1847 a second Treaty of
Erzerum was signed, giving Muhammara to Persia.
Agreement on creation of the modern State of Greece
22 March 1829. At a conference in London, the
boundaries of the independent state of Greece were agreed, after nearly 400
years of Ottoman rule.
16 November 1828, By the
London Protocol, Btritain, Russia and France recognised the independence of
Greek Morea (Peleponnese) and the Cyclades Islands.
26 April 1828. In
support of the Greek struggle for independence, Russia
declared war on the Ottoman Empire. On 8 June 1828 the Russians crossed the
Danube, and took Varna on 12 October 1829.
18 January 1828, Ioannis
Kapodistrias was elected the first President of Greece.
20 October 1827. In
response to the rebuffed ultimatum of 6 July 1827, British, French, and Russian
forces destroyed the Turkish fleet at the Battle
of Navarino. Over 50 Turkish and Egyptian ships were sunk. This ensured the creation of an independent
Greek State, whose exact boundaries had yet to be established.
8 September 1827, Egyptian
troops landed at Navarino (now in southern Greece).
6 July 1827. At the Treaty
of London, France, Britain, and Russia threatened to use force against
Turkey if the Ottoman Empire did not agree to an armistice with Greece. In
August 1827 the Turks refused this. See 20 October 1827.
5 June 1827. Athens was captured by the Ottoman Turks.
11 April 1827, The Greek
National Assembly elected Capo d�Istria as President.
23 April 1826, The Turks captured Missolonghi. This town
was famous in Europe because the poet Lord Byron
had died there in 1824, after a lifetime promoting the cause of an independent
Greece. After a prolonged siege that began in 4/1825 the Greeks attempted a
break-out, but most were massacred. This incident appalled liberal opinion in
western Europe, which led to the intervention at Navarino 20 October 1827.
19 April 1824, Lord Byron
died at sunset of marsh fever (malaria) at Missolonghi, helping the Greeks during their struggle for independence from Ottoman
Turkey; he was 36. See 22 March 1829.
23 April 1823, Sultan Adbul Mejid was born,
see 25 June 1861.
25 March 1823, Britain recognised the Greek insurgents as
a belligerent party.� This was
despite fears that the Greek rebellion would spark another Turkish-Russian war.
19 June 1822. The Greeks under Constantine Kanaris destroyed an Ottoman Turkish fleet. A
large Ottoman army invaded Greece in July 1822. In January 1823 the Ottomans
failed to capture the key fort of Missolonghi at the entrance to the Gulf of
Corinth and were forced to withdraw.
13 January 1822. Greek
rebels proclaimed independence from the Ottoman Turks at Epirus.
19 June 1821, At the Battle of Dragashani, a Greek uprising
against Turkish rule was defeated.
2 April 1821, The
Greeks under Turkish rule began a revolt under Archbishop
Germanos of Patras.� The Greek
population rose en masse, captured the capital of the Morea Peninsula,
Tripolitza, and the revolt then spread north, and to the Greek Islands. These islands were the main recruiting
ground of the Ottoman Navy, so Turkish sea power was weakened.
5 November 1815, By The Treaty of Paris
Britain gained the Ionian Islands, including Corfu.
11 February 1791, Alexander Mavrocordato, Greek
statesman, was born (died 18 August 1865).
11 February 1776, Giovanni Capo d�Istria,
President of the Greek Republic, was born (died 9 October 1831).
End of period of conflict between Ottoman Turkey
and the central European� powers, also
Russia. Turkey was losing power to Russia
5 April 1826, Russia demanded the
cessation of Ottoman military operations on the Danube.
12 May 1812, A peace treaty was signed between
Russia and Turkey.
26 September 1809, Ottoman forces at the
fortresses of Brailoff and Silestria, in the Danubian Provinces of Moldavia and
Wallachia, were defeated by the Russians.
5 June 1809, A peace treaty was signed in Chanak between
England and Turkey.
5 January 1809, Britain, now in opposition
to Russia, concluded the Treaty of the Dardanelles with Ottoman Turkey.
1808,� Ottoman Grand Vizier Mustafa Bairakdar, aged 33,
marched on Constantinople to restore Sultan Selim III. The Janissaries then strangled Selim; Baraikdar had the new Sultan Mustapha IV deposed and
assassinated. Baraikdar
then installed Selim�s
23-year-old nephew as Sultan, and Baraikdar himself then committed
suicide, to avoid being captured by the Janissaries.
The new Sultan began a 31-year reign as Mahmud II.
28
May 1807, Ottoman Sultan Selim III was deposed by the
Janissaries. He was succeeded by the 28-year-old
son of Sultan Abdul Hamid, who ruled as Mustapha IV.
27 December 1806,
Russian troops sacked Bucharest in the Ottoman Danubian province of Wallachia.
16 October 1806, War
started between Ottoman Tiurkey and Russia. The French had persuaded Sultan Selim
III to loosen his rule over the Danubian Provinces of Moldavia and
Wallachia, but Russia then invaded them.
11 November 1804,
Austria and Russia made a joint declaration to maintain the shaky Ottoman
Empire against French expsjnsion in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean.
1 March 1799, Ottoman
and Russian forces evicted the French from the Ionian islands. These islands
now came under Ottoman protection.
28 June 1797, France
occupied the Ionian Islands, off the western coast of Greece.
For Napoleonic campaign in Syria, 1790s, see
France-Germany
9 January 1792, Russia and Turkey signed the Peace
of Jassy.
8 January 1792. The Ottoman Turks bowed to
the inevitable and accepted Catherine the Great�s Russian sovereignty over
Georgia. Britain feared further Russian
expansion in the Black Sea as this could threaten British Mediterranean
interests.
7 April 1791, Selim III (1761-1808) became
Sultan of Ottoman Turkey.
22 December 1790, Russian Field-Marshal
Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov captured the Ottoman fortress of Ismail, at
the mouth of the Danube.
6 October 1789, Austrian forces under General Gideon
von Lauden took Belgrade form the Ottoman Turks.
22 September 1789, Austrian and Russian
troops under Francis
Duke of Coburg and Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov defeated
the Ottoman Turks at Martinesci, on the River rymnik in Moldova.
31 July 1789, Austrian and Russian
troops under Francis
Duke of Coburg and Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov defeated
the Ottoman Turks at Fokshany (now, Focsani, Romania).
7 April 1789, Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid
(born 1725) died aged 64. He had succeeded his brother Mustafa III in 1773.
6 January 1784, Under the Treaty of
Constantinople, Ottoman Turkey ceded the Crimea to Russia.
16 July 1774. The Russians and Turks signed the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainardji, ending
their six-year war. Moldavia and Wallachia were returned to Turkey and the
Crimea became independent. Russia gained control of much of the northern Black
Sea coast. The Sultan was allowed to remain spiritual leader of the Crimean
Moslems; however Russia gained the right to build and protect an Orthodox
church in Istanbul. Russian merchants were to have unrestricted access to the
Black Sea and Mediterranean across Ottoman territories. This gave Russia a pretext to intervene in Turkish internal affairs.
25 December 1773, Mustafa III, Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire, died. He was succeeded by his brother, Abdul Hamid I.
6 July 1770, Battle
of Cecme; the entire Ottoman fleet was destroyed by the Russians in the
Aegean Sea.
28 May 1740, Mahmud I,
ruler of Turkey, agreed to respect Christian rights in the Holy Land.
20 September 1730, Mahmud I
succeeded Ahmed
III as Ottoman Sultan.
17 September 1730, The
Ottoman Grand Vizier was strangled in a revolt by the Janissaries. Sultan Ahmed
III (1673-1730) was forced to abdicate, having suffered serious defeats by the Austrians.
21 July 1718, The Peace of Passarowitz ended the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and
the Holy Roman Empire.� The position of
the two Empires was stabilised in the Balkans until �well into the nineteenth century.
5 August 1716, The Ottoman Turks were
defeated by Eugene
of Savoy at Peterwardein.
21 July 1711, Peter the Great of Russia had to
sign the Treaty of Pruth after his defeat
, alongside his Wallachian and Moldavian allies, by the Ottoman Turks. Turkey
recovered the Fortress of Azov, and King Charles XII of Sweden was permitted safe
return to Stockholm.
23 August 1703, Ottoman Sultan Mustafa III
was deposed.
13 June 1700, Peter the Great concluded a peace with Turkey. Under the Treaty of Constantinople, Turkey ceded the Black Sea fortress
of Azov to Russia, and Russia and Turkey made a 30-year truce.
26 January 1699, Prince Eugene, having invaded Serbia and Bosnia, forced the Turks to
conclude the Peace of Carlowitz.�
This restored the entire Kingdom of Hungary, with the exception of the
Banat of Temesvar, to Austria from Turkey.�
This was the start of the rise to
power of the Hapsburg Dynasty.
16 November 1698, A congress began in Sremski Karlovici to discuss an end to the war between The
Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire.
11 September 1697, At the Battle
of Zenta, Prince
Eugene of Savoy, leading an Austrian
army, defeated the Ottomans under Mustafa II,
see 26 January 1699.
22 August 1696, Forces of Venice and Turkey fought near
Molino.
28 July 1696, Russian forces under Peter the Great captured the
fortress commanding the Sea of Azov from its Ottoman defenders.
1691, Ottoman Sultan Suleiman
III died aged 50 as his army was defeated in Morea (Greece,
Peleponese).� He was succeeded by his
49-year-old brother who ruled until 1695 as Ahmed II.
19 August 1691, Louis of Baden won a major victory overt the
Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Szelankemen. Louis had continued the war against
the Ottomans after his ally Austria had been diverted inti fighting France as
part of the League of Augsburg. Grand Vizier Zade Mustafa Kuprili, aged 54, died in
the battle, which led to the expulsion of the Ottomans from Hungary.
8 October 1690. Belgrade was
retaken by the Ottoman Turks.
6 September 1688, Austrian forces captured Belgrade, Serbia,
from the Turks. The Austrians went on to occupy Bosnia, Serbia and Wallachia.
26 September 1687. The Parthenon and the Propylea were destroyed when
the Venetians bombarded Athens. The Venetian army was besieging the Turks when
a mortar bomb fired by the Venetians set off Turkish gunpowder stored in the
Acropolis.
High point of
Ottoman advance into Europe; halted at Vienna 1662-95
6 February 1695, Ottoman Sultan Ahmed II
died (born 1642, acceded 1691, succeeding his brother Suleiman II). He was defeated by
the Austrians at Slankamen (20
August 1691), which denied possession of
Hungary to the Ottomans, This battle established the Danube as the boundary
between Austria and Ottoman Turkey.
2 November 1687, Ottoman Sultan Mohammed
IV, aged 46, was deposed after a reign of nominally 43 years. This
nwas a consequence of the Turkish defeat by Austria in Hungary. He was succeded
by his 45-year-old brother who reigned until 1691 as Suleiman III. He introduced
liberalising reforms.
12 August 1687, At the Second
Battle of Mohacs (Hungary), Charles of Lorraine defeated the Ottoman Turks.
2
September 1686, Charles of Lorraine captured the Turkish
capital of Hnngary after a siege of nearly 2 months.
11 September 1683. The conquering armies of Islam
under Vizier Kara Mustafa were defeated at
the gates of Vienna. The Turks had been besieging Vienna since July 1683.
Relief came under Poland�s King John III and Charles, Duke of Normandy. The
Ottoman Sultan ordered Mustafa to commit suicide.
7 September 1683, German reinforcements arrived outside the besieged city of Vienna.
31 July 1683, Invading Turkish forces reached the
gates of Vienna.�� If Vienna
fell, Germany would be open to a Turkish invasion.
11 August 1664, Peace of Vasvar. A 20-year peace was agreed between Hapsburg
Austria and Ottoman Turkey. Turkey retained sovereignty over Transylvania, also
keeping the brder fortresses it had captured.
1 August 1664. The Ottoman Turkish advance into Austria
was halted by Hapsburg (Austrian)
defences at the Battle of St Gotthard.
22 January 1662, Battle of Nagyszollos. Janos Kemeny, Prince of Transylvania, was
defeated and killed by a Turkish army under Mehmed Kucuk. Turkey regained
control of Transylvania.
16 October 1676, The Treaty
of Zuravno ended the 4 year war between Poland and the Ottoman Empire.
Ottoman Turkey acquired Podolia and much of the Polish Ukraine, thereby bringing Ottoman territory up to
the border with Russia.
27 September 1669. Candia, the capital of Crete,
was captured by the Ottoman Turks
from the Venetians after a 21 year
siege. Spain, Britain, France, the Pope, Tuscany, and Malta, had all supplied
troops to the Venetians but to no avail. Towards the end the Ottoman Turks intensified the blockade and disagreements broke out
between the allies leading to the withdrawal of some of the Europeans.
13 May 1654. The Battle of the Dardanelles took place. The
Venetian navy defeated Turkish forces.
8 August 1648, In
Constantinople, the Janissaries deposed Sultan Ibrahim after he ordered
the lifting of the siege of Candia (Heraklion), Crete. On 18 August 1648 Ibrahim
was strangled by his own executioner and replaced by his eldest son, 9-year old
Mohammed IV.
1640, Ottoman Sultan Murad IV died aged 31 after a 17-year reign
during which he had re-established order by a reign of terror. He was succeeded
by his brother Ibrahim
I, aged 25, who began an 8-year reign, dominated by his mother
Kusseem Sultana, and hos story-teller, Sheker-Pare.
20 May 1622, Ottoman
Sultan Osman
II was murdered. He had alienated the powerful Janissaries by attempting to
eliminate them; instead, he was imprisoned in his own palace by them, before
being strangled this day.
20 September 1620, Battle of Jassy. Hetman Stanislaus Zolkiewski
with 10,000 men decisively defeated a larger Turkish force. However the Ottoman
Sultan, Osman
II, now approached with a much larger force, and Zolkiewski
retreated.
Sultan Ahmed I
22 December 1617, Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I died (born 1590,
acceded 1603). He fought a long and losing war against Persia, 1602-12. He was
succeeded by Mustafa
I.
1616, The Blue Mosque, Constantinople, was completed.
11 November 1606, The
Treaty of Zsitvatorok ended the Long War between the Hapsburgs and the Ottoman
Empire.
1603, Sultan Mohammed III died aged 37. He was
succeeded by his 14-year-old son who ruled until 1617 as Ahmed I.
18 April 1590, Ahmed I,
Ottoman Emperor, was born.
3 April 1596, Sinan Pasha,
Turkish soldier and statesman, died (born 1515)
1595, The last killings under the Law of Fratricide, see 1481. Sultan Mohammed III ordered the execution of his 19 brothers. The
succession now automatically went to the eldest male member of the ruling
House. The system of sending Ottoman princes to the provinces to learn how to
rule now ended. Instead they spent their lives in the kafe (cage), a group of
buildings in the royal palace, from which they emerged only to rule or when
dead. They lived lives of ;uxurious imprisonment, surrounded by concubines.
This resulted in a significant decline in the quality of the Sultans, who often
came to rule feeble on body or mind.
26 October 1595, Hungary
defeated Ottoman Turkey at Giurgiu, Wallachia (modern-day Romania).
21 May 1590, The
Ottoman-Safavid Peace Treaty extended the borders of the Ottoman Empire to the
Caucasus and the Caspian.
Selim II, ruled 1566 - 74
12 December 1574, Selim II, Sultan of Turkey, died, aged 50. He was succeeded by
his eldest son, 27-year old Murad III, who had his
brothers strangled
in his presence.
7 March 1573. Venice concluded a peace
with the Turks by which Venice recognised Turkey�s sovereignty over Cyprus.
7 October 1571. The Ottoman Turkish
fleet under Ali Pasha was defeated by the
navies of Spain, Venice, and the Pope at the Battle of Lepanto, in the Gulf of
Corinth. Christendom was concerned at the
fall of Cyprus to Turkey, under Selim II, Suleiman the Great�s successor. This was the last battle fought between
galleys. The Turks used ramming tactics, but allied ships used firepower to
defeat the Turks. Although Ottoman
Turkey retained control of Cyprus, its western expansion in the Mediterranean
was halted. The Ottomans lost 230 galleys to the Christians 17.
22 September 1571, The Allied Christian Fleet
was formed. It consisted of 300 ships at Messina, under the command of Don Juan
of Austria. On 23 September the fleet sailed to attack the Turks.
1 August 1571, Ottoman forces captured
the port of Famagusta, Cyprus, from Venice.
18 September 1570, Ottoman Turkey began a
siege of Famagusta, Cyprus. Most of the civilian population and all the garrison were massacred.
9 September 1570, Ottoman Turkey took
Nicosia, Cyprus, The defenders were not numerous enough to fully man the
defences. Most of the civilian population and all the garrison were massacred.
22 July 1570, Ottoman Turkey began a
siege oif Nicosia, Cyprus.
Suleiman
the Manificant, ruled 1520 - 66
6
September 1566. Suleiman
the Magnificent, leader of the Ottoman Empire for 46 years, died. He had
brought the Ottoman� Empire to the peak
of its power, ruling an area from Hungary to Mesopotamia, and
promoting justice and culture. His eldest surviving son, the incompetent
drunkard Selim,
succeeded him. All other potential rivals had been eliminated by intrigue and
murder.
8 September 1565, The Great Siege of Malta was raised.
18 May 1565. The Ottoman Turks
arrived at Malta
to try and capture it, see 21 December 1522. However the island held out until relieved by a Christian fleet from
Sicily arrived in September 1565. Casualties had been heavy for both the
Turks and the Maltese; however the Turks had been riven by disputes between
their naval and army commanders. The Turks returned to Istanbul, their hopes of dominating the western
Mediterranean dashed.
14 August 1551, Ottoman Turks captured the
port of Tripoli, in modern-day Libya, from the Order of Knights of St John, a
Christian Order based in Malta.
4 July 1546, Death of Ottoman Admiral Khair el Din,
better known as Barbarossa (born ca.
1478).
28 September 1538, At the Battle of Preveza, the Turkish fleet under Suleiman the
Magnificent, commanded by Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, defeated the Holy
League forces of Charles V, commanded by Andrea Doria.
24 February 1538, The Treaty of Nagyvarad; peace was declared between King Ferdinand
and the Turks.� John Zapolya was recognised as King of
Hungary, whilst Ferdinand
retained northern and western Hungary and was recognised as heir to the
Hungarian throne.
6 September 1537, As Venetian reinforcements
approached corfu, and with Holy Roman Empire atatcks on the Ottomans in
Hungary, Suleiman abandoned the siege of Corfu.
18 August 1537, Suleiman began a siege of
Corfu. He was assisted by the French navy, against Holy Roman Empire and Venetian
forces defending Corfu.
31 December 1534. The Ottoman
army captured Baghdad. By 1546 they controlled
Yemen, gateway to the Red Sea.
13 July 1534. Ottoman
armies captured Tabriz in north
western Persia. See Iran for more details
25 June 1532, Suleiman I
attempted another invasion of Hungary, but failed.
15 October 1529. The
Ottoman Turks withdrew from their siege
of Vienna, as winter approached.
23 September 1529, Turkish forces began a siege of Vienna.
8 September 1529, Invading Turkish forces captured the city of Buda.
See also Islam � North Africa & Middle East
27 May 1529, Ad-Din Barbarossa completed his conquest of
Algeria, bringing the Ottoman Empire
to its peak.
10 May 1529, The Turkish Army under Suleiman I left Constantinople
to invade Hungary.
29 August 1526, The Battle of Mohacs.� The Turkish army under Suleiman I defeated the Hungarians under King Loius II, who was killed
whilst retreating.� Suleiman took Buda, whilst Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and John
Zapolya, Prince of Transylvania, disputed over the succession. As a result of
this dispute, Dubrovnik achieved
independence, although it recognised Turkish overlordship. The Hapsburgs now
ruled Bohemia and Hungary.
Rhodes conquered by Ottoman Turks
21 December 1522. Rhodes,
formerly the base of the Knights of St John, was conquered by the Ottoman
Turks, led by Suleiman, after a six-month siege.� The Knights of St John, driven out of Rhodes,
were given permission by Emperor Charles V in 1530 to settle in Malta.� See 18 May 1565.
20 December 1522,
Honourable surrender at Rhodes. Both sides had suffered heavy losses. Just 150
Knights, plus 1,500 other troops, were left as defenders, and most of these
were wounded. The Turks had suffered 50 � 1000,000 dead out of total attacking
force of 200,000. Suleiman pulled 1 mile back form the walls, and fighting
ceased. Had Christian Venice or Spain provided assistance, Rhodes might have
held out indefinitely.
18 December 1522, The
Turks finally broke into Rhodes, but the Knights continued fierce resistance in
the streets.
15 December 1522,
Negotiations over surrender at Rhodes broke down.
1 December 1522, Suleiman,
confident of victory in the siege of Rhodes but facing heavy losses of his own
men, began negotiating for surrender of Rhode on honourable termns. The
defenders could stay or leave, and their religion would be respected.
28 July 1522, Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I began a siege
of the Knights of St. John in Rhodes.
25 June 1522, Ottoman
Turks established a beachhead on Rhodes Island.
Ottoman Turks attack Rhodes
21 September 1520, Ottoman Sultan Selim
died, aged 53. He was succeeded by his 24-year old son, Suleiman I (The Magnificent).
2 October 1518, A major political triumph for Cardinal Wolsey of England. He
got all major European powers (England, The Papacy, France, the Holy Roman
Empire and Spain) to sign the Treaty of London, uniting them to fight Ottoman
Turkey.
24 August 1516, Selim I, Ottoman Sultan, defeated and killed
Mamluk Sultan Kansu
al Guari of Egypt, near Aleppo in Syria. Selim I now took control of
Syria.
7 September 1514, Ottoman Sultan Selim I captured Tabriz, previously the
capital of the Safavid Persian Shah Ismail I.
23 August 1514, At the Battle of Chaldiran, Selim I , ruler of the Shia
Muslim Ottoman Empire, defeated the Sunni Muslim Persians under Shah Ismail I.
Drawing on lessons learnt from fighting European armies, the Ottoman Army was
well disciplined and equipped with heavy cannon and musket-armed infantry. In
contrast the smaller Persian Army relied on the cavalry charge and possessed no
artillery. The Safavid capital at Tabriz was taken by the Ottoman Turks,
forcing the Persians to move their capital further east. This battle was
instrumental in fixing the present day frontier between Turkey and Iran.
25 May 1512, Ottoman Sultan Bayazid II died shortly after abdicating. He
was succeeded by his youngest son, Selim, who successfully defeated his two
brothers in the ensuing civil war.
28 April 1512, Ottoman Sultan Bayezid abdicated after his two
sons successfully revolted, in favout of his youngest son Selim, Governor of Trebizond,
who became Selim
I.
6 November 1494, Suleiman the Magnificant, Ottoman Sultan, was
born
1518, Ottoman Turkey took Algiers.
1517, Ottoman Turkey captured the city of Acre.
20 January 1517, The
Ottomans conquered Cairo, Egypt.
1516, The Ottoman Turks captured
Damascus.
5 July 1515. The Ottoman
Turks, led by Sultan Selim, invaded Egypt. The Mameluke dynasty was destroyed.
23 August 1514, At the Battle
of Chaldiran, Selim I , ruler of the Shia Muslim Ottoman
Empire, defeated the Sunni Muslim Persians under Shah Ismail I. Drawing on
lessons learnt from fighting European armies, the Ottoman Army was well disciplined
and equipped with heavy cannon and musket-armed infantry. In contrast the
smaller Persian Army relied on the cavalry charge and possessed no artillery.
The Safavid capital at Tabriz was taken by the Ottoman Turks, forcing the
Persians to move their capital further east. This battle was instrumental in fixing the present day frontier between
Turkey and Iran.
1512, Death of Bayezid I
(1448-1512), Ottoman Sultan 1481-1512. He succeeded his father, Mehmed II.
he fought wars against Hungary, Poland, Venice, Egypt and Persia, establishing
further the power of the Ottoman Empire.
War between
Ottoman Turkey and Venice
20 August 1503, A peace was concluded between Venice,
Hungary amnd Ottoman Turkey. Venice gave up Lepanto, Modon, Coron and Navarino
in Morea (Peleponnese, Greece), also Durazzo in Albania. Venice retained
Cephalonia., Hungary agreed a 7-year truce woith Turkey.
30 August 1502, Venice seized the Adriatic island of Santa
Maura from Tiurkey.
1501, Mehmet
Bey, Ottoman Governor of Elbasan, central Albania, took the Adriatic
port of Durazzo from the Venetians.
15 August 1500, The Venetian port of Navarino (now Pilos)
and Coton in Morea (Peleponnese, Greece), fell to the Ottoman Turks.
9 August 1500, The Ottoman Turks captured the Venetian fortress of
Modon, in Morea, Peleponnese, Greece.
29 August 1499, Ottoman forces captured the fortress of
Lepanto from Venice.
25 August 1499, The Venetian fleet was defeated at the
Battle of Zonchia by the Ottomans. This was the first time cannon had been used
in a naval battle. The Venetian-Ottoman War, 1499-1503, started. Venetian
sea-power in the Mediterranean was an obstacle to Ottoman expansion. Ottoman
Turkey gained the upper hand, and by 1503 Ottoman cavalry raids were reaching
into Venetian territory. Venice was forced to recognise Turkish gains.
17 July 1490, Lightning struck an old Greek church in Constantinople in
which the Ottoman Turks were storing gunpowder; the ensuing explosion killed
5,000.
3 May 1481, Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, died and was succeeded by his 34-year
old son Bayezid
II.Mehmet II promulgated the Law of Fratricide � that
whichever son inherited the Sultanate should assassinate all his brothers, to
preserve order. This law lasted for over 100 years, see 1595.
13 October 1479, The
Battle of Kenyermezo.� The Hungarian
army under Pal
Kinizsi and Istvan Bathori defeated the Ottoman army in Transylvania, Hungary.
24 January 1479, The Republic
of Venice and the Ottoman Empire signed a peace treaty.� Venice ceded Argo, Negroponte, Lemnos, and
Scutari, and agreed to pay an annual tribute of 10,000 golden ducats.
11 August 1473, Ottoman Turkey defeated the
Turkomans at the Battle of Otlukbeli. The �White Sheep Turkomans�, under Uzun Hasan, had comprised the
most significant threat to the Ottomans since the
Mongols under Timur in the early 1400s. However at Otlukbeli the overwhelming
firepower of the Ottoman Army
comprehensively defeated the Turkomans.
1468, The Ottomans took Karaman in south-central Turkey.
1467,Ottoman Turkey conquered Albania.
15 August 1461, The
Ottomans took Trebizond.
See also Serbia for wars against Ottoman Tirkey in what is now Yugoslavia
1456, The Ottoman Turks
conquered Athens.
29 May 1453. THE TURKS
CONQUERED CONSTANTINOPLE, following a siege of over a year.�
12 May 1453, The
Ottoman Sultan ordered the walls of Constantinople be bombarded with huge
cannon balls fired from an 8 metre long, 1.05 metre calibre, cannon.
6 April 1453, The Turkish
attack on Constantinople began. 80,000
Turkish troops were faced by just 7,000 in Constatinople, and the city�s
walls had been under-maintained for years due to lack of funds.
2 February 1451, Ottoman Sultan Murad II died in Edirne. He was
succeeded by his 19-year-old son Mehmed II.
17 October 1448, Battle of
Kosovo: Hungarian forces under John Hunyadi were defeated by the Turks.
10 November 1444, Christian forces were heavily defeated at
Varna by Ottoman Turks.
12 December 1443, Murad II, Ottoman Sultan, won a decisive
victory at the Battle of Zlatica. This halted the advance of the Hungarians
iunder Janos
Hunyadi into Thrace, northern Greece.
10 November 1443, Ottoman forces invading Bulgaria were
defeated by the Hungarians under Janos Hunyadi, who was voivode 9military
viceroy) of Transylvania. Hunyadi went on to take Sofia.
27 October 1439. Death of King Albert II of Hungary
at Langendorf. He reigned less than two years and spent this in the defence
of Hungary against the Turks.
6 July 1439, Emperor John III of Constantinople (by then he
ruled very little outside Constantinople, Salonika and Morea, and was known in
western Europe as �Emperor of the Greeks�, not as he was officially, Roman Emperor)
travelled to an Ecumenical Council in Florence and accepted papal primacy and
union with Rome. The Decree of Union (Laetentur Caeli) formally uniting the Latin and Greek churches was issued.
This was a last-ditch attempt to save his dominions from the Ottoman Turkish
advance. However the Greek clergy rejected this union; there were too many
fundamental differences of doctrine between the two Churches. Those who had
formally accepted the union recanted upon return home. They preferred, in the
words of a Byzantine dignitary, �the
power [in Constantinople] of the Turkish turban rather than the Latin tiara.
1430, The Ottoman Turks took
Thessalonica, holding it for nearly 500 years.
26 May 1421, Mehmed I, Ottoman Turkish Sultan, died aged 34
after an 8-year reign, at Erdine. He was succeeded by his 8-year-old son Murad II,
who ruled until 1451 and continued the policy of Tiurkish expansion I nto the
Balkans.
1416, At the naval Battle of
Gallipoli, Venice
defeated the Ottoman fleet.
7 July 1413, The Ottoman Tiurkish succession dispute was
resolved when Prince
Mehmet defeated and killed his brother Prince Musa at Jamarlu, Serbia.
8 March 1403, Bayezid I, Sultan of Turkey 1389-1492,, died
in captivity in Akehir. He succeeded his father, Murad I, who died at the Battle
of Kosovo. Within three years of his accession he had conquered Bulgaria, parts
of Serbia, Macedonia and Thessaly, and most of Asia Minor. A succession
struggle followed, won in 1413 by his son Mehmed I.
21 July 1402, The Ottoman Turks were decisively defeated by Timur
at the Battle of Ankara. The
Ottomans lost control of Anatolia. However they had expanded territorially into Europe, and
were able to recover Anatolia after Timur departed.
17 July 1394, Turkish
troops took Trnovo, a town in Bulgaria 124 miles ENE of Sofia.
For more on
Ottoman Turkey in Europe, see Bulgaria, also Serbia
28 August 1389, A captured Serb noble assassinated
the Ottoman Sultan
Murad I. he was succeeded by his son Bayazid I.
15 June 1389. Serbia was
crushed by the Ottoman Turks. At a
battle in Kosovo, at the �field of the
blackbirds�, the entire Serbian nobility was wiped out. The Ottomans had already invaded Bulgaria.
1362, Edirne (Adrianople) was captured by the Ottoman Turks from Byzantium.
Sultan
Orkhan
1359, Ottoman Sultan Orkhan died aged 70 and
was succeeded by Murad I, aged 40. Murad continued the Ottoman expansion in the
Balkans
2 March 1354, The Ottoman Turks seized
Gallipoli from Byzantium.
2 March 1331, Ottoman ruler Orkhan
took Nicea from the Byzantines.
1326, The first Ottoman Emperor,
Osman I,
died aged 67 after a 36-year reign. He was succeeded by his 47-year-old son who
ruled as Orkhan
until 1359. Orkhan extended Ottoman rule from Angora, central Turkey, out into
Thrace in Europe.
6 April 1326. Orhan, son of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman
Empire, captured Bursa from the Byzantines and made it his capital.
By 1341 Orkhan had reinforced his influence in the Byzantine Empire
by marrying twice into it; first to Theodora, daughter of Byzantium�s
new joint Emperor John Cantacuzene, whom he had lent 6,000
troops for his coup. Secondly, Orkhan�s new sister in law, Helen, married the other joint
Emperor and coup victim, John Paleologus.
See also Roman Empire,
1326
6 April 1324, Ghazi Orkhan succeeded his father Osman I
as ruler of the Ottoman Turks.
27 July 1302, The Ottoman Turks
defeated the Byzantine
Empire in the Battle of Bapheus, heralding the
Turkish conquest of Bithynia.
Founding
of the Ottoman Empire
1290, Bithynian King Osman al
Ghazi, aged 31, who succeeded his father Ertogrul as ruler of the Seljuk Turks
in 1288, now established the Islamic Principality of Osmanli (Ottoman), so founding the Ottoman Empire. He
ruled until 1326.
Mongol
conflict; defeated by Mamluk Turks
29 October 1281, Second Battle of Homs:
Mamluk sultan Qalawun
defeated an invasion of Syria by Mongol Ilkhan Abaqa Khan.
3 September 1260, The Mamluks defeated the Mongols at the
Battle of Ain Jalut (Goliath�s Spring) in Galilee, marking their first
decisive defeat and the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire.
Damascus had fallen to the Mongols in 1259 and Hulegu, Mongol leader, now turned
on Egypt, the major military power in the region. The Mongols now ruled an area
from the Pacific to the Mediterranean, The Mameluke rulers of Egypt responded
to Hulegu�s
demands for capitulation by killing Hulegu�s envoys and marching into Palestine to
fight. Mameluke cavalry was crucial in
the Mongol defeat.
23 August 1244. Jerusalem was taken
by a mercenary force of Turks. On 17 December 1244 the Turks joined with Egypt
in routing the Latins at Gaza.
26 June 1243. The Mongols routed
the Seljuk Turkish army.
1221, Sultan Osman I acceded as
Ottoman ruler.
9 September 1141, Seljuk Sultan Sanjar was defeated at Samarkand
by the Kara-Khitai, who built an empire from China to the River Oxus (now, Amu
Darya).
23 November 1072, Death of Alp Arslan, Seljuk Sultan
26 August 1071. The armies of the Byzantine leader Emperor Romanus
Diogenes and the Turkish leader Mohammed Ibn Da�ud clashed at Manzikert, or
Malazagird, north of Lake Van. The Byzantines had entered Armenia with the
French and Normans, and some Turks from the Uzes tribe, and the Turkish leader
had to abandon a campaign in Syria and hurry north to meet this invasion. The
Turkish cavalry under Alp Arsalan routed the enemy. Ibn Da�ud
died on 24 November 1072.
4 October 1063, Death of Tughril, founder of the Seljuk
Empire.
393, Emperor Theodosius outlawed the Olympic Games,
which has been held for 1,000 years.
191 BCE, Roman forces routed Antiochis III
at Thermopylae.
192 BCE, Syrian forces under Antiochus III
invaded Greece at the invitation of the Aetolians.
See also Roman Empire
197 BCE, At the Battle of Cynoscephalae in
Thessaly, the Romans
under T
Quinctius Flaminius defeated the Macedonians under Philip V.
The Romans forced Philip V to surrender Greece to Rome, reduce
his army to 5,00 men and his navy to five ships, promise not to make war
without Rome�s permission, and to pay Rome 1,000 talents over ten years.
17 July 268 BCE, Death of Arsinoe II, Queen of Macedonia
and Thebes, in Egypt.
272 BCE, Antigonus II
defeated an invasion by Pyrrhus of Epirus.
275 BCE, The
Achaean League, of northern Peleponnesian cities, managed to defeat Sparta.
276 BCE, Antigonus II
Gonatus became King of Greece.
279 BCE,
Celtic tribes plundered Delphi, also making raids into Anatolia. The Celts in
Anatolia later became the Galatians.
300 BCE, The poor of Athens subsisted mainly on beans, greens,
beechnuts, turnips, wild pears, dried figs, barley, and grasshoppers. Welfare
assistance was sporadic and nugatory.
305 BCE, The
Macedonians under Demetrius attempted to capture Rhodes, After
an unsiccsesful seige, however, they withdrew.
307 BCE,
Athens now under Macedonian control.
315 BCE, The
Macedonian port city of Thessalonica was founded by Cassander. It was named after
his wife, whom her father, Philip II of Macedon, had named Thessaloniki
to commemorate his victory (Niki) over Thessaly in 2 August 338 BCE.
Alexander the Great
13 June 323 BCE. Alexander the Great died, of a fever, at Babylon; he was just 32 years old.. His body was taken to
Alexandria, but the location of his grave is unknown. His son, born to
Alexander�s wife Roxana in August 332 BCE, was killed in 310 BCE by one of
the Generals competing for Alexander�s Empire.
324
BCE, Alexander
the Great organised a mass wedding between his Generals and Persian
princesses, in an attempt to create a Greek-Macedonian-Persian nobility.
30 January 330 BCE, After gaining the Pass of
the Persian Gates, Alexander the Great entered
Persepolis. There he ceremonially
burnt down the palace of Xerxes I, as a symbol that the Panhellenic war
of revenge was at an end
20 January 330 BCE, Alexander the Great
defeated the Persians,
led by satrap Ariobarzanes.
1 October 331 BCE, Alexander the Great defeated the Persians under Darius III
at the Battle of Gaugamela (Arbela).
20 September 331 BCE. The Macedonian army under Alexander the Great crossed the Tigris River.
7/332
BCE. Alexander the Great sacked Tyre, a trading city located in present-day Lebanon.
11/333 BCE, Alexander the Great�s army
defeated Darius III, the Persian King, at Issus.
336 BCE, Philip II of Macedon was
killed by an assassin named Pausanius;
in turn Pausanius was cut down by Philip�s bodyguards as he
ran for his horse. Alexander
the Great then mounted military
expeditions to cement his claim to the throne, but these were expensive,
requiring a war on Persia to secure loot and refill the Macedonian royal
treasury.
356 BCE, Alexander the Great was born,
only son of King Philip II of
Macedon and Olympias of Epirus
(now, Albania).
2
August 338 BCE, Philip
II of Macedon defeated an Athenian-Theban alliance at the Battle of Chaeronea,
so ending the last Greek struggle for independence.
359 BCE, King Philip II of Macedon
acceded to the throne, after his brother Amyntas
III was killed in battle. Macedonia was then an unimportant border State, with aggressive Danubian
tribes to the north and west, and the Persian frontier not far to the east. The
cultural centre was Greece to the south. Macedonian governance was weak, with
independent warlords following the monarch�s direction as and when it suited
them to. However King Philip
revolutionised the Macedonian Army with the latest weaponry, making the region
a powerful State by 345 BCE. The Danubian tribes wqere then defeated, and
the Greek city states forced to ally with Macedonia for self-preservation.
4 July 362 BCE, Battle of Mantinea. The Thebans, having been victorious at Leuctra,
were now faced by an alliance of other Greek city states, including Sparta
and Athens. The Theban leader Epaminondas took the offensive to Sparta�s ally,
the city of Mantinea. Epaminondas decided on a� repeat of the flank attack that had worked
well at Leuctra,371 BCE. He did indeed rout the army of Mantinea, but in the
fighting Epaminondas himself was killed. This caused the Thebans, now leaderless, to withdraw as if they had been defeated. Greece was
now open to the assertive Philip II of Macedon, and 27 years later Thebes itself was devastated by Philip II�s son, Alexander the Great.
6
July 371 BCE, Battle of Leuctra. Thebes was leader of a
groups of Boetian city-states that Sparta, the dominant power in the region,
saw as a threat to be squashed. The Spartan
Army moved on Thebes,
which was outnumbered and her allies were unreliable. However Epaminondas, the Theban leader, placed his
best troops to his left flank and used these to deliver a surprise attack to
the Spartan�s right flank As the Spartans pressed forward on the Theban centre. This
resulted in a Theban
victory, and Sparta never recovered her
dominance after this.
Final fall of Athens tro
Sparta
25 April 404 BCE, Athens, under starvation
from siege, capitulated to Spartan forces, so ending the Peleponnesian Wars. The Spartans allowed Athens
to retain some autonomy, as Theramenes secured terms that saved the city from
destruction. The walls of Athens were demolished. Alcibiades
was murdered in Phyrgia at the request of Sparta.
9/405
BCE, The Spartan General
Lysander captured the Athenian fleet without resistance in
September; just 25 ships escaped under the command of Conon. The Spartans, aiming to cut the grain
supplies to Athens, captured the Athenian city of Lampsacus after a siege. The Athenian
fleet sailed out to meet the Spartans but a standoff ensued with SAthens unable
to lure the Spartans
into battle. Finally, against the advice of Alcibiades, with the Athenian
fleet poorly positioned off the Gallipoli Pensinsula, the Athenians went ashore in
large numbers to confront the Spartan forces. Lysander now mounted a surprise
attaclk on the Athenian fleet, capturing 180 of its ships. Athens
had now lost its fleet amnd its grain supply route, and had lost its allies,
apart from Samos.
Meanwhile the Spartan King Pausanius laid siege to Athens,
and Lysander�s
fleet blockaded Piraeus. In Athens, Cleophon was executed and Athens
endured severe food shortages for 6 months as the siege progressed. Corinth and
Thebes demanded the total destruction of the city.
8/406 BCE, Alcibiades
was replaced by a Board of Governors. An Athenian fleet was blockaded in Mitylene
harbour by a Spartan
fleet under Callicratidas. Athens sent a larghe fleet to relieve
Mitylene, and Callicratidas was drowned in August at the Battle of Arginusae. Sparta
again attemnpted to negotiate peace with Cleophon and again Cleophon spurned
them.
407 BCE, The Spartan
General
Lysander refused to be lured out of the port of Ephesus to do battle
with Alcibiades,
who then ran low on supplies and had to sail north to plunder enemy towns. Alcibiades
left a squadron at Ephesus under the command of his boyhood friend, Antiochus;
however Antiochus,
against orders, taunted Lysander; provoking the Spartans to sail out and rout the
Athenian fleet at Notium. This gave the enemies of Alcibiades in Athens
a chance to strip him of his command.
16 June 408 BCE, Alcibiades entered Athens
in triumph after seven years absence. He was appointed General, woth autocratic
powers, and then left for Samos to rejoin his fleet. Meanwhile, however, the Spartan Admiral
Lysander arrived in Ephesus and began to build up a huge fleet with
assistance from the new Persian satrap, Cyrus.
409 BCE, Alcibiades
recaptured Byzantium (which had frebelled against Athens). This opened up a supply
route for grain to Athens from the Euxine (Black) Sea,
through the Bosphorus.
410 BCE, A Spartan
army, with its Persian land army reinforcements, was heavily defeated by Alcibiades
at Cyzicus on the Sea of Marmora. Sparta attempted to negotiate an end to
hostilities with the Athenian ruler, Cleophon, but Cleophon
passed the opportunity by.
411 BCE, The Athenian democratic government was overthrown in a revolt
by the oligarchs Antiphon, Peisander and Phrynichus, who then opened
treasonous negotiations with Sparta. However these oligarchs were themselves
deposed by the moderate Theramenes, who then recalled Alcibiades
from Sardis, who was elected ruler of Athens.
9/411 BCE, A Spartan
fleet in the Hellespont at Cynossema was defeated by Athens.
412 BCE, Alcibiades
fell out with King
Agis and retired to the court of the Persian Satrap, Tissaphernes.
He urged Tissaphernes
to withdraw his support for Sparta. Other Spartan allied cities broke away in
a series of revolts.
9/413 BCE, The Athenian fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Syracuse; Demosthenes
and Nicias
were executed. The foot soldiers fled into the hills; many were captured and
died as slaves in the stoine quarries.
27 August 413 BCE, A lunar eclipse aroused
superstitious fears amongst the Athenians occupying Syracuse and Demosthenes
and Nicias
decide to remain in the city.
7/413 BCE, Demosthenes�
fleet arrived at Syracuse but was attacked by night and suffered heavy losses. Demosthenes
urged Nicias
to evacuate his forces.
414 BCE, Athens
captured Syracuse and fortified it by land and sea. However (commnded by Nicias)
the Athenians ran short of supplies; meanwhile Sparta reinforced the Syracusans.
Athens sent out a supply fleet of 73 ships under Demosthenes.
11/415 BCE, Athenian
forces landed at Dascom, near Syracuse, but their victory was of little use.
22 May 415 BCE, A bad omen in Athens;
the Hermae Statues were found to be mysteriously damaged. Despite this bad
omen, Athens
started its plan to conquer Sicily. Whilst away in Sicily, Alcibiades was recalled for
trial in Athens;
instead he defected to Sparta, and was sentenced to death in absentia.
416 BCE, Alcibiades
urged Athenians
to conquer Syracuse, Carthage and Sicily, so gaining extra resources in order
to crush Sparta.
417 BCE, Athenian
forces were defeated at Chalcidice.
8/418 BCE, Battle of Bantinea. The
largest battle in the Peloponnesian Wars; Sparta won a major victory over Argos, which had
broken its treaty with King Agis.
419 BCE, King
Agis of Sparta gathered an army at Philus and attacked
Argos, with his Boetian allies. The Boetian forces proved to be weak, but Agis
managed to conclude a treaty with Argos.
11 April 421 BCE, The Peace of Nicias
temporarily halted the Peloponnesian War.
Alcibades, however, then set up an anti-Sparta alliance between Athens and the democracies
of Argos, Mantinea and Elis. Sparta then allied with Corinth and Boetia.
431 BCE, The Peleponnesian War began,
between Athens and Sparta.
430 BCE, Plague devastated
Athens.
438 BCE, In Athens, the Parthenon
was completed, and consecrated, after 9 years of construction.
448 BCE, The Acropolis was rebuilt
under Pericles, repairing the damage done by the Persians in 480 BCE.
450 BCE, Death of Cimon, (born 510 BCE) who directed the Greek
victories against Persia.
461 BCE, Pericles
(ca. 495-429 BCE), having failed to have Cimon prosecuted for missing a chance to
invade Macedonia, did manage to have him ostracised/
469 BCE, Athenian
forces won a major victory over Persia on the River Eurymedon, establishing Athenian
hegemony on the region.
470 BCE, Greek forces captured Carystos on the Euboea River, a place that had
submitted to Persian rule earlier.
476 BCE,Greek forces captured Eion, on the Strymon River in Anatolia, from
Persia.
27 August 479 BCE, Battle of Plataea. Although Xerxes had returned to Asia, and the Persian
fleet now moved to the eastern Mediterranean, the Persian General Mardonius remained in
the area. He had an army still larger than the Greeks, and he established a
base in the territory of Thebes, which was allied to Persia. The
Greeks, commended by the Spartan Pausanius, assembled on the hills above the
Persian camp. The Persians raided the Greek supply lines and blocked up some of
the springs the Greeks used for water supplies, so Pausanius decided to move camp
at night. The Persians attacked at this time but the disordered nature of the Greek position gave them the advantage
over the Persians, with the hoplites infantry picking off individual Persian
soldiers. The Persian Army was routed and�
withdrew north into Thessaly. Skirmished between the Greeks and Persians
continued for years afterwards, but Persia never again attempted a full scale
invasion of Greece.
Persian General Mardonius
routed by the Greeks, Persian advance into Greece halted.
25 September 480 BC Battle
of Salamis. King
Xerxes of Persia, after his victory at
Salamis, now advanced on Athens. The outnumbered Greek Alliance
under Themistocles
withdrew across the narrow isthmus of Corinth into the Peloponnese. Athens was
evacuated by its citizens, who moved to the island of Salamis nearby. Xerxes
should perhaps have blockaded the Greek fleet where it had assembled inside the
Bay of Salamis, then taken his army across into the Peloponnese and
outflanked the Greek Army, routing it on land., Instead, Xerxes opted for a naval
battle, ordering his fleet to attack the Greek fleet., Xerxes even set up a throne on a
nearby hill to watch the naval battle unfold. In fact choppy seas and the
cramped nature of the Bay sent the
Persian naval lines into disarray, whilst the smaller and more manoeuvrable
Greek ships carried out pinprick attacks on individual Persian vessels,
eventually causing it to retreat in chaos. Xerxes now realised winter was approaching and
his supply lines were vulnerable to Greek attack, so he took most of his army
home to Persia. Some Persian forces
remained in Greece, but were routed at Plataea the following year. This proved to be a turning point in history, with Greece now left in
control of the eastern Mediterranean, not Persia; a position maintained until
the rise of Rome.
11 August 480 BCE, Battle of Thermopylae. Persian forces under Xerxes defeated the Spartans.
However the heroic Greek defence, at this narrow pass, against a superior
Persian force, bought time for Athens to be evacuated (it was burnt by
the Persians) and for Greek forces to regroup and subsequently fight off the
Persians.
28 September 490 BCE. The original Marathon was run by a
breathless messenger who ran 24 miles from the scene of the Battle of Marathon
to the city of Athens. �Rejoice, we conquer� he gasped,
the dropped dead. The Athenians had beaten a huge Persian fleet. Athens then
expanded its own fleet and military power. By
500 BCE the Persian Empire had expanded to encompass modern-day Turkey and
Macedonia, whilst Greece was split into small city-States. Persia now resolved
to conquer Greece too. To accomplish this conquest, Persia sent a huge army
and 600 ships which landed at Marathon, 24 miles from Athens. Athens sent
its smaller army of 10,000 men, supported by a contingent from Plataea, to meet
them. After a 5-day stand-off, the Greeks attacked. Their tactics were based on
the hoplite; a soldier with a large shield and long stabbing spear. They
charged at the Persians, through a hail of Persian arrows, taking them by
surprise. Persia could not believe the Greeks would attack, in smaller numbers,
without support of cavalry or archers.. In fact the Greeks got the upper hand
in the close combat. The Persians, however, pushed through the Greek centre �
and this facilitated the two Greek wings to attack the Persian flanks. The
Persians were routed, a third of them killed and they, retreated to their
ships. Persian casualties amounted to 6,000 out of 20,000; Greek casualties
were 200 out of 10,000.
527 BCE, Peisistratus died and was succeeded by his sons,
Hippias
and Hipparchus.
546 BCE, Peisistratus regained power for a third time in Athens;
he had the support of Thessaly and also from Lydarnis of Naxos. He exiuled his
opponents, redistributed land to peasants, and encouraged insudtry and trade.
556 BCE, Peisistratus
was removed from power a second time, having split with Megacles. He went on to make a
fortune from his mines in Thrace.
559 BCE, Peisistratus was restored to power with the support
of Megacles.
561 BCE, The Athenian General Peisistratus
made himself dictator, but was then deposed by the city nobility under Lycurgus.
He introduced the cult of Dionysius.
594 BCE, Solon
reformed government in Athens. Aristocratic rule was ended and a
(male) citizen based rule intituted. Women and slaves remained excluded.
650 BCE, At the 33rd Olympic Games, a new event was added; the pancratium,
a freestyle no-holds-barred combination of boxing and wrestling.
682 BCE, At the 25th Olympic Games, the first equestrian
even was added. A four-horse chariot race was held at the new Hippodrome.
690 BCE, At the 23rd Olympic Games, boxing was added as an event.
704 BCE, At the 19th Olympic Games, wrestling was added as an event.
708 BCE, The 18th
Olympic Games. A pentathlon event was now added, comprising a
long jump, a javelin throw, a 200 yard sprint, a discus throw and wrestling,
was added.
720 BCE, A third event was added to the 15th Olympic Games, a 2.5 mile long
distance race of 12 circuits around the stadium.
724 BCE, The 14th Olympic Games. The games now comprised a
second foot race (see 23 July 776 BCE), of 880 yards, twice around the stadium.
750 BCE, First recorded use of Greek alphabet, adapted from Phoenician and
Semitic alphabets.
23 July 776 BCE. The first Olympic Games (see also Sports
for modern Olympic Games) opened in Olympia (in some form, the Olympic Games
may have been staged since 1350 BCE). The games, consisting only of a 200 yard
foot race (see 724 BCE), was won by a cook called Coroibos. These Games lasted
just 1 day but later grew to a 5 day event.
24 April 1184 BCE, Greeks stormed the city of
Troy after hiding inside the Trojan Horse.
6,500 BCE, Copper smelting began at Catal
Huyuk,
7,000 BCE, Estimated date of foundation of Catal
Huyuk, Anatolia, largest Neolithic site in the Near East. Greek seafarers
were sailing to Milos, 75 miles across the sea, to obtain obsidian.
