Victory of the Second Battle of İnönü
Following the setback they suffered at the First Battle of İnönü in early 1921, the Greeks were determined to capture Kütahya and Eskişehir in order to uplift the spirits of the soldiers and to prevent the Turkish army from growing stronger. Hence, the road to Ankara would be cleared and the National Government could be convinced to accept the provisions of the Treaty of Sèvres.
The attack of the reinforced Greek troops began on March 23rd from two different positions. Although the Turkish forces under the command of Mirliva (Major General) İsmet Pasha strongly resisted the attack, they could not prevent the Greek army from advancing in the first four days. Finally, the two armies came face to face in the İnönü province on the morning of March 27th. The heavy fighting continued until the evening of March 31st.
During the Second Battle of İnönü, the Turkish army used all the reinforcements it could muster and fought heroically despite the challenges. As a consequence, the enemy front began to collapse and the Greek forces suffered serious losses after a general attack. In the telegram he sent from Metristepe on the morning of April 1, 1921, İsmet Pasha heralded the victory as follows:
The enemy has relinquished to our guns the battlefield filled with thousands of its dead.
Grand National Assembly President Mustafa Kemal Pasha sent İsmet Pasha the famous telegram below upon this extraordinary victory:
You did not only defeat the enemy there, but the misfortune of the nation as well. Today, the entire country, including our devastated lands under occupation, is rejoicing in your victory even at its remotest corners. The enemy’s greed to invade us crashed on the rocks of your perseverance and patriotism and fell to pieces.
