The Battle of Mouzaki ( el, Mάχη του Μουζακίου) occurred on 4 May 1878 between Greek irregulars with the cover support of the

Greek Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

against the Ottoman forces. It is one of the main events of the Greek revolts that erupted in

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

and

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.

Background

The creation of the independent Greek state spread

irredentism Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...

to other, Ottoman areas with Greek inhabitants such as

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

and Macedonia. In Western Thessaly, agitations had started without the official involvement of the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

, but a committee of Greek Officers had been secretly sent so as to coordinate with local guerrilla bands the harassment of Ottoman troops. The headquarters was installed in Loutro Karditsas, under the overall command of Artillery Colonel Konstantinos Ischonomachos, aided by Captains Georgios Filaretos and Ioannis Igglesis.

Events

Guerrilla warfare was already endemic in the area against

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

and

Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...

. By the beginning of March 1878, the local chieftain Thanassis Ziakas and his band of Agraphiote brigands had revolted in the villages of Vounista, Granista and Mesenikola. Stylianos Tzavaras, a senior sergeant in the Greek Army, also formed a compact force with Sarakatsan and

Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Eastern ...

klephts Klephts (; Greek κλέφτης, ''kléftis'', pl. κλέφτες, ''kléftes'', which means "thieves" and perhaps originally meant just "brigand": "Other Greeks, taking to the mountains, became unofficial, self-appointed armatoles and were know ...

, many of them members of the infamous Arvanitakis gang. Both groups gathered together and directed an attack on the village of Mouzaki, which was a strategic point in the region, key to obtaining food and water. In addition, it was the opportunity to draw Ottoman troops from the large cities into the countryside.

Battle

The news about these events, and the fact that there was a considerable population of Turkish landlords and Muslim Albanians in danger soon reached

Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...

, where the authorities sent a detachment of troops under Moussa Gkeka so as to recover the village and suppress the rebellion. For the Greeks, it was a vital opportunity to defeat a major enemy, therefore troops from the regular Greek Army were deployed in order to support the irregulars. The Ottoman troops seemed not to expect to face any other forces than a gang of klephts as they have been used to do for years, so their strength was reduced to light cavalry and infantry troops. As a result, the Ottomans were taken by surprise and completely defeated by much stronger and better-equipped Greek troops under Lieutenants Georgios Alexandris and Takis Stournaris on 4 May 1878. The Turks suffered heavy losses, and Gkeka himself was taken prisoner.

Aftermath

The minor victory at Mouzaki was a morale boost for the rebels, but it did not change reality on the ground: the Ottomans soon stamped out the rebellion, while Greece was pressured by the

Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power in ...

to remove support of the rebels. In the end however, Thessaly would be incorporated into the Greek kingdom in 1881.Ellis Ashmead Bartlett: "The Battlefields of Thessaly: with Personal Experiences in Turkey and Greece" Elibron Classics. 2005 - Adamant Media Corporation

References

{{coord, 39.4278036, 21.6449528, display=title 1878 in Greece

Mouzaki Mouzaki ( el, Μουζάκι) is a town and a municipality in the northwestern part of the Karditsa regional unit, Greece. Mouzaki is located on the southwestern edge of the Thessalian plain, where the river Pamisos descends from the Agrafa moun ...

Ottoman Thessaly

1878 in the Ottoman Empire May 1878 events