The Provisional Government of Western Thrace; el, Προσωρινή Κυβέρνηση Δυτικής Θράκης, Prosoriní Kyvérnisi Dytikís Thrákis; tr, Batı Trakya Geçici HükümetiInternational Affairs Agency Turkish Dossier Program, ''The Western Thrace Turks issue in Turkish-Greek relations'', International Affairs Agency, 1992, p. 105. later Independent Government of Western Thrace,; el, Αυτόνομη Κυβέρνηση Δυτικής Θράκης, Aftónomi Kyvérnisi Dytikís Thrákis was a small, short-lived unrecognized republic established in
Western Thrace
Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a geographic and histori ...
from August 31 to October 25, 1913. It encompassed the area surrounded by the rivers
Maritsa
Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,Mesta (Nestos) in the west, the Rhodope Mountains in the north and the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
in the south. Its total territory was approximately 8600 km2.
The whole of Western Thrace was captured by Bulgaria during the
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
and awarded to the country by the Treaty of London. During the Second Balkan War the Greek Army captured most of the area between Xanthi (İskeçe) and the
Maritsa river
Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,Soufli
Soufli ( el, Σουφλί) is a town in the Evros regional unit, Greece, notable for the silk industry that flourished there in the 19th century. The town stands on the eastern slope of the twin hill of Prophet Elias, one of the easternmost spurs ...
without encountering resistance by the weak Bulgarian army which retreated to the southern slopes of the Rhodope mountains (several kilometers to the north of
Xanthi
Xanthi ( el, Ξάνθη, ''Xánthi'', ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace.
Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope m ...
and
Komotini
Komotini ( el, Κομοτηνή, tr, Gümülcine, bg, Комотини) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-p ...
Ortaköy
Ortaköy ( ''Middle Village)'' is a neighbourhood within the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European shore of the Bosphorus. it was originally a small fishing village, known in Greek as Agios Fokas (Άγιος Φωκάς) in t ...
. After the
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...
the treaty of Bucharest was signed which returned the area to Bulgaria and the Greek army withdrew from Western Thrace. Thereupon local Muslims and Greeks petitioned, with the encouragement of the Greek authorities, refused to recognize the Bulgarian control of the area and petitioned the Ottoman army to occupy Western Thrace. On their invitation, the region was then occupied by small Ottoman forces, largely irregulars. While the area had been returned to Bulgaria by the Bucharest treaty, the Bulgarian army wished to conflict with the Ottomans and retreated to a line coinciding with the pre-Balkan war border up to Aydoğmuş and from there along a ridge of the Rhodope mountains running west of Daridere and east of Madan up to the Bulgarian-Greek border.
After the retreat of both the Bulgarian and Greek armies, an autonomous state was declared with Ottoman support, in order to avoid Bulgarian rule after the Treaty of Bucharest, in which the Ottomans had not taken part. Under British pressure, the Bulgarians and the Ottomans signed the Treaty of Constantinople, which satisfied the Turkish claims to recognition of
Eastern Thrace
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and recognized Western Thrace as part of Bulgaria. The Ottomans withdrew their forces and by 25 October, and the area was returned by Bulgaria. The southern part of the former Provisional government was occupied in 1918 by French forces. This area was finally annexed by Greece in 1920 and has been part of that country ever since, except for the Bulgarian occupation between 1941 and 1944. The northern part of the former Provisional Government remained part of Bulgaria after 1919.
The capital of Provisional Government of Western Thrace was
Gümülcine
Komotini ( el, Κομοτηνή, tr, Gümülcine, bg, Комотини) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-pr ...
, now
Komotini
Komotini ( el, Κομοτηνή, tr, Gümülcine, bg, Комотини) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-p ...
, in Greece.
After the retreat of the Bulgarian army, irregular Ottoman forces committed numerous atrocities against Bulgarian civilians, including multiple cases of mass murder and the expulsion of a large part of the Bulgarian population of the region.,Miletich (1918), p.197Miletich (1918), p.198Miletich (1918), p.218Miletich (1918), p.219 similar to the atrocities carried out in Eastern Thrace during the Second Balkan War. These atrocities continued after the formation of the government of Western Thrace, with the active participation and support of its government.Miletich (1918), p.217Miletich (1918), p.280
Overview
President: Hoca Salih Efendi.
Army: Standing force of 29,170, largely infantry. Commander of the Armed Forces Çeçen, Anıl, Tarihte Türk Devletleri, Milliyet Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul 1986 was
Süleyman Askerî Bey
Suleyman or Süleyman is a variant of Suleiman (the Arabic name ). It means "man of peace". Notable people with the name include:
Suleyman
*Suleyman I of Rûm or Suleiman ibn Qutulmish (d. 1086), founder of an independent Seljuq Turkish state i ...
.
Steering Committee: Reshid Bey, Raif Effendi, Hafous Salih Effendi, Nicodimos (commissioner of the Diocese of Maroneia, representing the Greeks), Mikirditch Tabakian (Armenian), Yaka Cassavi (Jew), Hafous Galip and Eshref Bey Kushchubasi.
As soon as independence was declared, the Provisional Government of Western Thrace determined the borders of the country, put up the new flags on the official buildings, commissioned a national anthem, raised an army, published its own stamps and passports, and prepared the budget of the new country.
A Jewish citizen, Samuel Karaso, was tasked by the government with establishing an official press agency and to publish a newspaper named ''Müstakil'' ("Independent") in Turkish and French. The Ottoman Laws and Regulations were adopted without any change, and the cases started to be heard by the Court of Western Thrace.
Currency
40 Paras = 1 Piaster
See also
*
Republic of Tamrash
The Republic of Tamrash ( bg, Тъмръшка република, Tǎmrǎška republika), was a short-lived self-governing administrative structure of the Pomaks, living in the Tamrash region of the Rhodope Mountains. It existed from 1878 to 1 ...
*
Muslim minority of Greece
The Muslim minority of Greece is the only explicitly recognized minority in Greece. It numbered 97,605 (0.91% of the population) according to the 1991 census, and unofficial estimates ranged up to 140,000 people or 1.24% of the total population, ...
*
Turks of Western Thrace
Turks of Western Thrace ( tr, , el, Τούρκοι της Δυτικής Θράκης, Toúrkoi tis Dytikís Thrákis) are ethnic Turks who live in Western Thrace, in the province of East Macedonia and Thrace in Northern Greece.
According ...
*
Greek Muslims
Greek Muslims, also known as Grecophone Muslims, are Muslims of Greek ethnic origin whose adoption of Islam (and often the Turkish language and identity) dates to the period of Ottoman rule in the southern Balkans. They consist primarily of th ...