The Effects of the Winning of the Great Offensive on the English Prestige Factor

Abstract

The purpose of the study is defined as to examine the effects of the winning of the Great Offensive and the Field Battle of the Commander-in-Chief by the Turks on the prestige factor of England in the Near East. England’s prestige and superiority in the Near East were severely shaken following the Turkish-Greek War. The reason is that the Turkish victory was not just a military success. It also reflected a mentality change in the context of nation-building of Middle Eastern or Asian societies. The defeat of the Greek side and the diplomatic difficulties that England fell into after the Great Offensive not only caused England’s material and spiritual superiority being questioned but also shook its position of being the most important power of the world. After the Great Offensive and the Field Battle of the Commander-in-Chief, attitude of world public opinion towards the English changed. In order not to lose its political superiority, England took action to shake the prestige of Türkiye in the world public opinion by exaggerating some of the events experienced during the evacuation of the Greek forces. The Turkish government’s attitude towards the English government in return for England’s attitude towards Türkiye after the winning of the Great Offensive make it essential to evaluate the English prestige factor. The research evaluated the reasons of why the English prestige factor was shaken, the impact of the winning the Great Offensive, and the effect of the winning of the Great Offensive on England’s power in the region. Moreover, it assessed the diplomatic attitude undertaken by England to prevent its prestige from being shaken and differences of opinion that England had with its allies after the Great Offensive. The article benefited basically from English periodicals of the period including The Daily Herald, Daily News, Evening Telegraph, The Westminster Gazette, Sunday Mirror, and The New Statesman and the documents of the Ottoman Archive of the Presidency.