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Following the 4th Rhomano-Turkish war the reeling defeat of the Ottoman Empire would send a shockwave across anatolia, which would leave the region fragile and unstable, and kickstart a series of catastrophic events, that would leave scars on the region for decades to come.By early 1872, the Ottoman Empire had already lost: Constantinople (1870), Eastern Thrace, the Marmara coast, and Bursa (by early 1872), but most importantly the confidence of its people, its provinces, and its military.
With the Rhomanian advance now threatening Anatolia itself, the centuries-old imperial structure began to unravel at a frightening pace.The last functioning elements of the Ottoman government were holed up in Eskişehir and Konya, where the provisional court of Sultan Murad V operated under fear, isolation, and mounting internal dissent. Murad, a reluctant and depressive monarch, was neither willing nor able to reorganize the military or state administration.Leading to Fragmentation from Within the government.
As spring arrived, the empire fractured from within. Loyalty to Istanbul had once bound distant governors and tribes, but with Constantinople lost and Bursa in Rhomanian hands, power reverted to the periphery.In Diyarbakır and Mardin, Kurdish tribal leaders declared emirates of autonomy, seeking foreign recognition from Persia and Russia.In Erzurum and Bitlis, Christian Armenian councils declared the first Armenian Republic, backed by Russian agents.
Arab Discontent and Breakaway[]
In Baghdad, the Ottoman governor declared independence, calling for the seperation of Iraq from the rest of the Empire, and appealing to the British for protection.Hejaz and the Holy Cities under Hashemite rule, cut ties with the Ottomans and declared a Sharifian Sultanate, demanding religious authority over the Muslim world.
Konya and Kayseri witnessed food riots and mass desertions in the following months.In Ankara, Turkish officers formed a National Resistance Council, advocating a secular and independent Turkic republic, denouncing both Rhomanian occupation and the Ottoman sultanate.This would lead to the formation of the Turkic State (1872-1881).
The Fall of the Ottoman Capital (1872)[]
Rhomanian forces crossed the Sakarya River in June 1872, aided by Georgian and Ethiopian volunteers. In a dramatic push through Afyonkarahisar, they arrived at Kutahya, where Sultan Murad’s palace was surrounded.On July 9, 1872, as cannons rained upon the city's outer walls, Murad fled by night. His royal train was intercepted by Rhomanian cavalry, and he was captured without resistance.The once mighty line of Osman ended not with battle, but surrender.Its death reshaped the Middle East and Balkans, creating a dangerous power vacuum, igniting new nationalisms, and redefining the religious map of the Near East. Rhomania now stood as both the inheritor of Rome and the catalyst for a new age of Orthodox ascendancy.However, what the Greeks did not forsee, was that the Ottoman sultan's fall would not deplete morale, but rather inspire further struggle against their occupations.
The Rise of Turkish Nationalism[]
In central Anatolia, the Ankara Assembly declared the Turkic State in late 1872, claiming to preserve Turkish identity and resist both Rhomanian and European imperialism.Mustafa Nuri Bey, a secular military leader, became the first Vizier.
Wars and Campaigns[]
5th Rhomano-Turkish War[]
After the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire in 1872, Anatolia fragmented into competing power centers. Most significant among them was the emergence of the Turkic State, commonly referred to as the Anatolian State, with its capital in Ankara and led by Mustafa Nuri Bey.
By 1873, tensions between the Kingdom of Rhomania and the Turkic State had grown unsustainable:Rhomania had expanded its control deep into western Anatolia, including key cities like Bursa(Prousa), Eskişehir(Dorylaion), and Kütahya(Kotyaion).he Turkic leadership viewed Rhomanian control over Kütahya — a strategic crossroads and cultural stronghold of Turkish identity as an unacceptable occupation.Orthodox resettlement programs and Hellenization policies implemented by Rhomanian authorities intensified ethnic tensions and resistance.
The Turkish Army, reorganized and modernized with French advisers, believed it was finally ready for a bold campaign.The war officially began on October 3, 1873, when 80,000 Turkish troops crossed the demarcation line near Afyonkarahisar, initiating a surprise offensive aimed at recapturing Kütahya.General Kazim Pasha believed that by utilizing the decentralised militias and turkish guerilla fighters, they could best the Rhoman army with assymetric warfare.45,000 troops garrisoned in Kütahya, under pressure and outnumbered but reinforced by detachments from Bursa - expected a significant fighting force to arrive from Ankara.On october 7th, Turkish vanguard defeats Rhomanian scouts at Altıntaş, opening the southern corridor.Siege operations begin around Kütahya. Turkish artillery, though outdated, shells Rhomanian fortifications.6 dayes later, Turkish forces breached the outer wall near the Old Citadel, leading to chaotic urban fighting.After nearly a week of street combat, Rhomanian forces retreat northeast toward Simav. Kütahya falls back to the Turks.
Shocked by the speed of the Turkish success, King Gregory I ordered a full mobilization.The counteroffensive was led by the aging but revered General Sapountzakis himself, returning to the field for one final campaign.Rhomanian forces regroup in Uşak and begin cutting Turkish supply lines from Afyonkarahisar.Due to the Winter,supply shortages cause desertions and morale collapse in outlying garrisons.
The Battle of Tavşanlı (1874)[]
This decisive battle took place on December 14–17, 1874, near the town of Tavşanlı, west of Kütahya.Rhomanian forces (~60,000) launched a coordinated attack on Turkish defensive lines.General Sapountzakis would utilize a combination of feigned retreat and heavy artillery bombardment to outmaneuver Kazim Pasha.After three days of brutal combat, Turkish troops were encircled and forced into retreat toward Afyonkarahisar.Kütahya was recaptured by Rhomania on March 20, 1874.The flag once again flew above the city, though much of it had been reduced to rubble.Following their victory at Tavşanlı, Rhomanian forces marched on Afyonkarahisar, a symbolic heart of the Turkish national cause.
After nearly two years of war, both sides were exhausted. Under international pressure, particularly from Germany and Britain, who feared Russian intervention, peace talks were held in Smyrna.Terms of the Treaty:
- Rhomania retains full control of north-western Anatolia, including Kütahya, Afyonkarahisar, and Eskişehir.
- The Turkic Republic is recognized as an independent state.
- Cold peace is agreed, although hostility has not been extinguished, the treaty is seen more as a truce, lasting until June of 1874.
This would be the last official internationally observed treaty of the Anatolian wars
Armenian War of Independence[]
Eastern Anatolia post Ottoman collapse entered a state of anarchy, In the resulting power vacuum, with Russian logistical and advisory support, Armenian nationalist leaders declared the First Republic of Armenia in June 1874, centered around the cities of Erevan, Erzurum, and Bitlis.Led by the Armenakan and Dashnak movements, the republic was driven by revenge against the Turks for the occupations and massacres that had happened prior to the Ottoman catastrophe.
The republic maintained cordial relations with Russia, Rhomania, and Bulgaria, but was viewed as a mortal threat by the Turkic Republic.By 1874, border clashes, raids, and retaliatory attacks between Armenian militias and Turkish garrisons reached a boiling point.On January 3, 1875, following the massacre of Armenian villagers in Muş by irregular Turkish militias, the Armenian National Assembly in Erzurum formally declared war on the Turkic Republic.The Armenian Army — a hybrid of trained regulars and seasoned fedayee guerrillas — mobilized along a wide front from Lake Van to Kars.
Highland Campaign - Armenian: General Tigran Arakelyan, a veteran of Russian campaigns in the Caucasus leads Armenian troops.Ismail Hakki Bey, a warlord and general of the Commitie of National Salvation, an ultranationalist radical faction of the Republic, leads the Turkish forces, departing from Sivas.
The Siege of Van[]
Van was the symbolic heart of the Armenian national project — both spiritually and historically.The town was under Turkish control, but was contested, with Iranians expressing interests in annexation, and the Malikate of Kurdistan often starting skirmishes for the town.At the beginning of August, Turkish garrison of 12,000, under siege from 30,000 Armenian troops.Despite strong fortifications and lakeside access, Turkish morale deteriorates as Russian-leased artillery bombards the old citadel.The garrison surrenders at the 8th of September.Mass rejoicing among the population follows, with liturgies held at St. Vardan Cathedral.
Turkish Counteroffensive[]
In December 1875, Turkey launched a winter counteroffensive led by General Tahsin Yavuz, aiming to retake Bitlis and Siirt.However, Armenian troops used their highland terrain advantage and winter experience to halt the advance. The Battle of Lake Nazik (January 1876) was a decisive Armenian defensive victory, with Turkish columns lost in snow-covered valleys and forced to retreat under heavy fire.
The Armenian campaigns of 1874–76 were a miraculous military success for a newly born republic, fueled by revenge, nationalism, and strategic terrain. The war left deep scars but also marked the first successful assertion of Christian sovereignty in eastern Anatolia since the 14th century.Yet peace was only a pause.The Turkic state, though wounded, was far from broken — and the mountains of Anatolia would again roar with cannon fire before the century was out.
6th Rhomano-Turkish war[]
Following the defeats of the young Turkic Republic, Greeks at the small city of Phocea, would organise revolts against the government and rebel.The decleration of the Phocean Free State would mark the start of their rebellion, siding with the Kingdom of Rhomania and demanding re-unification.The Turks, outraged and wanting to make an example out of the seperatists, would send the dreaded Cheta militia, to capture the town and make an example out of the rebels.The Cheta would enter the town in August 1875 and commit a horrific massacre, killing 25.000 innocent people and burning down a portion of the town.This would act as a clear provocation against Rhomania, which would take diplomatic action and soon mobilize forces against the Turks.This incident made international headlines, with the Neumark News declaring it "The true face of Turkish nationalism revealed".
On June 12, 1875, the Kingdom of Rhomania declared war on the Turkic Republic, accusing it of Orchestrating and supporting the massacre, as well as violating the Treaty of Smyrna.The Turkic Republic denied direct involvement but celebrated the massacre as an act of “national resistance".Rhomania mobilized over 200,000 troops in the following weeks, including elite Anatolian regiments and the famed Neo Nicene Guard.Naval forces moved to blockade the Anatolian coast.Orthodox volunteers from Serbia, and the Caucasus flooded into the kingdom.The Turkic Republic Declared Jihad, invoking the spiritual feelings of the Islamic world, and asking the Abbasid Caliph at Cairo for support.Rhoman forces launched a massive multi-pronged offensive stretching from the Hellispont to the inland plains of Western anatolia.
Siege of Manisa - At the start of July, Chetan and Turkish defenders used scorched-earth tactics and fortified hilltop monasteries to avoid direct confrontation.Rhomanians, deploying artillery and Creto-Cappadocian mountain troops, took the city after three weeks of brutal house-to-house fighting, Rhoman losses numbered 6,000.
Rhoman offesnives during the 6th Rhomano-Turkish war
The Push to Smyrna - After securing the western coast, the Rhoman high command moved rapidly inland, pressing toward the heart of Anatolia.The first phase was retaking Kutahya, The city was defended by over 25,000 Turkish troops under General Hasan Topal, with fierce resistance in the high ridges and inner city.The Rhomanians unleashed the "Neo-Nicene Guard", a shock infantry division made up of survivors of Phocaea and their families.Kütahya fell after a devastating 10-day artillery bombardment and hand-to-hand urban warfare.The 2nd phase, included atrittion warfare to starve the Turks and drive them out.Turks dug into central Anatolian plateaus, attempting to hold off Rhoman advance in snowbound terrain.Chetan militias resorted to ambushing supply lines, blowing up rail depots and slaughtering Orthodox villagers behind Rhoman lines.Despite this, Rhoman forces built fortified encampments, supplied by an emerging rail and telegraph network from the Aegean.
Battle of Sardis Pass - Turks attempted to ambush Rhoman columns crossing the ancient Lydian mountain pass.The Neo Nicene Guard routed the ambush with a daring cavalry flank through the pine forests.Over 9,000 Turkish troops killed or captured.The Greek army finally linked with the Phocean militias, and the front regrouped, Rhoman forces reentered Phocaea to find it a ghost town, half in ruins, with graves still fresh.
Armistice at Kaş[]
The Turkish government, seeing the increasingly disadvantageous position, and not wanting to risk a total collapse of all their fronts, sued for peace.The Rhoman Kingdom responded with an acceptance of Turkish diplomats to negotiate territorial changes.At the town of Kaş, known to the Greeks as Antifillo, territorial concessions were made in exchange for the withdrawal of Greek troops from occupied territories.The Kingdom of Rhomania expanded up to the Eskişehir-Uşak-Marmaris line, Rhomania was overextended, but stretched from western northern anatolia all the way to the south of the Lycian Sea.
The declaration of the Pontic Republic of Amissos, and Trebizond[]
The Republic of Amissos and Trebizond next to eachother
1876-1881, Collapse of Turkish Rule in the Pontic Region.By late 1876, with the Armistice of Kaş formalized Rhomanian victory over the Turkic Republic, much of western Anatolia had fallen into the Rhomanian orbit. However, northeastern Anatolia — particularly the Pontic coast — remained a geopolitical vacuum:
The Turkic military retreat from Van and Bitlis had left Samsun (Amissos), Giresun, and Trebizond largely undefended.Local Greek Orthodox populations, many of whom had endured centuries of persecution, began organizing armed self-defense leagues and political committees.The region, ethnically mixed (Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Laz, and Circassians), was simmered with sectarian tension and economic collapse.
Declaration of the Republic of Amissos (March 9, 1876)[]
Led by Nikolaos Averidis, a charismatic scholar-turned-militant from Bafra, the Republic of Amissos was declared in Samsun on March 9, 1876.The new local government promised to restore order in Greek-populated villages, Expel remaining Chetan units hiding in the hills and secure food supply via Black Sea trade.
Declaration of the Republic of Trebizond (April 17, 1876)[]
Trebizond, steeped in the legacy of the medieval Empire of Trebizond, saw its declaration as a spiritual and historical revival.Led by the devout but military-minded Metropolitan Stephanos of Chaldia, the Democratic Council of Trebizond declared independence on April 17, 1894, invoking its right to self governance and determination.Territorial Claims included Gümüşhane (Argyropolis), Rize, and the Laz coast although not formally controlled or under occupation, encouraged the return of exiled Greek families from Crimea and Georgia.
Both republics faced immediate uprisings from Remnant Turkish garrisons, refusing to surrender coastal forts.Laz tribal federations, wary of Greek rule and emboldened by pan-Caucasian ideas, and Chetan remnants, who took to banditry and asymmetric warfare in the Pontic Alps.
Pontic Guerillas
However, what cemented the republic's existence was The Battle of Fatsa (May 1876) – militias crushed a Chetan-aligned warlord in the Fatsa region, but at heavy cost: 1,200 dead and widespread burning of villages.
King Gregory I publicly celebrated the Pontic revolutions, but privately hesitated to recognize their independence outright, out of fear of provoking Russia and Armenia to intervene.Nevertheless, volunteers, weapons, and advisors flowed from Rhomania into both republics. In effect, they became de facto protectorates in 1880.
After several years of independence, both the Republic of Amissos and the Council of Trebizond began to face internal and external pressures that prompted talks of political unification into a single Pontic Republic.Both for Security (Turkish insurgents and Laz resistance continued to destabilize both republics).Economic strain: Duplicated administration, competing trade tariffs, and inconsistent railway policies were hampering growth.As well as increasing Cultural pressure, Intellectuals, clergy, and returning diaspora communities from Russia and Crimea called for a “Second Empire of Trebizond.”
Lazi expedition[]
Laz leaders, many Muslim and allied with ex-Ottoman elements, refused to recognize the Greek-dominated Pontic republics.They viewed it as an erasure of their identity and began to organize around charismatic tribal leader Bekir Paşa, a former Ottoman colonel.An Insurrection in the East by Laz militias launched raids into eastern Trebizond villages, attacking Christian settlements and supply routes.Trebizond’s army responded with brutal counterinsurgency campaigns, torching villages suspected of harboring insurgents.The town of Pazar became a Laz stronghold, barricaded and supplied via mountain routes from Artvin.
The Pontic–Laz Conflict[]
Battle of the Çoruh (1878) - A 10,000-man Pontic force crossed into Laz territory to break the siege of Arhavi.After a month-long mountain battle, Bekir Paşa was killed, and the Laz insurrection fragmented.However, international observers from Britain and the Russians condemned the heavy-handed tactics and reported “ethnic cleansing” in several districts.
The Turkic State: Though the Turkic Republic had been militarily defeated in 1876, it persisted in Central and East Anatolia, rebuilding around a rising nationalist figure: Ibrahim Menderes.Menderes declared a “New Panturkism”, blending Islamic revivalism with secular Turkic nationalism.He accused Rhomania and the Pontic Republics of “colonizing and erasing Turkish Anatolia".Tensions Escalated.In 1878, Pontic forces occupied Bayburt, extending their influence further inland and threatening routes to Erzurum, this would provoke Armenia later, which would start disrupting Pontic supply chains.Border clashes in Erzincan killed over 300 soldiers on both sides.
Afro-Circassian brigades arrive[]
The ongoing Circassian Genocide, which had been happening in the Circassian-populated provinces of the Russian Empire for over a decade now, had fueled a refugee crisis that involved thousands of Turkish, Afro-turkish and Circassian civilians and soldiers fleeing into nearby countries, such as Georgia, Armenia, Shirvan, and Pontus.The Afro-Cricassian brigades, formed by battalions of veteran Turkish soldiers and Circassian volunteers, begun their drive into the Kelkit stream territories, at which point they begun to be seen by Pontic authorities as an external threat.This would lead to numerous small scale conflicts between occupied and settled Afro-Circassi towns and Pontic militias.The Afro-Cricassians briefly declared an independent republic, Before the skirmishes ended after the 2 republics united under Rhomania's administration, and the Kingdom put a halt to Afro-Cricassian independence.
Chaldian-Kurdish wars[]
In the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent Rhomanian expansion, the power vacuum in northern Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia gave rise to competing nationalist and ethno-religious movements: The State of Assyria, declared in January 11, 1874 the establishment of an autonomous Assyrian Homeland, centered in Hakkari, Nineveh, and Barwari Bala..It became a rising contender in the post Ottoman anatolian chaos that had changed the geopolitical tide in the Near and Middle East.Their leader was Patriarch Mar Shimun XIX and their administrative body comprised by a collective council of Elder-Theocrats who ruled over their respected tribes and adhered to either the Nestorian church of the east, or the Assyrian catholic church.They were supported by the French and Russians, and seen as a promising ally standing in between British-Eastern expansion and Iranian opportunism.The Russians guaranteed their independence in 1875 from the British mesopotamian dominion, and prevented Iran from intervening.However, what the Russians couldnt stop, was the Kurdish expansion in the region.
The Kurds, long divided into tribal confederacies and emirates, saw the opportunity to reassert regional dominance. The charismatic Prince Rewand Bey of Botan declared the Malikate of Kurdistan in 1874, with its capital at Amediye.Both parties claimed overlapping territories, especially around Zakho, Dohuk, and the Upper Zab valley, setting the stage for a brutal ethno-national war.
Flag of the Assyrian volunteers
The First Kurdish–Assyrian War (1875–1878)[]
The massacre of Christian villagers in Tyari and Tkhuma by Kurdish tribal fighters sparked outrage across the Assyrian highlands.Assyrian militias, known as the “Guardians of Mar Qardagh”, launched retaliatory raids on Kurdish settlements near Zakho and Amadiya.
Battle of Deraluk: Prince Rewand’s forces attempted to encircle and destroy the Assyrian stronghold of Deraluk.The battle ended in failure as Assyrian mountaineers, bolstered by Georgian and Armenian volunteers, routed the Kurdish cavalry in narrow mountain passes.The defeat severely damaged the reputation of Rewand Bey and sparked unrest among his rival Kurdish princes.
Truce and Stalemate, 1878: After three years of scorched-earth warfare, a Russian-brokered truce was declared in Urmia, recognizing Assyrian independence in the highlands and Kurdish control in the southern valleys.But the peace was uneasy and failed to address deep territorial grievances.
The Second Kurdish–Assyrian War (1881-1882)
The Malikate launched a second campaign in 1881, aiming to seize Nineveh and secure access to the Tigris River.The war quickly escalated into a regional conflict involving the First Armenian Republic, which supported the Assyrians diplomatically.The war revealed fatal weaknesses in the Malikate of Kurdistan: Feudal tribalism: Major Kurdish clans such as the Barzani, Soran, Jaff, and Baban refused to follow Rewand Bey’s orders.Not only that, but the major Religious divides: Yazidi, Alevi, and Sunni Kurdish tribes began clashing internally.In 1883, the Soran Emirate openly seceded and signed a neutrality pact with the Assyrians, It would be eventually integrated into Persia.
The Assyrians, armed with British-supplied rifles and field artillery, recaptured the Upper Zab valley and razed the Kurdish fortress at Shirwan Mazin.The Battle of Amediye (1904) saw Rewand Bey wounded and captured. His execution by Assyrian irregulars shocked Kurdish morale.With the loss of its central figure and military cohesion, the Malikate of Kurdistan collapsed as a unified state.
The Bishopric of Capadoccia declares autonomy[]
The region of Cappadocia, a land of ancient churches carved into stone and a deeply rooted Greek and Armenian Christian presence, became a simmering frontier under increasing religious repression.The Turkic regime, led by General Cemaleddin Bey, viewed the Christian communities of Cappadocia as potential collaborators with Rhomania and sought to "harmonize" the region through:
- Forced mosque conversions of historic cave churches
- Conscription of Christian youth into irregular militias
- Tax increases targeting monasteries and Greek clergy
These policies led to quiet resistance among the local population, particularly the clergy, who had kept ancient Hellenic and Armenian traditions alive since Byzantine times.
The Execution of Bishop Dorotheos: In December 1878, the Turkic governor of Kayseri ordered the arrest and public hanging of Bishop Dorotheos of Prokopi on charges of “sedition and foreign collusion.” The execution provoked mass protests across Cappadocia.The underground Christian councils, long operating in secret beneath churches and monasteries, convened in Soğanlı Valley, where leading clerics and monastics declared the separation of Greek Capadoccia from the Turkic State.On February 3, 1900, the Bishopric of Cappadocia formally ratified secession from the Turkic Republic and requested protection and ecclesiastical unity with Rhomania.Gregory I's deliberation, though cautious of overextending the empire, saw the Cappadocian appeal as a divinely ordained opportunity to reassert Rhomanian presence deep into Anatolia. He convened the Senate and Synod, and on January 21, 1879, Rhomania officially recognized the Bishopric of Cappadocia as an autonomous ecclesiastical province under Rhomanian protection.Army Theme Paphlagonia, under General Themistokles Drakos, was moved into Dorylaion.The Black Sea Fleet intensified patrols along the southern Pontic coast.
Outrage in Konya: The Turkic Vizier, Ibrahim Menderes, saw the secession and Rhomanian recognition as an open act of war.On May 9, 1879 He ordered the Fourth Kayseri Division to march on the seceded bishopric. Skirmishes broke out around Ürgüp and Derinkuyu, where Turkic irregulars clashed with Rhomanian-trained militias defending cave monasteries.On May 14, 1879, Turkic forces launched a full assault on Zelve, a holy site guarded by a joint Greek-Assyrian monastic militia. The monastery of Saint Basil was burned, and over 300 defenders were killed.The massacre was captured by Rhomanian scouts and publicized across Athens, Trebizond, and Europe, causing international uproar. Rhomania responded with Formal declaration of war against the Turkic State.
The Cappadocian secession and its appeal to Rhomania did not just ignite a new war—it symbolized the final phase of the Christian reclamation of Anatolia, where faith, identity, and statehood merged into a campaign of liberation and vengeance.
7th Rhomano-Turkish War[]
The Rhomanian Invasion of Cappadocia (May–December 1879): With the Bishopric of Cappadocia under threat, King Gregory I ordered a swift and decisive invasion. Army Theme Paphlagonia, under General Themistokles Drakos, advanced in three spearheads, the Northern Column: Arrived by sea into Nevşehir, securing the Bishopric’s territories.The Central Column: Advanced toward the Central anatolian plain and Ankara, relieving besieged monasteries, and the Southern Column cut across the volcanic plains toward Kayseri, the seat of the Turkic regional command.
By June 1, most of Northern Cappadocia was under Rhomanian control. Rhoman engineers restored ancient Roman roads for troop and artillery movement, while local Christian communities greeted the soldiers as liberators.
Siege of Kayseri (May–June 1879): Kayseri (Caesarea) was a fortified trade and military hub for the Turkic State. Its fall would open the route to eastern Anatolia and devastate Turkic morale.General Drakos encircled the city with 18,000 men and 40 cannons, Whilst Turkic commander Iskender Pasha refused surrender, rallying 10,000 defenders inside the city.Rhomanian artillery bombarded the city walls, leveling portions of the Ottoman-era western gates.A surprise night assault by Turkic cavalry broke through the Rhomanian southern lines, leading to brutal combat before the attackers were repelled.A cholera outbreak within Kayseri further weakened the defenders.
After a coordinated assault using engineers to tunnel under the western gate, Rhomanian infantry breached the city.Iskender Pasha died in a fire set in the municipal barracks a week later.Rhoman forces declared the “Liberation of Caesarea” on June 9, raising the twin imperial eagle above the ancient citadel.The Turkic Army of Central Anatolia was decisively defeated, breaking the army's ability to defend Capadoccia, and Cilicia.These events would also lead to the formation of the Armenian Republic of Cilicia, in June 12, backed by Armenian volunteers and politicians.
Strategic Gains (Early 1880)[]
homania controlled all of Cappadocia, from Aksaray to the Taurus Mountains.The Bishopric of Cappadocia was formally integrated into the Rhomanian Empire as a Special Eparchy, with the Patriarch of Caesarea restored.
Meanwhile, the Turkic Republic descended into crisis: Riots broke out in Konya protesting the government’s failure.Several eastern tribal lords (including Turkomen from Malatya and Adıyaman) began defecting to the newly established State of Rum, based in Sivas.
The War of the Bafra League[]
The Collapse of the Turkic Republic (Late 1879– Spring 1800) caused by the defeats at Kayseri and Mount Erciyes,Central and eastern anatolia descended into political and military freefall.In Konya, President Ibrahim Menderes lost control over the military high command. A failed coup attempt by General Halit Bey in October led to a week-long civil conflict inside the city.
Fall of Konya – April 17, 1881: The Rhomanian army's entry only escalated the events, as the opposing governments were both besieged, Rhomanian forces under General Nikandros Vlachos launched a lightning campaign through Aksaray and Karaman, culminating in the siege and swift capture of Konya. Menderes fled and was later captured by Rhoman scouts in disguise outside Isparta.With Konya fallen and no central authority left, the Turkic Republic effectively ceased to exist. Local warlords and city councils declared neutrality or sought protection from regional powers, including Armenia.
In Sivas, the State of Rum declared itself autonomous, refusing to send reinforcements, instead entrenching itself to protect its own holdings.Thousands of Turkic conscripts deserted en masse, some defecting to Rhomania, others returning to tribal allegiances.Kurdish militias began carving out their own fiefdoms in the southeast, accelerating the fragmentation of Turkic authority.
As the central Anatolian power vacuum widened, the Bafra League emerged as a confederation of Turkic mercantile cities and militias along the Pontic coast, stretching from Sinope to Amasya.Formed in early 1874 under the leadership of Bekir Ağa, a former admiral turned merchant-lord in Sinope.The League claimed neutrality, but secretly armed anti-Rhomanian bands and offered refuge to fleeing Turkic officers and political hardliners.The League controlled key Black Sea ports and sea lanes vital to northern Rhomania.It also posed a potential alliance target for anti-Rhomanian factions or foreign powers (such as Russia).
The Rhomanian Decision for Preemptive Action[]
In June 1880, Rhomanian intelligence (the Kentro) uncovered documents revealing a Bafra plot to form a military pact with exiled Turkic generals and Kurdish separatists in Diyarbakır. Fearing a coastal front opening in the north, King Gregory I and the Senate authorized a preemptive campaign.General Leon Stavrakis, a Pontic-born commander, led a force of 25,000 Rhomanian troops into the Bafra coast in order to pacify the region.Following battles in the Terme River, and siege of Bafra, with the help of the Pontic sister republics, the Bafra League would eventually enter peace negotiations and surrender.
The Pontic coast was brought under direct Rhomanian protection.The league was allowed to remain as an autonomous administrative protectorate under Rhomania, this was part of Deligiannis' project to create autonomous bodies within the Kingdom to prevent administrative collapse.Thousands of displaced Pontic Greeks and Armenians were resettled from Rhomanian refugee zones.
The Seventh Rhomano-Turkish War marked the final collapse of Turkish centralized power in Anatolia and the ascendance of Rhomania as the dominant regional power.
Armenian-Pontic war[]
Post-War Power Vacuum and Armenian Ambitions: After the Seventh Rhomano-Turkish War, the sudden collapse of the Turkic Republic left the eastern Black Sea region politically fractured and militarily vulnerable. Two Pontic Greek republics, formed during the war, Amissos and Trebizond.Meanwhile, the Armenian Republic, newly strengthened from its victories over the Turks in the southeast, sought a secure northern frontier and access to the Black Sea. Armenian nationalist circles in Erzurum and Van viewed Trebizond and Amissos as strategically valuable buffer states—ideally to be absorbed.Now the two republics were facing two future options, either join their Greek allies in Constantinople, or submit to Erevan.Unfortunetaly for them, no option was given.
In late 1881, Armenian forces under General Vardan Bakunts launched a coordinated invasion of Pontic territories, using the pretext of “stabilizing the northern mountains” and “protecting Armenian minorities from Pontic reprisals".Approximately 20,000 Armenian regulars, including experienced highland units from the Battle of Muş and Irregular Armenian cavalry (“Fedayeen of the North”) led incursions into the valleys of Bayburt and Gümüşhane.
Invasion of Trebizond: Bayburt Falls – December 2: Armenian infantry swept through the Çoruh Valley and captured Bayburt after minor resistance.Pontic militia attempted to hold the snowy passes into the coast, but were overrun by artillery-supported Armenian troops.Siege of Trapezous – January 3 1881: The ancient city, symbol of Pontic independence, was surrounded. Bombardment by field guns shook the morale of defenders. The Holy Synod of Trebizond attempted negotiations, but were rebuffed.On January 18, Armenian forces stormed Trebizond, raising the tricolor over the citadel. Looting and reprisals followed, particularly against local gentry and any perceived “Turkic collaborators.” Though many civilians were spared, ethnic tensions flared, leading to the burning of several coastal villages.
Advance on Amissos: The oligarchic republic, already weakened by internal power struggles, could muster only a small militia and a handful of merchant-funded battalions.It was evident that without support the city would soon fall.
Rhomanian Reaction and the Diplomatic Ultimatum[]
Rhomania, alarmed by the rapid Armenian expansion and violation of Christian fraternal bonds, issued an ultimatum to Yerevan on March 12 to withdraw all forces from the Pontic territories within fifteen days, or face Rhomania directly.At the same time, Rhomanian troops were deployed to the Paphlagonian frontier. Armenian leadership hesitated—facing internal dissent and the threat of war with Rhomania, whose army outmatched theirs in size and naval capability, but had hope in a Russian intervention in their favour.
On April 2, Armenian forces began a partial withdrawal, retreating east of Giresun.Russia stepped in in May of 1881, managing to wiggle a peace between the two countries.Under diplomatic pressure—and promises of recognition of their eastern borders by Rhomania—they signed the Trebizond Protocols in May 1881.
- Armenian forces evacuated all Pontic territories.
- The Republics of Amissos and Trebizond would be placed under Rhomanian protection.
- Armenia would retain free trade rights through the port of Trapezous, supervised by Rhomanian officials.
- The Sister republics were finally peacefully re-organised and integrated as the Pontus eparchy in Rhomania.
The situation managed to de-escalate, and the conflict did not make it past a few skirmishes, the peace which was struck between the two nations would be effective in keeping anatolia stable until the 1920s.
8th Rhomano-Turkish war - Collapse of the Rum State[]
The State of Rum[]
In the aftermath of the Seventh Rhomano-Turkish War and the Rhomanian annexation of western and central Anatolia, what remained of Turkish sovereignty fragmented into regional warlord states, tribal emirates, and pockets of unaligned militias.In Sivas (Rum Eyalet), one of the last major cities untouched by Rhomanian occupation, a coalition of Exiled Turkic officers, Religious leaders (ulama and Sufi sheikhs), and Local landowning nobles.All these factions came together to form a new provisional government, hoping to preserve a Turkic-Islamic identity independent of both the Rhomanian Empire and Kurdish or Armenian expansionism.This entity declared itself the “Devleti Rum” (State of Rum) on February 11, 1881, symbolically referencing the ancient Seljuk and early Ottoman use of “Rum” to mean Anatolia — ironically repurposing the same title Rhomania used to define itself.
Despite initial cohesion, the State of Rum quickly faced multiple crises, such as the Economic Collapse emerging from the anatolian wars, and trade routes severed by Rhomanian border garrisons.Famine conditions in winter becoming especially brutal, and led to widespread discontent.Religious Radicalism vs. Pragmatism: Divisions arose between pragmatist officers and radical theologians.Riots in Tokat and clashes between local militias.Kurdish and Armenian Incursions were exceptionally frequent and did not help the stabilization efforts of the government.
The Inevitable War[]
The Rhomanian government saw the State of Rum as: A simmering insurgent base, A haven for irredentist Turks, and potential staging ground for revolt in recently annexed eastern themes.Tensions escalated when Rhomanian patrols were ambushed near Tokat in late 1881. When Beylerbey Alptekin refused to hand over the responsible warlords, Rhomania issued a formal ultimatum.
The eventual Rhomano-Rum War or commonly known as The 8th Rhomano-Turkish war would see the swift defeat and occupation of the State of Rum, but in the years of its short existence, the state became a symbol of cultural survival for the Turkish.After its defeat, the accord between Rum's leadership and Rhomania would turn into a collaborative treaty of cooperation, Rum was recognised as another protected state of the Kingdom, and received the same status as Capadoccia and Bafra.For the Greeks, this small war had a symbolic meaning, the final defeat of their ultimate adversary and completion of their 400 year old vengeance.
Deportations and Massacres[]
The Phocea massacre[]
Chetan militia parading with their loot after the massacre
Phocaea, a historic Ionian city near Smyrna, had become a symbol of Rhomanian resettlement and Orthodox revival. Its population by 1870 was majority Greek, with a Turkish minority relegated to rural peripheries.On the night of June 9, over 3,000 Chetan fighters, many disguised as laborers and refugees, infiltrated Phocaea. In the early morning hours, they launched a coordinated assault on the city’s Greek population: Churches were burned, and priests crucified or executed publicly.Greek neighborhoods were razed; civilians were massacred indiscriminately in the streets and dragged from homes.Women and children were rounded up in the city square and subjected to horrific violence, including mass rape, mutilation, and execution.The Rhomanian garrison, only 800 strong, was overwhelmed within hours. Survivors were burned alive in the city’s citadel.The Greek flag was torn down and replaced by the crescent flag of the Chetan movement.By dawn on June 10, the ancient city of Phocaea was a charred, blood-soaked ruin. Over 8,000 Greeks were killed, and nearly 3,000 more enslaved or deported inland.
News of the massacre reached Constantinople by telegraph on June 11. King Gregory I, shaken and enraged, addressed the Rhomanian Parliament the next morning:
“Let it be known, from the peaks of Ararat to the shores of the Bosporus, that we are not a people who forget their dead. For every child they burned, we shall return fire with steel.”
The Iznik (Nicea) massacre[]
17.000-20.000 Turks in the city of Iznik were viciously driven out or murdered in the streets, due to the furious attacks of the chetans in numerous anatolian villages populated by christians in the interior, the massacre was condemned internationally and Rhomania was even threatened with sanctions.The government punished the perpetrators, but the damage was already done, as this event would signal a turning point for Greco-Turkish ethnic relations inside the Kingdom.
The slaughter of Eskişehir[]
The Rhoman army's terrific slaughter of Eskişehir was an event during the 5th Rhomano-Turkish war, when the Greek army, after besieging the city, would enter and set fire on many historic quarters and districts.The catastrophic results of the slaughter number at about 50.000 Turkish civilian casualties.This event was crucial for the Turkish army's morale, as it boosted the notion that Greece and Turkey were eternal enemies.
Amissos and Bafra expulsions[]
Following the siege of Bafra, and the integration of Amissos, the cities both experienced deportations of Turks, muslim and christian, due to populist agitation and ethnic panic.About 12.000 turks were expelled into the Anatolian interior.Sometimes, random population groups that were not of Greek origin would be targeted randomly, including foreigners from European countries, Russians, and Jews.
Armenian massacres[]
Sivas, Siirt and Mus, all cities with significant Armenian populations saw expulsions and massacres under the increasingly radicalised Turkish administrations.Often perpetrated by local governments and warlords, or done directly by the Turkic state, these massacres could be categorized as a systematic ethnic extermination targeted at Armenians in specific, and Christians in general.Sivas especially saw the largest expulsions, including but not limited to: 100.021 Armenians, and 50.000 Greeks.
Aftermath[]
There is no doubt that despite the triumph of Rhomania, and its enormous victories that proved it to be a formidable adversary to block Russian and French expansion in the region.Asia Minor was a complete reck, in flames, and devastated by the decade of conflict.Social trust had collapsed, the people were afraid of eachother, religious tensions were mounting, Muslims and Christians often clashing over peripheral lands and administrative seats.Rhomania was weakened both economically and militarily, its army suffered losses, the economy nearly collapsed, the currency was devaluated.
The war stopped any prospect of economic activity and prosperity in the region.Towns and cities were layed to ruin.Anatolia would industrialize the latest out of all of the middle east.Seeing late industrial development in the 1950s.The population decreased, refugee waves shocked countries in the near east and left administrations crippled.Rhomania was dealing with a societal collapse and population chaos up until the 1930s.The influx of Christian refugees from the Anatolian inferior would shortly boost the Greek economy, before being resettled back into their original homelands, but nonetheless, the damage was already done.Anatolia was left so crippled from this catastrophic series of conflicts, that it would be completely unable to withhold the Russian onslaught during the Great War, the campaign which would leave Anatolia even further damaged and in poor condition than it already was.It would take the Rhomanian government 2 decades until the region finally repaired and was in proper condition, economic crisis and their influence can still be seen to this very day.
Politically, the anatolian wars saw the breakdown of relations between neighboring christian countries and their leadership.Armenians, were now seen as distrustful and opportunistic, something which drove them further into an alliance with Russia.Animosity amongst different ethnic groups did not help the administrative integration effort of the Kingdom of Rhomania, which struggled with balancing the different ethno-religious groups inside its borders, fragmenting anatolia into closeted fiefdoms and communities, The Schism of which wouldn't heal until after the Great war, once the inhabitants of anatolia had fought together side by side, and witnessed the same hardships and starvation, only then, would the scars of the Anatolian wars begin to heal.
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