Simav and its surroundings in the national struggle

Simav has hosted many civilizations throughout history, and is located in the crossroads of Aegean region with other regions. The Greek invasion and atrocity, which started with the invasion of Izmir on May 15, 1919, spread to many other regions of Western Anatolia; and Countrywide Resistance Organizations were established in many areas as a reaction to this invasion. One of these areas was Simav. After the Greek invasion spread in Anatolia, Simav was among the areas where resistance was started against the invasion, and a branch of Countrywide Resistance Organizations was established and started its activities in Simav on November 1, 1919. As it is the case in many other areas, there appeared opponents to Countrywide Resistance Organizations in Simav as well, and they also started their activities. After Çerkez Ethem arrived in Simav, this movement was suppressed with his struggles. Simav was one of the many areas invaded by the Greek and was invaded three times on different dates, on September 1, 1920; on August 22, 1921;and on October 12, 1921. The people of Simav resisted against the invasion. Some people gave their lives in this struggle while some were sent to exile. With the Great Offensive, which was the last stage of the National Struggle by the Great National Assembly against the Greek Army, Simav was saved from the Greek invasion on September 5, 1922. Similarly, Emet, Gediz and Uşak, which were the surrounding settlements of Simav, were also saved with the Great Offensive. Key Words: National Forces, the Greek, Mehmet Arif Efendi, Simav, Çerkez Ethem, İbrahim Ethem, Rasih Efendi, Mehmet Nuri Efendi, Yusuf Cemil Bey.