Military strategy of Sakarya Field Battle

Sakarya Field Battle constitutes a unique nature in the military history regarding the military strategy applied within. The well-known order of the Commander-in Chief, as to "defend the surface, not the line" given during this war has been the most exemplary and emphasized argument having been raised in this regard. This order and the pertaining strategy implemented along with it, have often been referred to as an exemplary application of "Mobile" and "Deep" defense, which had not been seen until that time in the military literature. It has even been elevated to the allegation that this strategy has mainly influenced the modern military defensive concepts, and it has played a role of precursor for the widely known contemporary doctrines of "Flexible" or "Active" defense. Whatever as the case could be defined, that a quite exceptional strategy was implemented in the Sakarya Field Battle remains as an unquestionable reality. However, the defense in depth is not the only aspect of the battle doctrine that makes the difference. Another unprecedented aspect of the Sakarya Field Battle is that the concept of deep operations in the Greek Army rear area, which was later recalled as "Deep Operations" after the Second World War. As such, it is concluded that the original character of this battle is an undoubted phenomena. The first question that comes to mind at this point is, "What could be the main factor or factors paving the way for the implementation of such exceptional practices?"