Qualla: Battle of Lesbos (1912) https://qualla.com/battle-of-lesbos-1912 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:08 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/f/x/battle-of-lesbos-1912-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Lesbos (1912) https://qualla.com/battle-of-lesbos-1912 Battle of Lesbos (1912): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-lesbos-1912/ Photo credit Agence Rol, Public domain. For 450 years, Lesbos had answered to the Sultan. The Ottomans took it in 1462 from the Genoese Gattilusio family, renamed it Midilli after its capital, and held it through the centuries while the rest of Greece fought its way to independence. Lesbos sat out that earlier struggle; the island was wealthy from trade, its Greek and Muslim communities lived in generally good relations, and many islanders spoke both Greek and Turkish. Then, in the late autumn of 1912, with the First Balkan War raging on the mainland, a Greek fleet appeared off Mytilene, and the long arrangement came to an end.

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/f/x/battle-of-lesbos-1912-wp/swfx-battle-of-lesbos-1912-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Lesbos (1912): The Fleet Arrives https://qualla.com/battle-of-lesbos-1912/ Photo credit Agence Rol, Public domain. On 21 November 1912, Greek naval forces under Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis landed at Mytilene. The admiral had already seized Lemnos and thrown a blockade across the Dardanelles, bottling up the Ottoman fleet and leaving the Aegean in Greek hands. At Mytilene he issued an ul...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/f/x/battle-of-lesbos-1912-wp/swfx-battle-of-lesbos-1912-the-fleet-arrives.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Lesbos (1912): Village by Village https://qualla.com/battle-of-lesbos-1912/ Photo credit Agence Rol, Public domain. What followed was a slow, difficult campaign across winter terrain. The small Greek force at Mytilene was not strong enough to finish the job, so general headquarters sent reinforcements and placed the operation under Colonel Apollodoros Syrmakezis, who assembled roughly 3,175 me...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/f/x/battle-of-lesbos-1912-wp/swfx-battle-of-lesbos-1912-village-by-village.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Lesbos (1912): Surrender at Filia https://qualla.com/battle-of-lesbos-1912/ Photo credit Agence Rol, Public domain. The end came in confusion. As both Greek columns prepared their final assault on Filia, an Ottoman envoy appeared asking for an armistice. It was granted, but when Major Abdul Ghani, the Ottoman commander, arrived, he denied having requested any negotiation and offered nothing. R...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/f/x/battle-of-lesbos-1912-wp/swfx-battle-of-lesbos-1912-surrender-at-filia.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Lesbos (1912): The Long Diplomatic Tail https://qualla.com/battle-of-lesbos-1912/ Photo credit Agence Rol, Public domain. Winning the island and keeping it were two different matters. The Ottoman Empire refused to concede the Aegean islands it had lost, and their fate passed to the Great Powers under the 1913 Treaty of London. In February 1914 the Powers ceded most of them, Lesbos included, to Greec...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/f/x/battle-of-lesbos-1912-wp/swfx-battle-of-lesbos-1912-the-long-diplomatic-tail.mp3 0:06 5 full