Battle of Lesbos (1912)

The Battle of Lesbos took place from 21 November – 21 December 1912 during the First Balkan War, resulting in the capture of the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos by the Kingdom of Greece. The island of Lesbos had been ruled by the Ottoman Empire since 1462, when it was conquered by Sultan Mehmed II from the Genoese Gattilusio family that had ruled it for over a century. Named Midilli after its capital, Mytilene, the island remained continuously under Ottoman rule until 1912, disrupted only by brief Venetian occupations in the First and Second Ottoman–Venetian wars. The large majority of the island's population remained Greek Christian, although there was a significant Muslim population accounting for up to a fifth of the total, who lived throughout the island. Relations between the two communities were generally good, and Lesbians were often bilingual in both Greek and Turkish. The port of Mytilene was one of the busiest in the Aegean Sea, and the island was relatively wealthy from trade, exporting many agricultural goods of its own, as well as benefiting from its geographical location on the major shipping routes. This prosperity also contributed to the island not participating in the Greek War of Independence in 1821–1829. With the outbreak of the First Balkan War in October 1912, the Greek fleet under Rear Admiral Pavlos Koundouriotis seized the strategic island of Lemnos at the entrance of the Dardanelles Straits, and proceeded to establish a naval blockade of the Straits. With the Ottoman fleet confined behind the Daradanelles, the Greeks were left with complete control of the Aegean Sea, and began occupying the Ottoman-ruled Aegean islands. Most of these islands had few or no troops, apart from the larger islands of Chios and Lesbos; the latter was garrisoned by the 2nd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment. The Ottoman garrison numbered 3,600 men, of whom 1,600 were professional soldiers, with the rest being irregulars and drafted Christians, commanded by Major Abdul Ghani Pasha whose headquarters were based in Molyvos.