battle, notable, interwar and Second World War

Battle of Marash

Name: Battle of Marash
Start: 1920-01-21
Location: Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

Battle of Marash was a battle fought on 21 January 1920 at Kahramanmaraş, in what is now Turkey; it lasted 23 days. It was part of the Franco-Turkish War, which ran from 1918 to 1921. The recorded result: Turkish victory; French troops abandon Marash; Massacre of Armenian civilians.

See it on the globe Read the article

Fought21 January 1920lasted 23 days

WhereKahramanmaraş, Turkey37.585N, 36.926E

OutcomeTurkish victory; French troops abandon Marash; Massacre of Armenian civilians

BelligerentsTurkish National Movement; Kuva-yi MilliyeagainstFrench Third Republic; () French Armenian Legion

Casualties and losses4,500 killed; 500+ wounded; (Including civilians)and160 killed; 280 wounded; 170 missing

Part ofFranco-Turkish War1918 to 1921

Where it sits in the Franco-Turkish War

3 placed engagements of the Franco-Turkish War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date	21 January 1920 to 13 February 1920
Place	Kahramanmaraş, Turkey 37.585N, 36.926E
Kind	Battle, interwar and Second World War
Strength	French claim: 30,000 armed guerrilla fighters; Turkish claim: 2,500 Kuva-yi Milliye; Local support; Modern estimates: 30,000 armed guerrilla fighters	Turkish claim: 3,000 French; 2,000 Armenian volunteers (non-French Armenians were mostly unarmed civilians); 4 armored cars; Modern estimates: 2,000–2,400 total French troops; 600 Armenian volunteers
Casualties and losses	4,500 killed; 500+ wounded; (Including civilians)	160 killed; 280 wounded; 170 missing; 5,000–12,000 dead Armenian civilians
Commanders	Arslan Toğuz Ali Kılıç	Henri Gouraud

The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Battle of Marash AD 953, 0.7 km E
Siege of Germanicia AD 638, 0.7 km E
Zeitun Rebellion 1895, 33 km N
First Zeitun Resistance 1862, 34 km N
Battle of Raban AD 958, 49 km E

Contested ground: this site was fought over 3 times between AD 638 and 1920.

In the same war

After: Battle of Urfa 9 February 1920
All 3 engagements of Franco-Turkish War

Elsewhere in 1920

Battle of Warsaw Poland
Battle of Maysalun Syria
Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
Kyiv offensive Ukraine
Red Army invasion of Armenia Armenia

Battle of Marash is one of 4,429 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 687 in present-day Turkey.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q4810343, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Marash, revision 1372211830, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.