Amid the smouldering ruins of the once-majestic Ottoman Empire, there arose, like a phoenix from its ashes, a force determined to craft a new nation: modern Turkey. The story of the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923) is intricately intertwined with Britain's imperial interests and the after-effects of the Great War.

At the end of World War I, the Allies—chiefly Britain, France, Italy, and Greece—intended to carve up the Ottoman Empire. By the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), the once-great empire faced disintegration. Anatolia was to be partitioned, with zones of foreign influence and direct territorial gains for the Allies. The straits were internationalized, and the sultanate in Constantinople was rendered a puppet, dancing to the whims of foreign powers.

But from the heartland of Anatolia, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a distinguished Ottoman officer, emerged with an indomitable spirit, rallying the Turkish nationalists against this humiliation. Britain, bearing the mantle of the premier global power, and keen to protect its interests in the Middle East and its sea route to India through the Dardanelles, eyed this nascent nationalist movement with suspicion.

The Greek and British forces initiated operations to solidify their territorial claims. The Greeks, with British encouragement, expanded their zone from Izmir (captured with the aid of British naval guns in 1919) westward into Anatolia. But they would soon collide with the advancing forces of Kemal.

While the British did not engage heavily on the ground, their influence was palpable. Their primary concern was the Straits and Constantinople, where a significant British force was stationed. However, the centrepiece of this war would be the Greco-Turkish front.

The climax came in August 1922 at the Battle of Dumlupınar, where Kemal's forces soundly defeated the Greeks. The British in Constantinople, under General Sir Charles Harington, faced a conundrum. Should they confront Kemal's advancing troops, or find a diplomatic solution?

Choosing prudence over conflict, the British refrained from open war. The subsequent Treaty of Lausanne (1923) recognised the Republic of Turkey, its sovereignty, and new borders, effectively annulling the Treaty of Sèvres.

This was not a tale of British military prowess, but of diplomacy, of recognising the ascendancy of a new regional power. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, having forged a nation in the crucible of war, would go on to mould modern Turkey, while Britain, chastened and weary from the travails of the Great War and its aftermath, would increasingly look to manage, rather than expand, its vast global commitments. In the annals of history, the Turkish War of Independence marks the eclipse of one empire, the birth of a nation, and the reordering of a new world.