The Provisional Government of Western Thrace, later renamed to Independent Government of Western Thrace, was a small, short-lived unrecognized republic established in Western Thrace from August 31 to October 25, 1913. It encompassed the area surrounded by the rivers Maritsa in the east, Mesta in the west, the Rhodope Mountains in the north and the Aegean Sea in the south. Its total territory was c. 8.600 km². The whole of Western Thrace was captured by Bulgaria during the First Balkan war and awarded to the country by the Treaty of London. During the Second Balkan War the Greek Army captured most of the area between Skecha and the Maritsa river south of Soflu without encountering resistance by the weak Bulgarian army which retreated to the southern slopes of the Rhodope mountains while the Ottoman forces occupied the regions of Soflu, Dimotika and Ortakyoy. After the Second Balkan War the treaty of Bucharest was signed which returned the area to Bulgaria and the Greek army withdrew from Western Thrace. Thereupon local Muslims and Greeks petitioned, with the encouragement of the Greek authorities refused to recognize the Bulgarian control of the area and petitioned the Ottoman army to occupy Western Thrace. On their invitation, the region was then occupied by small Ottoman forces, largely irregulars. While the area had been returned to Bulgaria by the Bucharest treaty, the Bulgarian army wished to conflict with the Ottomans and retreated to a line coinciding with the pre-Balkan war border up to Aydomush and from there along a ridge of the Rhodope mountains running west of Daridere and east of Madan up to the Bulgarian-Greek border. After the retreat of both the Bulgarian and Greek armies, an autonomous state was declared with Ottoman support, in order to avoid Bulgarian rule after the Treaty of Bucharest, in which the Ottomans had not taken part. Under British pressure, the Bulgaria and the Ottomans signed the Treaty of Constantinople, which satisfied the Turkish claims to recognition of Eastern Thrace and recognized Western Thrace as part of Bulgaria. The Ottomans withdrew their forces and by 25 October, and the area was returned by Bulgaria. The southern part of the former Provisional government was occupied in 1918 by French forces. This area was finally annexed byGreece in 1920 and has been part of that country ever since, except for the Bulgarian occupation between 1941–1944. The northern part of the former Provisional Government remained part of Bulgaria after 1919. The capital of Provisional Government of Western Thrace capital was Gümülcine, now Komotini, in Greece.
Overview
President: Hoca Salih Efendi. Army: Standing force of 29,170, largely infantry. Commander of the Armed Forces was Süleyman Askerî Bey. Steering Committee: Reshid Bey, Raif Effendi, Hafous Salih Effendi, Nicodimos, Mikirditch Tabakian, Yaka Cassavi, Hafous Galip and Eshref Bey Kushchubasi. As soon as independence was declared the Provisional Government of Western Thrace determined the borders of the country, put up the new flags on the official buildings, commissioned a national anthem, raised an army, published its own stamps and passports, and prepared the budget of the new country. A Jewish citizen, Samuel Karaso, was tasked by the government with establishing an official press agency and to publish a newspaper named Müstakil in Turkish and French. The Ottoman Laws and Regulations were adopted without any change and the cases started to be heard by the Court of Western Thrace. Currency 40 Paras = 1 Piaster
