Thessaloniki was a part of Ottoman Empire for approximately 500 years and in 1912 it became part of Greece when Greece acquired Macedonia following the Balkan Wars. Many famous people have lived or were born here, such as the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero, many saints like Cyril and Methodius, who invented the Cyrillic alphabet, and Saint Demetrius, who is the patron saint of the city, and many politicians, such as the founder of modern-day Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Most of the city was completely destroyed in a large fire in 1917 and was rebuilt in the 1920s. Thessaloniki was place to both the Salonica and Macedonian fronts during World War 1, this fronts were made of French, Serbian, English, Italian, and a Russian division. This fronts were key in 1918 to the Entente victory over both Bulgaria and Austria. It was later occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, during the Greek Invasion.