Treaty of Sèvres

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Treaty of Sèvres is a peace treaty that the Allies of World War I, excluding the United States, and the Ottoman Empire signed on 10 August 1920 after World War I. Representatives from the governments of the parties involved signed the treaty in Sèvres, France.^[1] However, the Turkish War of Independence forced the former wartime Allies to return to the negotiating table prior to ratification. The parties signed and ratified the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

İstanbul and other parts of Turkey were occupied by several Allied powers. The treaty had four signatories on behalf of the Ottoman government. It was an unestablished agreement in the absence of the Ottoman Parliament, which was forced to close after the session at February 12, 1920 (Abolishment: March 18, 1920). In the absence of the Parliament, it was not sent to the sultan Mehmed VI Vahdeddin to be ratified, or published in Takvim-I Vakayi, the official newspaper.

[edit] Conditions

The four signatories of the Treaty of Sevres on behalf of the Ottoman government (from left to right, Rıza Tevfik, the grand vizier Damat Ferid Pasha, ambassador Hadi Pasha and the Ottoman minister of education Reşid Halis).

Main article: Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire

The treaty solidified the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, which was in plan with secret agreements among the Allied Powers. The partitioning followed the outlines of earlier agreements which renogetiated last time between the Allies at the Sanremo conference in April 1920.

[edit] Middle East

The Democratic Republic of Armenia (Wilsonian Armenia), the Kingdom of Hejaz were granted independence. A Kurdistan region is scheduled to have a referendum to decide its fate, which also including the Section III Articles 62–64 made the Mosul Province be part.

United Kingdom acquired British Mandate of Iraq and Mandate for Palestine which later were assigned again under League of Nations Mandate.

France acquired Lebanon and an enlarged Syria, which later were assigned again under League of Nations Mandate.

[edit] Anatolia

The expansion of Greece from 1832 to 1947, showing territories awarded to Greece by the Treaty of Sèvres but lost in 1923.

The proposed Armenian state created by the Treaty of Sèvres.

Greece: The armistice of Mudros followed by the occupation of Izmir established the Greek rule in 21 May 1919. This was followed by the declaration of the protectorate on 30 Jul 1922. Treaty assigned the key port of İzmir/Smyrna to be part of Greece, along with most of Thrace and part of Western Anatolia.

Italy: The Dodecanese and Rhodes (already under Italian occupation since 1911), with portions of southern Anatolia, were to pass to Italy,

[edit] Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Army was to be restricted to a strength of 50,000 men; the Ottoman navy could only preserve seven sloops and six torpedo boats, and the Ottoman state was prohibited from obtaining an air force.

The Bosphorus, Dardanelles and Sea of Marmara were to be demilitarized and internationalized.

[edit] Nullification

Main articles: Turkish War of Independence and Treaty of Lausanne

See also: Treaty of Alexandropol, Treaty of Ankara (1921), and Treaty of Kars

Treaty of Sèvres was vigorously rejected by the Turkish national movement. Turkish revolutionaries under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha split with the monarchy based in Istanbul (Constantinople). Ankara government emerged as the legitimate representative for Turkey.

The Turkish National Movement gathered around the Turkish Grand National Assembly through the course of the Turkish War of Independence successfully resisted and assured the security of what they defined as their home land in Misak-ı Milli, which was very close to the present-day territory of Turkey. In achieving this goal the Armenian (Turkish-Armenian War), French (Franco-Turkish War) and Greek (Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)) forces were evacuated. Turkish National Movement developed its own international relations by the Treaty of Moscow with the Soviet Union on 16 March 1921, Accord of Ankara with France putting an end to the Franco-Turkish War, and the Treaty of Alexandropol and the Treaty of Kars fixing the eastern borders.

These events forced the former wartime Allies to return to the negotiating table, for the establishing Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

[edit] See also

• Caucasus Campaign of World War I, 1914-1918
• First Republic of Armenia
• Turkish-Armenian War
• Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
• Republic of Turkey

World War I Portal

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Text of the Treaty of Sèvres
• Armenia and Turkey in Context of the Treaty of Sevres: Aug - Dec 1920 - on "Atlas of Conflicts" by Andrew Andersen