| Republic of Pontus Δημοκρατία του Πόντου Dimokratía tou Pontou |
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| Unrecognized state. | ||||
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| The modern definition of the Pontus: the area claimed for the "Republic of Pontus" after World War I, based on the extent of the six local Greek Orthodox bishoprics. | ||||
| Capital | Samsun | |||
| Language(s) | Official:Greek | |||
| Religion | Eastern Orthodox | |||
| Political structure | Unrecognized state. | |||
| History | ||||
| - Established | 1917 | |||
| - Disestablished | 1922 | |||
The Republic of Pontus was a proposed Pontian Greek state in the north-eastern part of modern Turkey from 1917 to 1922.[1] The Republic of Pontus was never officially proclaimed, but a central government of an embryonic state existed, though not occupying all the claimed areas.[2] The Pontian Greeks rebelled against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, under the leadership of Chrysanthus, Metropolitan of Trebizond. In 1917 Greece and the Entente powers considered the creation of a Hellenic autonomous state in Pontus, most likely as part of a Ponto-Armenian Federation.[3] In 1919 on the fringes of the Paris Peace Conference Chrysanthos proposed the establishment of a fully independent Republic of Pontus, but neither Greece nor the other delegations supported it.[4]
As Anglo-Hellenic designs on Turkey unfolded, American and French officials reported certain schemes. Early in 1920, an agreement was signed to establish a Ponto-Armenian Federation. At the same time the Greeks had come to an understanding with the British for the establishment of an Anglo-Hellenic army, just in case the Armenians went over to an anti-British power. The British had no documentation of such plans, only the Greeks. The document for plans to land Greek troops in Transcaucasia was written by a M. Manousso, president of the Greek National Council in Armenia, and was brought to the Paris Conference.[5]
Samsun was the de facto capital of the republic and the emblem of the state was the one-headed eagle, symbol of the Komnenian dynasty of the Empire of Trebizond.[1]
Many of Greeks of Trebizond and Kerasunta didn't join Samsun, Tokat, Ordu and Amasian Greeks' rebellion army.
After the collapse of the Greek front in Asia Minor during the Greco-Turkish War the plan of a fully independent state in the region collapsed, and the subsequent Greek-Turkish population exchange removed the Pontic Greeks from their homeland and resettled them in Greece (chiefly in Macedonia). But Muslim Pontians still lives in Pontus.
The Paris Peace Conference meeting in January 1919, witnessed the formation of pertinent decisions pertaining to the future of the Ottoman Empire .This Conference also witnessed the emergence of new partners, desiring to acquire shares from the Ottoman territories. These new partners did not hesitate to pronounce their desires to the Allies, albeit the clashes in their zones of interest. The surprised Allies, viewing these demands soon noted that regions such as Cilicia, Maraş and the six Eastern provinces as well as Trabzon, demanded by the Armenians, was partially also a matter of interest for the Greeks. The Greek interests laid particularly in the Trabzon region to fulfill their intention of forming a Pontus republic in the Black Sea. Hence, during the discussions of the Paris Peace Conference as Boghos Nubar Pasha claimed to pursue good relations with the Armenians, Venizelos persisted on preserving affirmative contacts with the Greeks.
This research is designed to analytically evaluate through archival documents as well, the January 1920 discussions in Erivan and Tiflis between the Greeks and Armenians for a possible confederation, attempted following the failure of the search of the Chrysanthus, pursued in Europe with the anticipation of finding support for the foundation of an independent Pontus state.