On 10 August in 1920 AD/CE, the peace treaty (commanly kown as Treaty of Sèvres) was signed between the Ottoman Empire on one hand, and on the other the Allies (excluding Russia and the United States) at Sèvres, France. The treaty, which liquidated the Ottoman Empire and virtually abolished Turkish sovereignty, followed in the main the decisions reached San Remo.
In Asia, Turkey renounced sovereignty over Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Palestine (including Trans – Jordan), which became British mandates; Syria (including Lebanon), which became a French mandate; and the kingdom of Hejaz. Turkey retained Anatolia but was to grant autonomy to Kurdistan. Armenia became a separate republic under international guarantees, and Smyrna (modern Izmir) and its environs were placed under Greek administration pending a plebiscite to determine its permanent status.
See Also: Abolition of the Ottoman Empire
In Europe, Turkey ceded parts of Eastern Thrace and certain Aegean islands to Greece, and the Dodecanese and Rhodes to Italy, retaining only Istanbul and its environs, including the Zone of the Straits; Dardanelles and Bosphorus, which was neutralized and internationalized. The Allies further obtained virtual control over the Turkish economy with capitulation rights.
The treaty was accepted by the government of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed Vahdettin VI at Istanbul but was rejected by the rival nationalist government of Kemal Atatürk at Ankara. Atatürk’s separate treaty with the USSR and his subsequent victories against the Greeks during the War of Independence forced the Allies to negotiate a new treaty in 1923, in Lausanne – Switzerland.
The Sèvres peace treaty imposed by the Allies on the Ottoman Empire after World War I had virtually destroyed Turkey as a national state. The treaty was not recognized by the nationalist government under Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later known as Atatürk). After the nationalist victory over the Greeks and the overthrow of the sultan during the War of Independence, Atatürk’s government was in a position to request a new peace treaty.
See Also: Sultan Abdul Hamid II ascended the throne
Accordingly, the signatories of the Treaty of Sèvres and delegates of the USSR (excluded from the previous treaty) met at Lausanne – Switzerland. After lengthy negotiations a peace treaty was signed in 1923 AD/CE.
