Treaty of Lausanne

Context

At the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and disintegrated into a number of nation-states on the Balkan Peninsula and in the Middle East. The empire was forced to sign first the Armistice of Moudros on October 30, 1918, and then the Treaty of Sèvres on August 10, 1920. The terms of the armistice and treaty were so burdensome that the two together ensured the demise of the Ottoman Empire. The Armistice of Moudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies in the port of Moudros on the Greek island of Lemnos. World War I had ended in political turmoil and created a power vacuum in the former territories of the Ottoman Empire, which now passed to the British and their allies—who therefore had unique opportunities to shape the former territories. Under the terms of the armistice, the Ottomans surrendered their garrisons outside the region of Anatolia, while the Allies had the right to occupy the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. They also had the right to seize any strategic points in case of threats to their security and to occupy the six provinces of eastern Anatolia in case of disorder. The Taurus tunnels, a system of train tunnels passing through the Taurus mountain range, and a strategic point on the railway linking the Ottoman Empire capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Hejaz (part of modern-day Saudi Arabia) were to be occupied as well. The Ottoman army was demobilized, and ports, railways, and strategic points were to be used by the Allies. Soon after signing the armistice, the Allies occupied Constantinople and divided Anatolia among themselves in accordance with the terms of the Armistice of Moudros.

Constantinople, the Ottoman capital, was occupied by a joint army of British, French, Greeks, and Italians, while the key port of Izmir was occupied by the Greeks, on behalf of the Allies. The Ottoman government, meanwhile, exercised almost no authority, nor did it represent the Turkish people. During the two years between the Armistice of Moudros and Treaty of Sèvres, a nationalist movement came into existence. It became organized and was transformed into a new government in Ankara on April 23, 1920, as headed by Mustafa Kemal (who adopted the surname Atatürk in 1933). The occupation by the Greeks posed the most serious threat to the Ankara government, and the Greek army expanded its control of western Anatolia in a series of attacks. Initially, the Greek advance was checked by Ismet Pasa (who was to be the chief negotiator at the head of the Turkish delegation at the Conference of Lausanne); a renewed Greek offensive caused a retreat by Kemal. Military crisis caused political crisis, and the Grand National Assembly berated Kemal for the disaster. Kemal nonetheless persuaded the assembly to give him full power as commander in chief, and he drove out the invading Greek army in a series of renewed attacks. The Greeks fled to the sea, and the Turkish troops entered Izmir on September 9, 1922. Anatolia was cleared of the Greeks, but there were still Greeks in Thrace, across the straits. A small number of British troops were guarding the straits, backed by naval units. Kemal's forces advanced up to the straits zone and stopped. Here, both sides agreed to negotiate.

The Armistice of Mudanya was signed on October 11, 1922, with the Allied powers agreeing to restore Turkish control in Constantinople, Thrace, and the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and to convene a peace conference. Thus, the Turks were victorious in the Turkish War of Independence, and the Treaty of Sèvres became an invalid document, with a new treaty yet to be made. The Allies sent formal invitations to the Turkish governments in Ankara and in Constantinople for a peace conference to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland. The representation of the Turkish government by two delegations would injure Turkish prospects at the forthcoming negotiations. Therefore, after a long discussion, Ankara's Grand National Assembly abolished Constantinople's sultanate on November 1, 1922, and chose Abdülmecid II as the new caliph of the Ottoman line. The thirty-sixth and last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI (Vahideddin), left Constantinople on November 17 on a British warship, to live in exile in San Remo, Italy, until his death. Thus, the Ankara government alone represented Turkey at the Lausanne conference, which began on November 20.

Lord Curzon, the British foreign secretary and head of the British delegation, was the chief negotiator on behalf of both his own nation and the Allies. Greece was represented by a separate negotiator. It was Lord Curzon who prepared and proposed the first draft of the agreement on behalf of Britain and the Allies. The Turkish delegation did not present its own draft agreement but instead prepared a document consisting of their points for consideration. Initial discussions were carried out based on Curzon's draft agreement, most of which was rejected by the Turkish delegation. Curzon refused to compromise on the draft agreement and insisted that it was the Turks who had to bend and accept the terms offered to them, while the Turkish delegation insisted that they should be treated on a basis of equality. Curzon's demands and Ismet Pasa's reactions and counterdemands remained contradictory throughout the negotiation process. In fact, almost all issues discussed at the conference were met by opposition on both sides.

Curzon presented a draft treaty on January 31, 1923, incorporating all the agreements reached in the three main committees and including the provisions that he wanted but that the Turkish delegation refused to accept. He demanded that Ismet Pasa accept the proposal as it was written, without negotiation or change, but Pasa communicated with Ankara and was instructed to refuse to sign the agreement. The French and Italian delegations attempted to arrange a compromise, and new meetings were held between February 1 and 5. However, the Turkish delegation was not ready to accept Curzon's demands, while the British refused to make any changes to Curzon's draft treaty. Therefore, the conference adjourned before any agreement was reached or a common document was produced. Historians from both sides agree that Curzon's arrogant and uncompromising approach was the main reason for the initial failure of the conference.

Ismet Pasa and the Turkish delegation returned to Turkey on February 16, 1923, and met with Mustafa Kemal to discuss the proceedings of the conference. Debate over the conference by the Grand National Assembly in a secret session started on February 21 and lasted two weeks. Pasa was criticized heavily on the ground that he had gone beyond the original instructions given to him, particularly on territorial matters. Meeting on March 7, the Ankara government revised Curzon's text, formulated its own treaty in about a hundred pages, and sent it to the Allied governments. On March 11, the British government called the Allies to London to discuss the Turkish proposal. The Allies at first suggested many changes to the Turkish proposal but then responded more favorably in the interest of resuming talks. With the conference resuming in Lausanne on April 23, 1923, Britain was represented by two new delegates, Horace Rumbold and Andrew Ryan. Curzon's absence proved an asset to negotiations. The British delegation sought to meet Ismet Pasa's objections, and most of the problems were handled through compromise. The final treaty was signed by all the states involved.