Treaty of Sèvres (1920): The Partition of the Ottoman Empire

The Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty imposed by the Allies on the defeated Ottoman Empire after the First World War. Signed on 10 August 1920 at Sèvres, near Paris, it divided the empire’s lands among Britain, France, Italy, Greece and new states such as Armenia, leaving the sultan only a fragment of Anatolia and Constantinople. The treaty never came into force: the Turkish national movement fought it and won, and it was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

Background

The Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Germany in late 1914. By the time it signed the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, British forces held Mesopotamia, Palestine and Syria, and during the war the Allies had made secret agreements, including the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, to divide its Arab provinces. Promises had also been made to Italy, Greece and the Arabs. The wartime Armenian Genocide had led the Allies to pledge justice for Armenians.

Allied troops occupied Constantinople from late 1918, and in May 1919 Greek forces landed at Smyrna (Izmir) with Allied approval. That landing helped spark Turkish resistance. Mustafa Kemal, an Ottoman general, organised a national movement in Anatolia, and in April 1920 a Grand National Assembly opened in Ankara, claiming to represent the nation in place of the sultan’s government, which was under Allied control.

Terms

The terms were drafted at the Paris Peace Conference and later meetings, notably at San Remo in April 1920, where the Middle Eastern mandates were allocated. Representatives of Sultan Mehmed VI’s government signed on 10 August 1920 in the showroom of the porcelain factory at Sèvres. The main provisions were:

• Arab lands: Syria and Lebanon became French mandates; Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Palestine became British mandates. The independence of the Hejaz was recognised.
• Greece: received Eastern Thrace up to near Constantinople and most of the Aegean islands, and was to administer Smyrna and its region for five years before a possible plebiscite on union.
• Armenia: was recognised as independent, with its frontier in eastern Anatolia to be set by US President Woodrow Wilson.
• Kurdistan: a region in south-eastern Anatolia was offered local autonomy, with the possibility of independence later.
• The Straits: the Dardanelles and Bosporus were placed under an international commission and demilitarised.
• Ottoman sovereignty: the empire kept Constantinople and part of Anatolia, but its army was limited to about 50,000 men, its finances placed under Allied supervision and the foreign privileges known as capitulations restored.

A separate Tripartite Agreement signed the same day divided much of southern Anatolia into French and Italian zones of influence.

Why the treaty failed

The Ottoman parliament, dissolved after the Allies tightened their occupation of Constantinople in March 1920, never ratified the treaty, and the Ankara government rejected it outright. Of the signatories, only Greece ratified it.

The Turkish War of Independence then dismantled the settlement piece by piece. In autumn 1920 Turkish forces defeated the Armenian republic, which soon became part of Soviet Russia’s sphere; Wilson’s frontier award of November 1920 was never applied. France made peace with Ankara in October 1921 and withdrew from Cilicia, and Italy pulled out of its zone. The Greek army, which had advanced deep into Anatolia, was halted at the Sakarya river in 1921 and routed in August 1922; Smyrna fell in September 1922 and much of the city burned.

The Allies then negotiated with Ankara as an equal. The sultanate was abolished in November 1922, and the Treaty of Lausanne, signed on 24 July 1923, recognised the borders of what became the Republic of Turkey, including Eastern Thrace, all of Anatolia and Constantinople, with no Armenian or Kurdish state.

Legacy

Although it never took effect, Sèvres had lasting consequences. The mandates it confirmed shaped the modern borders of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Israel and Palestine. For Kurds and Armenians it remains a reminder of promises unfulfilled. In Turkey the treaty is remembered as an attempt to destroy the nation, and the phrase “Sèvres syndrome” describes a lasting suspicion that outside powers seek to divide the country.

Key people

• Mehmed VI (1861–1926), the last Ottoman sultan, whose government in Allied-occupied Constantinople accepted the treaty; he went into exile in November 1922.
• Mustafa Kemal (1881–1938), later known as Atatürk, leader of the national movement that rejected Sèvres and founder of the Republic of Turkey.
• Eleftherios Venizelos (1864–1936), Greek prime minister, whose diplomacy won Greece the largest gains under the treaty; he lost power in elections in November 1920.
• David Lloyd George (1863–1945), British prime minister and the strongest supporter of Greek claims in Anatolia; the collapse of his policy in the Chanak Crisis of 1922 contributed to his fall.

Timeline

• 1918, 30 October: The Armistice of Mudros ends Ottoman fighting.
• 1919, 15 May: Greek troops land at Smyrna.
• 1920, 16 March: Allied forces tighten their occupation of Constantinople.
• 1920, 23 April: The Grand National Assembly opens in Ankara.
• 1920, 10 August: The treaty is signed at Sèvres.
• 1920, 22 November: Wilson issues his arbitral award on Armenia’s frontier.
• 1922, September: Turkish forces retake Smyrna.
• 1923, 24 July: The Treaty of Lausanne supersedes Sèvres.

Why it matters

The Treaty of Sèvres marked the high point of Allied plans to partition the Ottoman Empire and the moment when those plans met effective resistance. It is the only one of the post-war peace treaties to be overturned by force, and its failure produced the borders of modern Turkey.