View source for Treaty of Sèvres

{{Short description|Unratified 1920 treaty signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Protocol of Sèvres]]}}
{{Infobox treaty
|name = Treaty of Sèvres
|long_name = The Treaty of Peace Between the Allied Powers and the Ottoman Empire
|image = Sevres signing.jpg
|caption = [[Mehmed Hâdî Pasha]] signs the Treaty of Sèvres
|type = 
|date_drafted = 
|date_signed =10 August 1920
|location_signed = [[Manufacture nationale de Sèvres]], [[Sèvres]], [[French Third Republic|France]]
|date_sealed = 
|date_effective = 
|condition_effective = [[Ratification]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the four principal Allied Powers
|date_expiration = 
|parties = <!-- The following list is in the order as presented in the Preamble of the treaty. Any reordering or rewording, without consensus, will be reverted. -->{{Collapsible list | titlestyle = font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; | title = '''Principal Allied Powers'''{{refn|The order and the categorization below are as they appear in the preamble of the treaty:  [[Wikisource: Treaty of Sèvres/Preamble]]}}
   | {{flag|British Empire}}
     | &nbsp;•&nbsp;{{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
     | &nbsp;•&nbsp;{{flag|Canada|1907}}
     | &nbsp;•&nbsp;{{flag|Australia}}
     | &nbsp;•&nbsp;{{flagcountry|Dominion of New Zealand}}
     | &nbsp;•&nbsp;{{flagcountry|Union of South Africa|1912}}
     | &nbsp;•&nbsp;{{flagcountry|British Raj|Viceroy}}
   | {{flagcountry|FRA-3}}
   | {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Italy}}
   | {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
}} 
{{Collapsible list | title = Allied Powers
   |{{flagcountry|First Republic of Armenia}}
   |{{BEL}}
   |{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Greece|state}}
   |{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Hejaz|1917}}
   |{{flagcountry|POL-2}}
   |{{flagcountry|POR-1}}
   |{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Romania}}
   |{{flag|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes}}
   |{{flagcountry|First Czechoslovak Republic}}
}}
-----
* '''Central Power'''
* {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}
|depositor = French Government
|languages = [[French language|French]] (primary), [[English language|English]], [[Italian language|Italian]]<ref>[[Wikisource: Treaty of Sèvres/Protocol]]</ref>
|website = 
|wikisource = Treaty of Sèvres}}
{{Paris Peace Conference sidebox}}

The '''Treaty of Sèvres''' ({{langx|fr|Traité de Sèvres}}) was a 1920 treaty signed between some of the [[Allies of World War I]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]], but not ratified. The treaty would have required the cession of large parts of Ottoman territory to [[Interwar France|France]], the [[Interwar Britain|United Kingdom]], [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], as well as creating large occupation zones within the Ottoman Empire. It was one of a series of treaties<ref>[[:Category: World War I treaties]]</ref> that the [[Central Powers]] signed with the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] after their defeat in [[World War I]]. Hostilities had already ended with the [[Armistice of Mudros]].

The treaty was signed on 10 August 1920 in an exhibition room at the [[Manufacture nationale de Sèvres]] porcelain factory<ref>{{Cite book |last=Helmreich |first=Paul C. |title=From Paris to Sèvres: The Partition of the Ottoman Empire at the Peace Conference of 1919–1920 |publisher=Ohio State University Press |location=Columbus, Ohio |year=1974 |page=[https://archive.org/details/fromparistosevre0000helm/page/320 320] |isbn=9780814201701 |oclc=694027 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fromparistosevre0000helm/page/320 }}</ref> in [[Sèvres]], [[French Third Republic|France]].<ref name=TEXT>{{Cite web |url=http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/versa/sevres1.html |title=The Treaty of Sèvres, 1920 |publisher=Harold B. Library, [[Brigham Young University]]}}</ref>

The Treaty of Sèvres marked the beginning of the [[partition of the Ottoman Empire|partitioning of the Ottoman Empire]]. The treaty's stipulations included the renunciation of most territory not inhabited by [[Turkish people]] and their cession to the Allied administration.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/pdf/1920/TS0011.pdf |title=TS0011.pdf |access-date=2014-05-31 |archive-date=2015-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218122439/http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/pdf/1920/TS0011.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The ceding of [[Eastern Mediterranean]] lands saw the introduction of novel polities, including the British [[Mandate for Palestine]] and the French [[Mandate for Syria and Lebanon]].

The terms stirred hostility and [[Turkish nationalism]]. The treaty's signatories were stripped of their citizenship by the [[Government of the Grand National Assembly|Grand National Assembly]], led by [[Mustafa Kemal Pasha]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/ottoman-signatories-treaty-sevres|title=Ottoman signatories of Treaty of Sèvres - NZHistory, New Zealand history online|work=NZHistory.net.nz|access-date=25 January 2017}}</ref> which ignited the [[Turkish War of Independence]]. Hostilities with Britain over the neutral zone of the Straits were narrowly avoided in the [[Chanak Crisis]] of September 1922, when the [[Armistice of Mudanya]] was concluded on 11 October, leading the former Allies of World War I to return to the negotiating table with the Turks in November 1922. The 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)|Treaty of Lausanne]], which superseded the Treaty of Sèvres, ended the conflict and saw the establishment of the [[Republic of Turkey]].

== Negotiations ==
{{Expand section|date=October 2024}}

=== Allied powers ===
{{Expand section|date=October 2024}}

=== Ottoman Empire ===
The representatives of the Allied Powers submitted the draft peace treaty they had prepared at the [[San Remo Conference]] (18-26 April 1920) and requested a response from the Ottoman government within a month. Former [[List of Ottoman grand viziers|Grand Vizier]] [[Ahmet Tevfik Pasha|Tevfik Pasha]] sent the draft agreement, which he found “incompatible with the concepts of independence and even statehood”, to the government. The Ottoman government formed a commission to edit the proposal, and sent back their recommendations to the Allies Powers on 25 June 1920. The Allied Powers sternly rebuked Istanbul that they could expect to make any changes to the draft they previously prepared, other than a few minor, unimportant changes, and requested a response within ten days. Press in the capital was partial to the [[Sublime Porte]] with many concluding that there was no other choice but to accept the treaty.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yakut |first=Kemal |title=Saltanat Şûrâsı |url=https://ataturkansiklopedisi.gov.tr/bilgi/saltanat-surasi-2/ |website=Atatürk Ansiklopedisi|date=24 February 2022 }}</ref>

Before making the final decision on the treaty, Sultan [[Mehmed VI]] convened another [[Sultanate Council]] on 22 July 1922 ([[First Sultanate Council of Mehmed VI|the first one]] was called in May 1919 after the [[Greek landing at Smyrna]]), so that responsibility for treaty could be shifted to them. Government members, members of the [[Senate of the Ottoman Empire|Senate]], former grand viziers, high-ranking officers, and leading figures of the ulema and bureaucracy were invited to the council. The number of delegates was 57 (down from 131 of the previous council), and didn't include politicians affiliated with the [[Turkish National Movement]]. Care was taken not to invite representatives of the [[Association for Defence of National Rights|Defense of Rights movement]] and those with a [[Committee of Union and Progress|Unionist]] political identity and background.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Yakut |first=Kemal |title=Saltanat Şûrâsı |url=https://ataturkansiklopedisi.gov.tr/bilgi/saltanat-surasi-2/ |website=Atatürk Ansiklopedisi|date=24 February 2022 }}</ref>

The council began deliberations by discussing a July 17 telegram from the [[Ministry of the Interior (Ottoman Empire)|Minister of the Interior]] [[Ahmet Reşit Rey|Reşit Bey]], who was in Paris, stating that the Allied Powers did not accept Ottoman reservations on the draft treaty. On July 20 the council announced that there was no other option but to approve the treaty. Grand Vizier [[Damat Ferid Pasha]] gave a speech, stating that the country had come to this point due to ten years of terrible mistakes instigated by the [[Committee of Union and Progress]], but that Istanbul was still entrusted to the Turks because of the trust the Allies had in the Sultan, and that there was no other solution than accepting the treaty. Other statesmen like [[Mustafa Sabri Efendi]] and [[Mehmed Hâdî Pasha|Hâdî Pasha]] gave speeches in support of the treaty. A vote was held in which all delegates supported the signature of the treaty, except for Topçu Feriki Rıza Pasha, who abstained.<ref name=":0"/>

== Summary ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Signed between Allied and Associated Powers and Ottoman Empire at Sèvres<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hri.org/docs/sevres/|title=The Peace Treaty of Sèvres}}</ref>
!
!Parts
!Articles
|-
|I
|The Covenant of the League of Nations
|1-26
|-
|II
|Frontiers of Turkey
|27-35
|-
|III
|Political Clauses
|36-139
|-
|IV
|Protection of Minorities
|140-151
|-
|V
|Military, Naval and Air Clauses
|152-207
|-
|VI
|Prisoners of War and Graves
|208-225
|-
|VII
|Penalties
|226-230
|-
|VIII
|Financial Clauses
|231-260
|-
|IX
|Economic Clauses
|261-317
|-
|X
|Aerial Navigation
|318-327
|-
|XI
|Ports, Waterways and Railways
|328-373
|-
|XII
|Labour (Part XIII of Versailles Treaty)
|374-414
|-
|XIII
|Miscellaneous Provisions
|415-433
|}

==Parties==
[[File: SevresSignatories.jpg|thumb|upright|The Ottoman delegation at Sèvres: ''Left to right:'' [[Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı]], [[Grand Vizier]] [[Damat Ferid Pasha]] (wearing fez), the Ottoman education minister [[Mehmed Hâdî Pasha]] and ambassador [[Reşat Halis]] ]]
[[George Dixon Grahame]] signed for the United Kingdom, [[Alexandre Millerand]] for France, and Count Lelio Longare for Italy. One Allied power, Greece, did not accept the borders as drawn, mainly because of the political change after the [[1920 Greek legislative election]], and so never ratified the treaty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.mfa.gr/NR/rdonlyres/3E053BC1-EB11-404A-BA3E-A4B861C647EC/0/1923_lausanne_treaty.doc |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-05-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629163221/http://www2.mfa.gr/NR/rdonlyres/3E053BC1-EB11-404A-BA3E-A4B861C647EC/0/1923_lausanne_treaty.doc |archive-date=2007-06-29 }}</ref> 

There were three signatories for the Ottoman Empire:

# Ex-Ambassador [[Mehmed Hâdî Pasha|Hadi Pasha]],
# Ex-Minister of Education [[Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı]],
# Second secretary of the Ottoman embassy in Bern, [[Reşat Halis]].

[[Grand Vizier]] [[Damat Ferid Pasha]] was present at the negotiations, but not a signatory to the treaty.

The [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] was not a party to the treaty because it had negotiated the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] with the Ottoman Empire in 1918.

The [[Treaty of Versailles]] was signed with the [[German Empire]] before the Treaty of Sèvres and annulled German concessions in the Ottoman sphere, including economic rights and enterprises.

Also, France, Britain, and Italy signed a Tripartite Agreement on the same date.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Tripartite Agreement between the British Empire, France and Italy respecting Anatolia|journal=[[The American Journal of International Law]]|volume=15|issue=2, Supplement: Official Documents|pages=153–159|doi=10.2307/2212979|jstor=2212979|date=April 1921|s2cid=246002936 }}</ref><ref>''The Times'' (London), 27. Idem., Jan. 30, 1928, Editorial.</ref> It confirmed Britain's oil and commercial concessions and turned the former German enterprises in the Ottoman Empire over to a tripartite corporation.

The United States, having refused in the [[United States Senate|Senate]] to assume a [[League of Nations mandate]] over [[Wilsonian Armenia|Armenia]], decided not to participate in the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Congress Opposes Armenian Republic; General Sentiment Is Against Assuming Responsibility for New Republic|newspaper=The New York Times| date=April 27, 1920|pages=2, 353|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9804E3D91E3CEE3ABC4F51DFB266838B639EDE}}</ref> The US wanted a permanent peace as quickly as possible, with financial compensation for its military expenditure. However, after the Senate rejected the Armenian mandate, the only US hope was its inclusion in the treaty by the influential Greek Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos]].<ref>{{Cite journal| first=Herbert Adams|last=Gibbons|title=Venizelos|journal=Political Science Quarterly|year=1921|volume=36| issue=3|pages=519|doi=10.2307/2142304|jstor=2142304}}</ref>

== Provisions ==
[[File:SevresTreaty.png|thumb|upright=1.25|Partition of the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of Sèvres and the Greco-Italian Treaty]]

The treaty imposed a number of territorial losses on Turkey and had a number of provisions that applied to the territory recognised as belonging to Turkey.

=== Non-territorial ===
==== Financial restrictions ====
The Allies were to control the Ottoman Empire's finances, such as approving and supervising the national budget, implementing financial laws and regulations and totally controlling the [[Ottoman Bank]]. The [[Ottoman Public Debt Administration]], instituted in 1881, was redesigned to include only British, French, and Italian bondholders. The Ottoman debt problem had dated back to the time of the [[Crimean War]] (1854–1856) during which the Ottoman Empire had borrowed money from abroad, mainly from France. Also the [[capitulations of the Ottoman Empire]], which had been abolished in 1914 by [[Talaat Pasha]], were restored.

The empire was required to grant [[freedom of transit]] to people, goods, vessels etc. passing through its territory, and goods in transit were to be free of all customs duties. Future changes to the tax system, the customs system, internal and external loans, import and export duties and concessions would need the consent of the financial commission of the Allied Powers to be implemented. To forestall the economic repenetration of Germany, [[First Austrian Republic|Austria]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946)|Hungary]] or [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], the treaty demanded the empire to liquidate the property of citizens of those countries living within its territories. The public liquidation was to be organized by the Reparations Commission. Property rights of the [[Baghdad Railway]] were to pass from German control.

==== Military restrictions====
The [[Ottoman Army]] was to be restricted to 50,700 men, and the [[Ottoman Navy]] could maintain only seven [[Sloop-of-war|sloops]] and six [[torpedo boats]]. The Ottoman Empire was prohibited from creating an air force. The treaty included an interallied commission of control and organisation to supervise the execution of the military clauses.

==== International trials ====
{{See also|Prosecution of Ottoman war criminals after World War I}}

The treaty required determination of those responsible for the [[Armenian genocide]]. Article 230 of the Treaty of Sèvres required the Ottoman Empire to "hand over to the Allied Powers the persons whose surrender may be required by the latter as being responsible for the massacres committed during the continuance of the state of war on territory which formed part of the Ottoman Empire on August 1, 1914". However, the [[inter-allied tribunal attempt]] to prosecute war criminals as demanded by the Treaty of Sèvres was eventually suspended, and the men who orchestrated the genocide escaped prosecution and traveled relatively freely throughout [[Europe]] and [[Central Asia]].<ref name=samantha>[[Samantha Power|Power, Samantha]]. ''[[A Problem from Hell]]'', p. 16–17. Basic Books, 2002.</ref>

==== Communal relations ====
The Ottoman Empire was to ensure equal rights between Muslims and non-Muslims, return deportees to their homes, and restore property which was previously confiscated. All conversions to Islam since 1 November 1914 were to be annulled.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Benny |title=The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924 |last2=Ze'evi |first2=Dror |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=2019}}</ref>

===Foreign zones of influence ===
[[File:Treaty of Sèvres map partitioning Anatolia.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Treaty of Sèvres with zones of influence]]

==== France ====
[[File:MPK1-426 Sykes Picot Agreement Map signed 8 May 1916.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Sykes–Picot Agreement. After [[Franco-Turkish War]], border redesigned with [[Treaty of Ankara (1921)|Treaty of Ankara]]]]
Within the territory retained by Turkey under the treaty, France received Syria and neighbouring parts of southeastern [[Anatolia]], including [[Antep]], [[Urfa]] and [[Mardin]]. [[Cilicia]], including [[Adana]], [[Diyarbakır]] and large portions of east-central Anatolia all the way north to [[Sivas]] and [[Tokat]], were declared a zone of French influence on [[Sykes–Picot Agreement]].

==== Greece ====
[[File: Greekhistory.GIF|thumb|upright=1.3|The expansion of Greece from 1832 to 1947 showing in yellow territories awarded to Greece by the Treaty of Sèvres but lost in 1923]]

The Greek government administered the [[occupation of Smyrna]] from 21 May 1919. A [[protectorate]] was established on 30 July 1922. The treaty transferred "the exercise of her rights of sovereignty to a local parliament" but left the region within the Ottoman Empire. The treaty had Smyrna to be administered by a local parliament, with a [[plebiscite]] overseen by the [[League of Nations]] after five years to decide if Smyrna's citizens wished to join Greece or to remain in the Ottoman Empire. The treaty accepted Greek administration of the Smyrna enclave, but the area remained under Turkish sovereignty. To protect the Christian population from attacks by the Turkish irregulars, the [[Hellenic Army|Greek army]] expanded its jurisdiction also to nearby cities creating the so-called "Smyrna Zone".

==== Italy ====
[[File:Sfera italiana Turchia 1917.jpg|thumb|Map of the Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, signed in August 1917. The dotted green line in the Aegean Sea notes the [[Italian Islands of the Aegean]], already under Italian control.]]
[[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] was formally given possession of the [[Dodecanese Islands]], which had been under Italian occupation since the [[Italo-Turkish War]] of 1911–1912 despite the Treaty of [[Ouchy]] according to which Italy should have returned the islands to the Ottoman Empire. Large portions of southern and west-central [[Anatolia]], including the port city of [[Antalya]] and the historic Seljuk capital of [[Konya]], were declared to be an Italian zone of influence on [[Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne]]. Antalya Province had been promised by the Triple Entente to Italy in the [[Treaty of London (1915)|Treaty of London]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/london1915.htm|title=First World War.com - Primary Documents - Treaty of London, 26 April 1915|work=FirstWorldWar.com|access-date=25 January 2017}}</ref> and the Italian colonial authorities wished the zone to become an [[Italian Colonial Empire|Italian colony]] under the name of [[Lycia]].<ref>Franco Antonicelli, ''Trent'anni di storia italiana, 1915-1945'', Torino, Mondadori Editore, 1961. p. 25</ref>

=== Territorial provisions ===
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2011}}
{|class="wikitable"
!Date
!colspan=8| States <br/>Square miles (km²)
|-
|1914
|colspan=8| Ottoman Empire {{convert|613,724|sqmi|sqkm|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|-
|1918 (Sèvres Treaty) <br/>
|Ottoman Empire <br/>{{convert|174,900|sqmi|sqkm|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|Wilsonian Armenia <br/>{{convert|60,000|sqmi|sqkm|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|Syria <br/>{{convert|136,000|sqmi|sqkm|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|Independent Kurdish State <br/>{{convert|143,000|sqmi|sqkm|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|Hejaz <br/>{{convert|100,000|sqmi|sqkm|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|Asir <br/>{{convert|35,000|sqmi|sqkm|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|Yemen <br/>{{convert|75,000|sqmi|sqkm|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|}

==== Zone of the Straits ====
[[File: StraitsSevres.gif|thumb|1920 map of Western Turkey, showing the Zone of the Straits in the Treaty of Sèvres]]

A Zone of the Straits was proposed to include the [[Bosphorus]], the [[Dardanelles]] and the [[Sea of Marmara]]. Navigation would be open in the Dardanelles in times of peace and war alike to all vessels of commerce and war, regardless of flag. That would effectively lead to the internationalisation of the waters, which were not to be subject to blockade, and no act of war could be committed there except to enforce decisions of the League of Nations.

==== Free zones ====
Certain ports were to be declared to be of international importance. The League of Nations insisted on the complete freedom and the absolute equality in treatment at such ports, particularly regarding charges and facilities, to ensure that economic provisions in commercially-strategic places were carried out. The regions were to be called "free zones". The ports were [[Istanbul|Constantinople]] from [[Yeşilköy|San Stefano]] to [[Dolmabahçe Palace|Dolmabahçe]], [[Haydarpaşa|Haidar-Pasha]], [[İzmir|Smyrna]], [[Iskanderun|Alexandretta]], [[Haifa]], [[Basra]], [[Trabzon]] and [[Batum]].

==== Thrace ====
Eastern Thrace (up to the [[Çatalca#Modern period|Chatalja line]]), the islands of [[Imbros]] and [[Tenedos]] and the islands of the [[Sea of Marmara]] were ceded to Greece. The waters surrounding the islands were declared international territory and left to the administration of the "Zone of the Straits".

==== Kurdistan ====
[[File:Kurdistan1920.png|thumb|Provisions of the Treaty of Sèvres for an independent [[Kurdistan]] (in 1920)]]
The [[Kurdistan]] region, including [[Mosul Province, Ottoman Empire|Mosul Province]], was scheduled to have a referendum to decide its fate.

There was no general agreement among Kurds on what the borders of Kurdistan should be because of the disparity between the areas of Kurdish settlement and the political and administrative boundaries of the region.<ref>Hakan Özoğlu, ''Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries'' p. 38. SUNY Press, 2004</ref> The outlines of Kurdistan as an entity had been proposed in 1919 by [[Şerif Pasha]], who represented the [[Society for the Elevation of Kurdistan]] (''Kürdistan Teali Cemiyeti'') at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]]. He defined the region's boundaries as follows:

<blockquote>The frontiers of Turkish Kurdistan, from an ethnographical point of view, begin in the north at [[Ziven]], on the Caucasian frontier, and continue westwards to [[Erzurum]], [[Erzincan]], [[Kemah, Erzincan|Kemah]], [[Arapgir]], [[Besni]] and Divick ([[Divriği|Divrik]]?); in the south they follow the line from [[Harran]], [[Sinjar Mountains]], Tel Asfar, [[Erbil]], [[Sulaymaniyah|Süleymaniye]], Akk-el-man, [[Sinne]]; in the east, Ravandiz, [[Başkale]], [[Vezirkale]], that is to say the frontier of [[Persia]] as far as [[Mount Ararat]].<ref>Şerif Pasha, ''Memorandum on the Claims of the Kurd People'', 1919</ref></blockquote>

That caused controversy among other Kurdish nationalists, as it excluded the [[Van Province|Van Region]] (possibly as a sop to [[Armenian people|Armenian]] claims to that region). [[Emin Ali Bedir Khan]] proposed an alternative map that included Van and an outlet to the sea via what is now Turkey's [[Hatay Province]].<ref>Hakan Özoğlu, ''ibid'' p. 40</ref> Amid a joint declaration by Kurdish and Armenian delegations, Kurdish claims concerning [[Erzurum vilayet]] and [[Sasun|Sassoun]] ([[Sason]]) were dropped, but arguments for sovereignty over Ağrı and Muş remained.<ref>M. Kalman, ''Batı Ermenistan ve Jenosid'' p. 185, Istanbul, 1994.</ref>

Neither proposal was endorsed by the treaty of Sèvres, which outlined a truncated Kurdistan on what is now Turkish territory (leaving out the Kurds of Iran, British-controlled [[Mandatory Iraq|Iraq]] and French-controlled [[French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|Syria]]).<ref>[http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3229m63b Arin, Kubilay Yado, ''Turkey and the Kurds – From War to Reconciliation?'' UC Berkeley Center for Right Wing Studies Working Paper Series, March 26, 2015.]</ref> The current Iraqi–Turkish border was agreed upon in July 1926.

Article 63 explicitly granted the full safeguard and protection to the [[Assyrian people|Assyro-Chaldean]] minority, but that provision was dropped in the Treaty of Lausanne.

==== Armenia ====
{{Main|Wilsonian Armenia|First Republic of Armenia}}
[[File:Boundary between Turkey and Armenia as determined by Woodrow Wilson.jpg|thumb|The [[First Republic of Armenia]], with the western borders defined by US President [[Woodrow Wilson]]]]
Armenia was recognised as a "free and independent" state in Section VI "Armenia", Articles 88-93. By Article 89, "Turkey and Armenia, as well as the other High Contracting Parties agree to submit to the arbitration of the President of the United States of America the question of the frontier to be fixed between Turkey and Armenia in the vilayets of Erzerum, [[Trebizond vilayet|Trebizond]], Van and [[Bitlis vilayet|Bitlis]], and to accept his decision thereupon, as well as any stipulations he may prescribe as to access for Armenia to the sea, and as to the demilitarisation of any portion of Turkish territory adjacent to the said frontier".

The treaty specified that the frontiers between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Georgia were to be determined by direct negotiation between those states, with the Principle Allied Powers making the decision if those states fail to agree.<ref>Treaty of Sèvres, Article 92.</ref>

==== British Mandate for Iraq ====
{{main|British Mandate for Mesopotamia}}

The details in the treaty regarding the [[British Mandate for Iraq]] were completed on 25 April 1920 at the [[San Remo Conference]]. The oil concession in the region was given to the British-controlled [[Turkish Petroleum Company]] (TPC), which had held concessionary rights to [[Mosul Vilayet|Mosul Province]]. British and Iraqi negotiators held acrimonious discussions over the new oil concession. The League of Nations voted on the disposition of Mosul, and the Iraqis feared that without British support, Iraq would lose the area. In March 1925, the TPC was renamed the "[[Iraq Petroleum Company]]" (IPC) and granted a full and complete concession for 75 years.

==== British Mandate for Palestine ====
{{Main|Mandatory Palestine}}
The three principles of the British [[Balfour Declaration]] regarding [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] were adopted in the Treaty of Sèvres:

:Article 95: The High Contracting Parties agree to entrust, by application of the provisions of Article 22, the administration of Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, to a Mandatory to be selected by the said Powers. The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on 2 November 1917 by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

==== French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon ====
{{Main|French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon}}
[[File:Syrian Northern Sanjaks.jpg|thumb|Syrian Northern Sanjaks ceded to Turkey by France in the [[Treaty of Ankara (1921)|Treaty of Ankara 1921]] (area shaded in yellow). The orange line shows the Treaty of Sèvres border]]
The French Mandate was settled at the San Remo Conference: it comprised the region between the basin of the [[Euphrates River]] and the [[Syrian Desert]] on the east and the [[Mediterranean Sea]] on the west, and extended from the [[Nur Mountains]] in the north to Egypt in the south. This represented an area of about {{convert|60000|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} with a population of about 3,000,000, including [[French Mandate of Lebanon|Lebanon]] and an enlarged [[French Mandate of Syria|Syria]], both of which were later reassigned under a [[League of Nations Mandate]]. The region was divided under the French into five governments as follows: [[State of Aleppo|Aleppo]], from the Euphrates region to the Mediterranean, which included the autonomous [[Sanjak of Alexandretta]] (modern-day [[Hatay Province|Hatay]]); [[State of Damascus|Damascus]], including Damascus, Hama, Homs and the [[Hauran]]; [[Greater Lebanon]], extending from Tripoli to Palestine; the [[Alawite State]], comprising the coast between the Sanjak of Alexandretta and Greater Lebanon, and the [[Jabal Druze State]], around the city of As-Suwayda. [[Faisal I of Iraq|Faisal ibn Husayn]], who had been proclaimed [[king of Syria]] by a [[Syrian National Congress]] in Damascus in March 1920, was [[Franco-Syrian War|ejected by the French in July]] the same year. The next year, he became [[king of Iraq]].

==== Kingdom of Hejaz ====
The [[Kingdom of Hejaz]], on the [[Arabian Peninsula]], was granted international recognition and had an estimated area of {{convert|100000|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} and a population of about 750,000. The main cities were the Holy Places of Mecca, with a population of 80,000, and Medina, with a population of 40,000. Under the Ottomans, it had been the [[vilayet of Hejaz]], but during the war, it became an independent kingdom under British influence.

==Abandonment==<!-- the section is linked in the introduction-->
The Treaty of Sèvres imposed terms on the Ottoman Empire that were far more severe than those imposed on the German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles.<ref>Isaiah Friedman: ''British Miscalculations: The Rise of Muslim Nationalism, 1918–1925'', Transaction Publishers, 2012, {{ISBN|1412847494}}, p. 217.</ref><ref>Michael Mandelbaum: ''The Fate of Nations: The Search for National Security in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'', Cambridge University Press, 1988, {{ISBN|9780521357906}}, p. 61 (footnote 55).</ref> France, Italy and Britain had secretly begun planning the [[partitioning of the Ottoman Empire]] as early as 1915. The open negotiations covered a period of more than 15 months, started at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference of 1919]], continued at the [[Conference of London (February 1920)|Conference of London of February 1920]] and took definite shape only after the [[San Remo Conference]] in April 1920. The delay occurred because the powers could not come to an agreement, which, in turn, hinged on the outcome of the [[Turkish National Movement]]. The Treaty of Sèvres was never ratified, and after the [[Turkish War of Independence]], most of the Treaty of Sèvres's signatories signed and ratified the [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)|Treaty of Lausanne]] in 1923 and 1924.

While the Treaty of Sèvres was still under discussion, the Turkish national movement under [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk|Mustafa Kemal Pasha]] split with the monarchy, based in [[Istanbul]],<ref>Finkel, Caroline, ''Osman's Dream'', (Basic Books, 2005), 57; "Istanbul was only adopted as the city's official name in 1930."{{ISBN?}}</ref> and set up a [[Turkish Grand National Assembly]] in Ankara in April 1920. The so-called [[Ankara government]] closely monitored the preparation of the draft treaty and its acceptance by the Istanbul government. On June 7, 1920, the Grand National Assembly passed a law declaring all treaties signed by the Istanbul Government since 16 March 1920 (the formal [[occupation of Istanbul]]) invalid.<ref name=":0" />

On 18 October, the government of [[Damat Ferid Pasha]] was replaced by a provisional one under [[Ahmed Tevfik Pasha]] as [[Grand Vizier]], who announced an intention to convene the Senate to ratify the Treaty of Sèvres if national unity was achieved. That required seeking the co-operation of Mustafa Kemal, who expressed disdain for the treaty and started a military assault. As a result, the Turkish government issued a note to the [[Allies of World War I|Entente]] that the ratification of the treaty was impossible at the time.<ref>''Current History'', Volume 13, New York Times Co., 1921, "Dividing the Former Turkish Empire" [https://books.google.com/books?id=jbcqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA443 pp. 441–444] (retrieved October 26, 2010)</ref>

Eventually, Mustafa Kemal succeeded in the [[Turkish War of Independence]] and forced most of the former wartime Allies to return to the negotiating table at [[Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923|Lausanne]].

Aside from Mustafa Kemal's armed opposition to the treaty in Anatolia, Arabs in Syria were unwilling to accept French rule, the Turks around Mosul attacked the British, and [[Iraqi Revolt|Arabs were up in arms against British rule in Baghdad]]. There was also [[1919 Egyptian revolution|disorder in Egypt]].

==Subsequent treaties==
{{Main|Turkish War of Independence|Treaty of Kars|Treaty of Lausanne}}

During the Turkish War of Independence, the [[Turkish Army]] successfully fought [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)|Greek]], [[Turkish-Armenian War|Armenian]] and French forces and secured the independence of a territory similar to that of present-day Turkey, as was aimed at by the [[Misak-ı Millî|National Pact]].

The Turkish national movement developed its own international relations with the [[Treaty of Moscow (1921)|Treaty of Moscow]] with [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] on 16 March 1921, the [[Accord of Ankara]] with [[Interwar France|France]] putting an end to the [[Franco-Turkish War]], the [[Treaty of Alexandropol]] with the Armenians and the Treaty of Kars to fix the eastern borders.

Hostilities with [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] over the neutral zone of the Straits were narrowly avoided in the [[Chanak Crisis]] of September 1922, when the [[Armistice of Mudanya]] was concluded on 11 October, leading the former [[Allies of World War I]] to return to the negotiating table with the Turks in November 1922. That culminated in 1923 in the Treaty of Lausanne, which replaced the Treaty of Sèvres and restored a large territory in Anatolia and Thrace to the Turks. Under the Treaty of Lausanne, France and Italy lost their zones of influence to areas of facilitated economic interaction, the [[Northern Syrian regions]] were separated from [[Ottoman Syria]], Constantinople was not made an international city, and a demilitarised zone between Turkey and Bulgaria was established.<ref>Bendeck, Whitney. "Pyrrhic Victory Achieved." Lecture, Europe in the Total Age of War, Florida State University, Tallahassee, October 11, 2016.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal bar|1920s|Turkey|Europe|Politics|Law|Kurdistan}}
* [[Sèvres syndrome]]
* [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]]
* [[Minority Treaties]]
* [[Sykes–Picot Agreement]]
* [[Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne]]

==References==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140531175547/http://treaties.fco.gov.uk/docs/pdf/1920/TS0011.pdf Treaty of Peace between the British Empire and Allied Powers and Turkey] UK Treaty Series No. 11 of 1920; [[Command paper]] Cmd.964

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Darwin, John, and Beverley Nielsen. ''Britain, Egypt and the Middle East: Imperial policy in the aftermath of war 1918–1922'' (Springer, 1981). {{ISBN|978-1349165315}}.
* {{Cite book |last=Fromkin |first=David | author-link = David Fromkin |year=1989 |title=[[A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East, 1914–1922]] |location=New York |publisher=H. Holt |isbn=0-8050-0857-8}}
* Helmreich, Paul C. ''From Paris to Sèvres: the partition of the Ottoman Empire at the Peace Conference of 1919–1920'' (Ohio State UP, 1974).{{ISBN?}}
* Howard, Harry N. (1931), ''The Partition of Turkey'', U of Oklahoma Press, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.183515 online]
* Karčić, Hamza. "Sèvres at 100: The Peace Treaty that Partitioned the Ottoman Empire." ''Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs'' (Sept 2020) 40#3 pp 470–479. {{doi|10.1080/13602004.2020.1813988}}
* Macfie, A. L. “The British Decision Regarding the Future of Constantinople, November 1918–January 1920.” ''Historical Journal'' 18#2 (1975), pp.&nbsp;391–400. {{JSTOR|2638494}}
* Montgomery, A. E. "The Making of the Treaty of Sevres of 10 August 1920." ''Historical Journal'' 15#4 (1972): 775–787. {{JSTOR|2638042}}
* Sion, Abraham. ''To Whom Was the Promised Land Promised?'' (Mazo, 2020){{ISBN?}}
* {{cite book | last=Toynbee | first=Arnold Joseph | title=The Western Question in Greece and Turkey | publisher=Martino Fine Books | date=2009 | isbn=978-1-57898-747-4 | url = https://louisville.edu/a-s/history/turks/WesternQuestion.pdf}}
* {{cite book | last=Tusan | first=Michelle Elizabeth | title=The Last Treaty | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2023 | isbn=978-1-009-37106-3 | doi=10.1017/9781009371063| s2cid=259038932 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource}}

*[http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Peace_Treaty_of_S%C3%A8vres Text of the Treaty of Sèvres]<!--[https://web.archive.org/web/20050324091444/http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/versa/sevres1.html Older version]-->
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001153608 Treaty text and maps]
*[https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/10/sykes-picot-treaty-of-sevres-modern-turkey-middle-east-borders-turkey/ Treaty of Sevres borders]
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2212979 Tripartite Agreement between the British Empire, France and Italy Respecting Anatolia 10 August, 1920]
* {{PM20|FID=sh/141034,163569}}

{{Ottoman treaties}}
{{World War I}}
{{Paris Peace Conference navbox}}
{{First World War treaties}}
{{Turkish War of Independence}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Treaty of Sevres}}
[[Category:1920 in Armenia]]
[[Category:1920 in France]]
[[Category:1920 in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Adana vilayet]]
[[Category:Adrianople vilayet]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War I in Turkey]]
[[Category:Aidin Vilayet]]
[[Category:Aleppo vilayet]]
[[Category:Bitlis vilayet]]
[[Category:Eleftherios Venizelos]]
[[Category:David Lloyd George]]
[[Category:Woodrow Wilson]]
[[Category:Erzurum vilayet]]
[[Category:Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]]
[[Category:Political history of Kurdistan]]
[[Category:Modern history of Turkey]]
[[Category:History of Palestine (region)]]
[[Category:Hüdavendigâr vilayet]]
[[Category:Konya vilayet]]
[[Category:Mamuret-ul-Aziz vilayet]]
[[Category:Ottoman Empire–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)]]
[[Category:Peace treaties of France|Sevres]]
[[Category:Peace treaties of Italy|Sevres]]
[[Category:Peace treaties of Japan|Sevres]]
[[Category:Peace treaties of the Ottoman Empire|Sevres]]
[[Category:Peace treaties of the United Kingdom|Sevres]]
[[Category:Peace treaties of the United States|Sevres]]
[[Category:Sivas vilayet]]
[[Category:Treaties involving territorial changes|Sevres]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1920|Sevres]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Empire of Japan|Sevres]]
[[Category:Treaties of the French Third Republic|Sevres]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Kingdom of Greece|Sevres]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Sevres]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Turkish War of Independence|Sevres]]
[[Category:Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922)|Sevres]]
[[Category:Trebizond vilayet]]
[[Category:Unratified treaties|Sevres]]
[[Category:Van vilayet]]
[[Category:World War I treaties|Sevres]]
[[Category:Armenia in the Russian Civil War]]