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| e. The Treaty of Sèvres |
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| In the settlement of the Turkish question the Allies were much hampered by the downfall of the tsarist regime in Russia, the withdrawal of Russian claims to Constantinople, and the publication by the Bolsheviks of the secret treaties revealing the Allied plan of partition. President Wilson in particular opposed the former program, while American opinion showed little interest in assuming responsibility for either the Straits area or Armenia. The question dragged on through 1919, while in Turkey a nationalist movement under Mustafa Kemal (See 1919, May 19) was building up a strong opposition to the Allied plans. | 1 |
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| 1919, May 15 |
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| The Greeks, with the support of the Allies, landed troops at Smyrna, acting as agents for Allied interests. The Italians also landed troops in southwestern Anatolia. | 2 |
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| 1920, April 18 |
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| At a conference of the Allied prime ministers at San Remo the main lines of the Turkish treaty were agreed upon. | 3 |
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| Aug. 10 |
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| The feeble and helpless government of the sultan, protected by an international force of occupation at Constantinople, signed the Treaty of Sèvres. By this treaty the sultan's government renounced all claims to non-Turkish territory. The kingdom of the Hijaz was recognized as independent. Syria became a mandate of France, and Mesopotamia (with Mosul), as well as Palestine, became British mandates. Smyrna and its hinterland were to be administered by Greece for five years, after which a plebiscite was to be held. The Dodecanese and Rhodes went to Italy, while Thrace and the remainder of the Turkish islands in the Aegean were assigned to Greece. Armenia was recognized as independent. The Straits were to be internationalized and the adjoining territory demilitarized. Istanbul and the strip of territory to the Chatalja lines remained Turkish, as did the remainder of Anatolia. This treaty was not recognized by the Turkish nationalists, who, under Mustafa Kemal's leadership, continued to build up a military force in Anatolia and to organize a government in defiance of the sultan and the victorious Allied powers. As a result of nationalist successes the Treaty of Sèvres was ultimately replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne. (See The Ottoman Empire and Turkey) | 4 |
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