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| 1920, Jan. 28 |
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| Proclamation by the Ottoman parliament of the Turkish National Pact, which set out the goals of the Turkish nationalist resistance. The nationalists, who had won a strong majority in the Dec. 1919 elections, vowed never to submit to the partition and foreign occupation of Turkey (which they took to mean as Anatolia and eastern Thrace). Among the main demands of the National Pact were Turkish self-determination, the security of Istanbul, the opening of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, and the abolition of the Capitulations. | 1 |
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| March 16 |
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| Allied occupation of Istanbul in response to a perceived threat from the nationalists, many of whom were arrested and deported. The Allies offered reassurances that they had no intention of keeping Istanbul for themselves, but were merely acting for the safety of the minorities and the security of the straits. A new Ottoman cabinet under Damad Pasha was formed and the Parliament was dissolved (April 11). | 2 |
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| April 23 |
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| First meeting of the National Assembly. The organization had been formed in March, when elections were staged in response to the dissolution of the Ottoman Parliament, which was never to meet again. By this act, the nationalists created, in effect, a parallel government in relation to the regime in Istanbul under the sultan. The latter actively tried to topple the nationalist government by organizing irregular military forces in central Anatolia. | 3 |
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| Aug. 10 |
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| Signing of the Treaty of Sèvres (See Aug. 10), which divided western Anatolia among Greece, France, and Italy. The sultan at first had protested the harsh terms but eventually signed the pact anyway. The nationalists in Ankara unconditionally rejected all terms. | 4 |
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| Oct. 21 |
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| Turkish capture of Kars from forces of the Armenian Republic. A peace treaty with the Armenians concluded on Dec. 3 gave the Turks Kars and Ardahan. Armenia, which was later to become a Soviet republic, was reduced to the province of Erivan. | 5 |
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