Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History of the Ottoman Empire |
.svg) |
| Timeline (Territorial evolution) |
Rise(1299–1453) |
Classical Age(1453–1566)
|
Transformation(1566–1703)
|
Old Regime(1703–1789)
|
Decline and Modernization(1789–1908)
|
Dissolution(1908–1922)
|
| Historiography (Ghaza,Decline) |
| Paris Peace Conference |
|---|
 |
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye |
Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine |
Thepartition of the Ottoman Empire (30 October 1918 – 1 November 1922) was a geopolitical event that occurred afterWorld War I and theoccupation of Constantinople byBritish,French, andItalian troops in November 1918. Thepartitioning was planned in several agreements made by theAllied Powers early in the course ofWorld War I,[1] notably theSykes–Picot Agreement, after theOttoman Empire had joinedGermany to form theOttoman–German alliance.[2] The huge conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was divided into several newstates.[3] The Ottoman Empire had been the leadingIslamic state ingeopolitical,cultural, andideological terms. The partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after the war led to the domination of the Middle East by Western powers such as Britain and France, and saw the creation of the modernArab world and the Republic of Turkey. Resistance to the influence of these powers came from theTurkish National Movement but did not become widespread in the other post-Ottoman states until the period of rapid decolonization afterWorld War II.
TheLeague of Nations mandate granted theFrench Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, theBritish Mandate for Mesopotamia (later Iraq) and theBritish Mandate for Palestine, later divided intoMandatory Palestine and theEmirate of Transjordan (1921–1946). The Ottoman Empire's possessions in theArabian Peninsula became theKingdom of Hejaz, which theSultanate of Nejd (today Saudi Arabia) was allowed to annex, and theMutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen. The Empire's possessions on the western shores of thePersian Gulf were variously annexed by Saudi Arabia (al-Ahsa andQatif), or remainedBritish protectorates (Kuwait,Bahrain, and Qatar) and became theArab States of the Persian Gulf.
After the Ottoman government collapsed completely, its representatives signed theTreaty of Sèvres in 1920, which would have partitioned much of the territory of present-day Turkey among France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy. TheTurkish War of Independence forced the Western European powers to return to the negotiating table before the treaty could be ratified. The Western Europeans and theGrand National Assembly of Turkey signed and ratified the newTreaty of Lausanne in 1923, superseding the Treaty of Sèvres and agreeing on most of the territorial issues.[4]
One unresolved issue, the dispute between theKingdom of Iraq and the Republic of Turkey overthe former province of Mosul, was later negotiated under the auspices of theLeague of Nations in 1926. The British and French partitioned theregion of Syria between them in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Other secret agreements were concluded with Italy and Russia.[4] The internationalZionist movement, after their successful lobbying for theBalfour Declaration, encouraged the push for aJewish homeland inPalestine. While a part of theTriple Entente, Russia also had wartimeagreements preventing it from participating in the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after theRussian Revolution. The Treaty of Sèvres formally acknowledged the new League of Nations mandates in the region, the independence of Yemen, and British sovereigntyover Cyprus.
The Western powers had long believed that they would eventually become dominant in the area claimed by the weak central government of the Ottoman Empire. Britain anticipated a need to secure the area because of its strategic position on the route toColonial India and perceived itself as locked in a struggle with Russia for imperial influence known asThe Great Game.[5] These powers disagreed over their contradictory post-war aims and made several dual and triple agreements.[6]
Syria and Lebanon became a Frenchprotectorate (thinly disguised as aLeague of Nations Mandate).[7] French control was met immediately with armed resistance, and, to combatArab nationalism, France divided the Mandate area into Lebanon and four sub-states.[8]
Compared to the mandate of Lebanon, the situation in Syria was more chaotic.[how?] The Entities stated are the ones that are united.[clarification needed]
Greater Lebanon was the name of aterritory created by France. It was the precursor of modern Lebanon. It existed between 1 September 1920 and 23 May 1926. France carved its territory from theLevantine landmass (mandated by theLeague of Nations) to create a "haven" for theMaronite Christian population. Maronites gained self-rule and secured their position in independent Lebanon in 1943.
French intervention on behalf of theMaronites had begun with thecapitulations of the Ottoman Empire, agreements made during the 16th to the 19th centuries. In 1866, whenYoussef Bey Karam led a Maronite uprising in Mount Lebanon, a French-led naval force arrived to help, making threats against the governor, Dawood Pasha, at the Sultan's Porte and later removing Karam to safety.
The British were awarded three mandated territories, with one ofSharif Hussein's sons,Faisal, installed asKing of Iraq andTransjordan providing a throne for another of Hussein's sons,Abdullah.Mandatory Palestine was placed under direct British administration, and the Jewish population was allowed to increase, initially under British protection. Most of the Arabian peninsula fell to another British ally,Ibn Saud, who created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
Mosul was allocated to France under the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement and was subsequently given to Britain under the1918 Clemenceau–Lloyd George Agreement. Great Britain and Turkey disputed control of the former Ottoman province ofMosul in the 1920s. Under the 1923Treaty of Lausanne Mosul fell under theBritish Mandate of Mesopotamia, but the new Turkish republic claimed the province as part of its historic heartland.
A three-person League of Nations committee went to the region in 1924 to study the case. In 1925 they recommended the region remain connected to Iraq, and that the UK should hold the mandate for another 25 years, to assure the autonomous rights of theKurdish population. Turkey rejected this decision. Britain, Iraq and Turkey made a treaty on 5 June 1926, that mostly followed the decision of the League Council. Mosul stayed underBritish Mandate of Mesopotamia until Iraq was granted independence in 1932 by the urging ofKing Faisal, though the British retained military bases and transit rights for their forces in the country.
During the Great War, Britain produced three contrasting, but feasibly compatible, statements regarding their ambitions for Palestine. Britain had supported, through British intelligence officerT. E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia), the establishment of a united Arab state covering a large area of the Arab Middle East in exchange for Arab support of the British during the war. TheBalfour Declaration of 1917 encouragedJewish ambitions for a national home. Lastly, the British promised via theHussein–McMahon Correspondence that theHashemite family would have lordship over most land in the region in return for their support in the GreatArab Revolt.
The Arab Revolt, which was in part orchestrated by Lawrence, resulted in British forces under GeneralEdmund Allenby defeating the Ottoman forces in 1917 in theSinai and Palestine Campaign and occupyingPalestine and Syria. The land was administered by the British for the remainder of the war.
The United Kingdom was granted control of Palestine by theVersailles Peace Conference which established theLeague of Nations in 1919.Herbert Samuel, a formerPostmaster General in theBritish cabinet who was instrumental in drafting theBalfour Declaration, was appointed the firstHigh Commissioner in Palestine. In 1920 at theSan Remo conference, in Italy, theLeague of Nations mandate over Palestine was assigned to Britain. In 1923 Britain transferred a part of theGolan Heights to theFrench Mandate of Syria, in exchange for theMetula region.
When the Ottomans departed, the Arabs proclaimedan independent state in Damascus, but were too weak, militarily and economically, to resist the European powers for long, and Britain and France soon re-established control.
During the 1920s and 1930s Iraq, Syria and Egypt moved towards independence, although the British and French did not formally depart the region until after World War II. But in Palestine, the conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation from which the British could neither resolve nor extricate themselves. The rise to power ofNazism in Germany created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to create a Jewish state in Palestine, leading to theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict.
On the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabs were able to establish several independent states. In 1916Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, established theKingdom of Hejaz, while theEmirate of Riyadh was transformed into theSultanate of Nejd. In 1926 theKingdom of Nejd and Hejaz was formed, which in 1932 became the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. TheMutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen became independent in 1918, while theArab States of the Persian Gulf becamede facto British protectorates, with some internal autonomy.
The Russians, British, Italians, French, Greeks,Assyrians and Armenia all made claims toAnatolia, based on a collection of wartime promises, military actions, secret agreements, and treaties. According to the Treaty of Sèvres, all but the Assyrians would have had their wishes honoured. Armenia was to be given a significant portion of the east, known asWilsonian Armenia, extending as far down as theLake Van area and as far west asMush.
Greece was to be givenSmyrna and the area around it, and likely would have gained Constantinople and all ofThrace, which was administered as internationally controlled and demilitarized territory. Italy was to be given control over the south-central and western coast of Anatolia aroundAntalya. France was to be given the area ofCilicia. Britain was to be given all the area south of Armenia. The Treaty of Lausanne, by contrast, forfeited all arrangements and territorial annexations.
In March 1915, Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire,Sergey Sazonov, told British and French AmbassadorsGeorge Buchanan andMaurice Paléologue that a lasting postwar settlement demanded Russian possession of "the city ofConstantinople, the western shore of theBosporus,Sea of Marmara, andDardanelles, as well as southern Thrace up to the Enos-Media line", and "a part of the Asiatic coast between the Bosporus, theSakarya River, and a point to be determined on the shore of the Bay of İzmit."[9]
TheConstantinople Agreement was made public by the Russian newspaperIzvestiya in November 1917, to gain the support of the Armenian public for theRussian Revolution.[10] The revolution effectively ended the Russian plans.
The British seeking control over thestraits of Marmara led to theOccupation of Constantinople, with French and Italian assistance, from 13 November 1918 to 23 September 1923. After theTurkish War of Independence and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, the troops left the city.
Under the 1917Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne between France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, Italy was to receive all southwestern Anatolia except theAdana region, including İzmir. However, in 1919 the Greek Prime MinisterEleftherios Venizelos obtained the permission of theParis Peace Conference tooccupy İzmir, overriding the provisions of the agreement.
Under the secretSykes–Picot Agreement of 1916, the French obtainedHatay, Lebanon and Syria and expressed a desire for the part of South-Eastern Anatolia. The 1917 Agreement of St. Jean-de-Maurienne between France, Italy and the United Kingdom allotted France the Adana region.
The French army, along with the British, occupied parts of Anatolia from 1919 to 1921 in theFranco-Turkish War, including coal mines, railways, theBlack Sea ports ofZonguldak,Karadeniz Ereğli and Constantinople,Uzunköprü in Eastern Thrace and the region ofCilicia. France eventually withdrew from all these areas, after theArmistice of Mudanya, theTreaty of Ankara and the Treaty of Lausanne.
.png)
The western Allies, particularlyBritish Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George, promised Greece territorial gains at the expense of theOttoman Empire if Greece entered the war on the Allied side. The promised territories included easternThrace, the islands ofImbros (Gökçeada) andTenedos (Bozcaada), and parts of western Anatolia around the city of İzmir.
In May 1917, after the exile ofConstantine I of Greece, Greek prime ministerEleuthérios Venizélos returned to Athens and allied with the Entente. Greek military forces (though divided between supporters of the monarchy and supporters of Venizélos) began to take part in military operations against the Bulgarian army on the border. That same year, İzmir was promised to Italy under the Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne between France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
At the 1918 Paris Peace Conference, based on the wartime promises, Venizélos lobbied hard for an expanded Hellas (theMegali Idea) that would include the small Greek-speaking community in far Southern Albania, the Orthodox Greek-speaking community in Thrace (including Constantinople) and the Orthodox community in Asia Minor. In 1919, despite Italian opposition, he obtained the permission of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 for Greece to occupy İzmir.
The South West Caucasian Republic was an entity established on Russian territory in 1918, after the withdrawal of Ottoman troops to the pre-World War I border as a result of theArmistice of Mudros. It had a nominally independentprovisional government headed byFakhr al-Din Pirioghlu and based inKars.
After fighting broke out between it and both Georgia and Armenia, British High Commissioner AdmiralSomerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe occupied Kars on 19 April 1919, abolishing its parliament and arresting 30 members of its government. He placed Kars province under Armenian rule.
In the later years of World War I, theArmenians in Russia established a provisional government in the south-west of the Russian Empire. Military conflicts between the Turks and Armenians both during and after the war eventually determined the borders of the state of Armenia.
In April 1915, Russia supported the establishment of the Armenian provisional government under Russian-Armenian GovernorAram Manukian, leader of the resistance in theDefense of Van. TheArmenian national liberation movement hoped that Armenia could be liberated from the Ottoman regime in exchange for helping the Russian army. However, the Tsarist regime had a secret wartime agreement with the other members of theTriple Entente about the eventual fate of several Anatolian territories, named theSykes–Picot Agreement.[9] These plans were made public by the Armenian revolutionaries in 1917 to gain the support of the Armenian public.[11]
In the meantime, the provisional government was becoming more stable as more Armenians were moving into its territory. In 1917, 150,000 Armenians relocated to the provinces ofErzurum,Bitlis,Muş, andVan.[12]Armen Garo (known as Karekin Pastirmaciyan) and other Armenian leaders asked for the Armenian regulars in the European theatre to be transferred to the Caucasian front.
The Russian revolution left the front in eastern Turkey in a state of flux. In December 1917, a truce was signed by representatives of the Ottoman Empire and theTranscaucasian Commissariat. However, the Ottoman Empire began to reinforce itsThird Army on the eastern front. Fighting began in mid-February 1918. Armenians, under heavy pressure from the Ottoman army and Kurdish irregulars, were forced to withdraw fromErzincan toErzurum and then toKars, eventually evacuating even Kars on 25 April. As a response to the Ottoman advances, the Transcaucasian Commissariat evolved into the short-livedTranscaucasian Federation; its disintegration resulted in Armenians forming theDemocratic Republic of Armenia on 30 May 1918. TheTreaty of Batum, signed on 4 June, reduced the Armenian republic to an area of only 11,000 km2.
At theParis Peace Conference, 1919, the Armenian Diaspora and theArmenian Revolutionary Federation argued that Historical Armenia, the region which had remained outside the control of theOttoman Empire from 1915 to 1918, should be part of theDemocratic Republic of Armenia. Arguing from the principles in Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" speech, theArmenian Diaspora argued Armenia had "the ability to control the region", based on the Armenian control established after the Russian Revolution. The Armenians argued that the dominant population of the region was becoming more Armenian as Turkish inhabitants were moving to the western provinces.[13]
Boghos Nubar, the president of the Armenian National Delegation, added: "In the Caucasus, where, without mentioning the 150,000 Armenians in the Imperial Russian Army, more than 40,000 of their volunteers contributed to the liberation of a portion of the Armenian vilayets, and where, under the command of their leaders, Antranik and Nazerbekoff, they, alone among the peoples of the Caucasus, offered resistance to the Turkish armies, from the beginning of the Bolshevist withdrawal right up to the signing of an armistice."[13]
President Wilson accepted the Armenian arguments for drawing the frontier and wrote: "The world expects of them (the Armenians), that they give every encouragement and help within their power to those Turkish refugees who may desire to return to their former homes in the districts ofTrebizond,Erzerum,Van, andBitlis remembering that these peoples, too, have suffered greatly."[14] The conference agreed with his suggestion that theDemocratic Republic of Armenia should expand into present-day eastern Turkey.
After the fall of the Russian Empire, Georgia became anindependent republic and sought to maintain control ofBatumi as well asArdahan,Artvin, andOltu, the areas with Muslim Georgian elements, which had been acquired by Russia from the Ottomans in 1878. The Ottoman forces occupied the disputed territories by June 1918, forcing Georgia to sign theTreaty of Batum.
After the demise of the Ottoman power, Georgia regained Ardahan and Artvin from local Muslim militias in 1919 and Batum from the British administration of that maritime city in 1920. It claimed but never attempted to control Oltu, which was also contested by Armenia. Soviet Russia and Turkey launched anear-simultaneous attack on Georgia in February–March 1921, leading to new territorial rearrangements finalized in theTreaty of Kars, by which Batumi remained within the borders of now-Soviet Georgia, while Ardahan and Artvin were recognized as parts of Turkey.
Between 1918 and 1923, Turkish resistance movements led byMustafa Kemal Atatürk forced the Greeks, Armenians, and Italy out of Anatolia. TheTurkish revolutionaries also suppressed Kurdish attempts to become independent in the 1920s. After the Turkish resistance gained control over Anatolia, there was no hope of meeting the conditions of theTreaty of Sèvres.
Before joining the Soviet Union, theDemocratic Republic of Armenia signed theTreaty of Alexandropol, on 3 December 1920, agreeing to the current border between the two countries, though the Armenian government had already collapsed due to a concurrent Soviet invasion on 2 December. Afterwards Armenia became an integral part of the Soviet Union. This border was ratified again with theTreaty of Moscow (1921), in which theBolsheviks ceded the already Turkish-occupied provinces ofKars,Iğdır,Ardahan, andArtvin to Turkey in exchange for theAdjara region with its capital city ofBatumi.
Turkey and the newly formed Soviet Union, along with theArmenian Soviet Socialist Republic andGeorgian Soviet Socialist Republic, ratified theTreaty of Kars on 11 September 1922, establishing the north-eastern border of Turkey and bringing peace to the region, despite none of them being internationally recognized at the time. Finally, theTreaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923, formally ended all hostilities and led to the creation of the modern Turkish Republic.
