The Lausanne Conference
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THE LAUSANNE CONFERENCE: THE EVOLUTION OF TURKISH AND BRITISH DIPLOMATIC STRATEGIES 1922-1923 by Sevtap Demirci Dissertation submitted as part fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International History The London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom, March 1997 UMI Number: U111287 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U111287 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ft * ; r tf '■ HT • V I - Jf 7 +if* * y r \ { 1 I ' A ' '* ; . f ..’1 / : ’ I f v ,> •< r r , ,'r ' 1 • . 8 7 ■« F [ft (MA H&IHSTJT lO 7 5 3 i f - h r r r t? -.i • v a 1 - • .» . r x t '' * I £■ * * ri ‘ • i-' f i ,{ Ji .r U';U: ' V > ■<- • V; 7-. :.. ■ : '■ U- ^ HI «* • ■ 7. ; i--v ; •, . ,i .: - ' . t, . ( 'II '1*1 iji'n, ••• .SItin*) * ' !:• J* .•I*’.'*.! • >i^ { 69096Z+- ABSTRACT By the end of the First World War the Ottoman Empire had been defeated and was in a state of disintegration. The Mudros Armistice which ended the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies in October 1918 was the final stage of this process; the Treaty of Sevres which followed the Armistice confirmed it. However, the National Independence Movement which emerged in Anatolia from the ruins of the Empire rejected the proposed peace terms and set itself up as an alternative government based at Ankara. It drew up the National Pact which set out the desiderata of the Nationalists, and it won a decisive victory over the Greeks who landed in Anatolia in 1919. This military victory made a peace conference imperative and enabled the Turks to negotiate peace terms with the Allies on an equal footing. The peace treaty which was signed at Lausanne on July 24, 1923 finalised the Turkish Peace Settlement, putting an end to the centuries-old Eastern Question. The object of this dissertation is to examine the motives and strategies of Britain and Turkey at the Lausanne Conference in their efforts to obtain the peace terms best suited to their interests. The focus throughout is on the factors influencing the attitude of the delegations, the instructions they received from their respective foreign ministries and the formulation of their strategies. The thesis consists of six chapters. The introductory chapter presents a brief account of events prior to the Conference. Chapter II deals with the historical background by giving a summary of the political and military events leading up to the Conference. Chapter III gives an account of the strategies of Britain and Turkey and aims to assess the respective strength and weakness of the two parties prior to the Conference. Chapter IV examines the negotiations between Britain and Turkey during the first phase of the Conference. The central axis of this examination is the Turco- British strategy which shows the critical shift in the policy of the Turks following their realisation that peace could not be made unless they came to terms with Britain. Chapter V investigates the events following the breakdown of the Conference to the re-opening with the second phase. It covers the measures taken by both sides to be in a stronger position vis-a-vis each other in preparation for the second phase of the negotiations. Chapter VI discusses the negotiations and the final settlement, concentrating mainly on the strategies of both sides in the second phase of the Conference. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS LIST OF MAPS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION II. BACKGROUND TO THE CONFERENCE The Eastern Question and the European Solution British Policy towards the Turkish Question The Turkish Response: The Nationalist M ovem ent Greek Defeat: The Turning Point Chanak: Unwanted Crisis III. PRELUDE TO THE CONFERENCE Reluctant Opponents: Britain and Turkey on the Eve of the Conference Britain Seeks 'Tranquillity' British Objectives Require a United Allied Front Turkey Seeks Peace and Stability The Turkish Objective: Nothing but the National Pact Questions to be Settled before the Conference IV. THE CONFERENCE: FIRST PHASE: November 20, 1922 - February 4, 1923: 75 The Opening Manoeuvres is The Formulation of Strategies so Britain Rests on Allied Unity 80 Turkey Aims to Neutralise Britain 85 Development and Proceedings 90 Progress without Breakthrough 90 Deadlock Looms 107 Break-up of Negotiations 122 V. THE INTERVAL: February 4, 1923 - April 23, 1923: 139 Turkey 139 Turkey Stiffens its Stance: The Izmir Incident 139 Uncertainty Prevails as the Crisis Fades Away 144 The Grand National Assembly Gives its Verdict 147 Ankara's Efforts to Strengthen its Position 153 Britain 163 Britain Bolsters its Position 165 Britain Prepares for the Second Phase 167 VI. THE SECOND PHASE: April 23, 1923 - July 24, 1923 176 Opening of the Conference 176 Greek Reparation versus Allied Reparation 185 Decisive Steps Towards Peace: Debt and Concession Questions 192 Final Bargaining: The TPC Concession 207 Ratification of the Treaty 213 VII. CONCLUSION 217 APPENDICES 223 A. Brief Biographies of Leading Figures 207 B. Maps 230 BIBLIOGRAPHY 234 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many sources for assistance in the completion of this dissertation. It is with sincere pleasure that I acknowledge first of all the debt I owe to Bogazici University, Istanbul, whose generous grant made the research and writing of this dissertation possible. I am also indebted to LSE for assistance from two Research Funds. My profound gratitude is due to Professor Donald Cameron Watt, who supervised me until his retirement and from whose intellectual stimulus I have benefited over the last three years. No words can adequately express my gratitude to Dr David Stevenson who took over the supervision of my work from Professor Watt. Without his kindness and invaluable suggestions concerning both content and presentation, this dissertation could not have been written. Many other people have been generous with their time and knowledge. My thanks are due to Miss Irene V. Morris, former Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, for her assistance and constant encouragement during the writing of this dissertation. I would also like to record here a special note of appreciation to Dr Dogan Ozkaya and to Dr Rosa Bracco. A dissertation of this nature would be impossible to write without the assistance of those who are in charge of the archives, and I welcome the opportunity to express my appreciation of the courtesy and helpfulness of the staff at the Public Record Office. I would like especially to thank my mother, who relieved me of various responsibilities and whose continuous support, encouragement and patience enabled me to concentrate fully on completing my dissertation. I dedicate this work to my daughter Elifcan, who, despite the fact that she has recently had so little of my time and attention, has always shown great love, as well as interest and understanding beyond, her years. i LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CAB Cabinet Office Cm d. Command Papers CO Colonial Office CON Confidential Print DBFP Documents on British Foreign Policy 1918-1939. First Series, London. BDFA British Documents on Foreign Affairs FO Foreign Office FRUS Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States of America. Washington D.C. GNA Grand National Assembly H ansard Parliamentary Debates. London. IRO Oriental and India Office Collections. Lozan I Lozan Telgraflari 1,1922-1923. Ankara.(Lausanne Telegrams) Lozan II Lozan Tegraflari II, 1922-1923. Ankara SIS Secret Intelligence Service T . B.M .M . Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi (Turkish Grand National Assembly) TPC Turkish Petroleum Company WO War Office LIST OF MAPS Page 1. 30 October 1918. Boundaries of Turkey following the Mudros Armistice 231 2. 10 August 1920. Boundaries of Turkey following the Treaty of Sevres 232 3. 24 July 1923. Boundaries of Turkey following the Lausanne Conference 233 ill I INTRODUCTION " ....International diplomacy is a type of nightmare chess match, played amidst blinding fog, in which the pieces change shape or melt away, players mysteriously transform themselves, rules abruptly alter in mid-move, and no one is quite sure what the prizes are. Yet this need not discourage. It is the constant fluctuation, the infinite range of possibilities, that make diplomatic history so stimulating a subject. This is its special excitement, that it presents problems to which there are many possible solutions and equally many ways of arriving at those solutions." Clayton, G. D., Britain and the Eastern Question: Missolonghi to Gallipoli. London, 1971, pp. 246-247. The Ottoman Empire, which participated in the Great War on the side of the Central Powers, was defeated by the Allies and compelled to sign the Armistice of Mudros in October 1918. Following the Armistice the Allies worked out, in line with their war-time secret agreements, the details of the peace treaty which was signed by the Ottoman delegation in August 1920 at Sevres. The Treaty of Sevres was the Allied solution to the centuries-old Eastern Question but not the final one. The end of the War witnessed not only the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire from the political arena but also the emergence of Britain as the dominant Power in the Middle East. Britain, as a victor with a vast amount of newly acquired territories, extended its commitments in Mesopotamia, the eastern Mediterranean and India, all of which formed the key stones of the Imperial strategic system following the war years.