Treaty of Sevres

The treated of Sevres is concluded the August 10th 1920, shortly after the First World War. It is a peace treaty between the allies and the Ottoman Empire.

This treaty devotes the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. It is signed the August 10th 1920 by the agents of the Sultan Mehmed VI.

By article 88-94, all the oriental party of the Empire as well as the districts of Kars, Ardahan and Erzurum are set up in “Republic independent of Arménie”.

Article 62-64; a “autonomous territory of the Kurds” including the south-east of the Anatolia is created.

SDN entrusts the Arab provinces to the France and the the United Kingdom.

The France obtains a zone of influence including/understanding the Cilicie, which extended until north, well beyond Sivas. The Italy obtains the town of Adana and all the neighbouring area, as well as the Dodécanèse. It in addition obtains a zone of influence going of Bursa to Césarée, while passing by Afyonkarahisar. The Greece obtains on its side Smyrna and the west of Anatolia, the Eastern Thrace (which include/understand Andrinople and Gallipoli) until the Maritza and the islands.

Istanbul, the coasts of the Marmara Sea and the Dardanelles are demilitarized. The straits are placed under the control of an international commission. The passage was to remain free in time of war as in times of peace. The new Ottoman Empire was nothing any more but one small territory of 120 000 square kilometers, covered in major part of not exploitable grounds, deprived of possibility of development because of a system of “guarantees” which came to be superimposed on them. Finances of the country were to be managed by foreign commissions. All the resources of the country are assigned by priority at the expenses of occupation and the refunding of the allowances due to Allied (Article 231-266). Commissions were to completely dissolve the army to replace it by a force of gendarmerie. Article 261 of the treaty restored the capitulations. In addition, the police force, the tax system, the customs, the National Forestry Commission, the private schools and public were to be subjected to the permanent control of the Allies.

For Norbert de Bischoff, “thus crumbled after a fall without equal, one of the greatest empires than knew the modern history”.

“But if this document were signed by the Othoman government of Istanbul, the majority of the Turks, in almost the totality of the country, recognized only the authority of the government of Ankara directed by Mustafa Kemal which, categorically refused this treaty and its clauses to him. ”. The treaty of Sevres is revised by the Traité of Kars then by the Traité of Lausanne of the July 24th 1923, concluded with the modern Turkey from Atatürk.

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