The effects of the Treaty of Sèvres and the tripartite agreement between France, Britain, and Italy. Greece received the blue and purple areas in Europe, and de facto control of the blue area around Smyrna. The pink area around the Straits was still Turkish, but demilitarized (along with the Greek purple area). The likely Armenian borders after American arbitration are shown, though the final borders with Georgia were not settled by the treaty. The striped area would be an autonomous Kurdistan, which might receive independence if it desired it. The French mandate in Syria and the British mandate in Mesopotamia is shown; not shown are the British mandate in Palestine and independent Hejaz. In tan and green are the “areas of special interest” for France and Italy, which were not part of the Treaty itself and remained under full Turkish sovereignty.

August 10 1920, Sèvres–The last of the peace treaties to be signed was the one with Turkey, which had been postponed after sharp disagreements between Lloyd George and Clemenceau at the Paris Peace Conference. Many details were eventually worked out at the San Remo Conference in April 1920, and the peace treaty was signed at Sèvres on August 10.

Greece received the islands of Imbros and Tenedos, along with most of European Turkey, except a small region around Constantinople [Istanbul]. Bulgaria, which had lost access to the Aegean in the Treaty of Neuilly, was given some relief as the Maritsa was made an international river.

All nations were given complete freedom of navigation through the Bosporus, Dardanelles, and the Sea of Marmara. Neither Turkey nor Greece were allowed to fortify the area immediately surrounding it, nor build infrastructure in the area that might allow it to be quickly fortified in the event of war; the Allies were further permitted to destroy fortifications and infrastructure that already existed.

The area around Smyrna, already occupied by Greece, de jure remained under Turkish sovereignty, but de facto passed to Greek control, similar to British rule over Cyprus before the war. Greece was not allowed to conscript its inhabitants and the Turkish lira would remain legal tender in the area, but for all other purposes it was essentially a part of Greece, apart from a single Turkish flag that would be flown outside Smyrna. After five years, a local Smyrna parliament could call for complete incorporation into Greece, likely after a League of Nations plebiscite.



Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia become League of Nations mandates, of the most autonomous variety. France would be the the mandatory power in Syria, while Britain would be the mandatory power in Mesopotamia and Palestine; the latter recommitted itself to implementing the Balfour Declaration in Palestine. The Turkish border with Syria and Mesopotamia was further north than the modern border; Aintab [Gaziantep], Urfa, and Mardin were all assigned to the French mandate in Syria.

Turkey recognized the independence of Hejaz, though its final borders were left unresolved by the treaty; in particular, Yemen was not at all mentioned in the treaty, and was implicitly assigned to Hejaz. Turkey gave up all its former de jure claims over areas it had lost before the war, including those in Africa, Cyprus, and the Dodecanese.

Turkey recognized Armenian independence, and the final borders between Turkey and Armenia would be decided in arbitration by the President of the United States. The United States was not a signatory to the treaty (having never declared war on Turkey), but it was widely expected that Wilson would greatly expand Armenia, giving it the entirety of the vilayets of Erzurum, Bitlis, and Van, along with most of the vilayet of Trebizond [Trabzon], giving it access to the Black Sea. Armenia would be obligated to respect the rights of the Greek and Turkish minorities in the area. The final border between Armenia and Georgia (including the fate of Batum [Batumi]) was left to those two countries to decide.

In the remainder of Turkey east of the Euphrates, the Allies were to come up with a scheme for an autonomous Kurdistan (with protections for the Assyrian minority); if that area desired independence from Turkey, it could be granted within a year, along with possible border adjustments with Persia.

Turkey’s religious and ethnic minorities would receive equal protection under the law, enshrined as a fundamental right, and would also receive proportional representation in the Turkish parliament. Those displaced by the genocidal actions of the Turkish government would have a right to return to their homes and businesses that they had fled or been forcibly removed from. All conversions to Islam since the start of the war were annulled “in view of the terrorist regime which has existed in Turkey since November 1914.” The Allies were empowered to hold military tribunals for war criminals and those involved in the genocides.

Turkey’s armed forces were limited to 50,000 men and 13 boats, with no submarines or aircraft, and strict limitations on arms manufacture and importation. No conscription would be allowed.

No explicit reparations are imposed on Turkey, recognizing their inability to pay, but they must honor their current obligations and pay for the expenses of the Allied occupation. An Allied Financial Commission receives effective veto power over changes to the Turkish budget, and has essentially full control of the Turkish Ministry of Finance. The Allied powers receive full rights of transit and navigation in and around Turkey, and Constantinople Haydarpasha are declared free ports, as are Smyrna, Alexandretta, Haifa, Basra, Trebizond, and Batum. All German, Austrian, and Bulgarian assets are to be seized.

In a separate tripartite agreement, not part of the treaty itself, Britain, France, and Italy agreed to areas of “special interest” for France and Italy, where it was recognized that that country had exclusive economic rights (similar to the Anglo-Russian division of spheres of influence in Persia before the war) and would be responsible for the enforcement of the Treaty of Sèvres.

That enforcement would prove to be exceptionally difficult, however. The treaty was signed by representatives of the Sultan’s government in Constantinople, which was under Allied occupation (and would remain so for another three years); Kemal’s Grand National Assembly in Ankara would never recognize the treaty. The treaty essentially formalized the facts on the ground in Europe, around Smyrna, and in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, but Anatolia was a different matter. Kemal’s forces had been fighting with the French over Aintab for months, and the treaty’s assigning of the city to France had little practical effect. The plans for Kurdish autonomy came to little, and Armenia was stuck between the Turks and the Soviets, with no protection from the United States forthcoming.