The Treaty of Sèvres Was Signed and It Never Took Effect

On August 10, 1920, the Treaty of Sèvres was signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied powers following World War I.

The treaty proposed a dramatic partition of the Ottoman Empire. Greece was to gain Eastern Thrace and İzmir, while plans were made for an independent Armenia and a possible Kurdish state. The Turkish Straits were to be placed under international control, and the Ottoman military was to be severely restricted.

For the Turkish nationalist movement led by Mustafa Kemal, the treaty was completely unacceptable. The Turkish War of Independence followed, with nationalist forces eventually defeating the Greek army and forcing the Allies to reconsider the postwar settlement.

The result was the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, which replaced the Sèvres settlement and internationally recognized the sovereignty and borders of the new Republic of Turkey.

One of the most interesting things about Sèvres is that it was signed but never actually implemented. It represents what the Allied powers wanted the post-Ottoman settlement to look like in 1920, while Lausanne represented the outcome after the Turkish War of Independence.

105 years later, Sèvres remains one of the most controversial treaties in Turkish history.