List of wartime agreements and declarations relating to the Ottoman Empire

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This list gives an overview of all agreements and declarations concerning the Ottoman Empire that were made during the First World War .

For a long time in the 19th century, the fate of the “ sick man on the Bosporus ” was the source of European diplomatic negotiations and intrigues. The Oriental Question was the subject of many public and secret statements and agreements by the Allied Powers during the First World War. The following is a summary of these agreements:

Agreement on Constantinople and the Straits

  • March to April 1915

In the Agreement on Constantinople and the Straits, the British and French governments granted Russia the right to occupy Constantinople, European Turkey as far as the Ainos - Midia line, the İzmit peninsula and the islands of the Marmara Sea. Their condition for Russia was the successful conclusion of the war and the attainment of British and French desiderata in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere. The Iran-related part of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg of 1907 , by which Iran was divided into three zones of influence, should be amended to include the southern part of the neutral zone of the British zone, while the northern part of the neutral zone should be included the capital Tehran should fall to Russia. Both countries should have "full freedom of action" in their zones.

Treaty of London

  • April 26, 1915

This treaty was supposed to draw Italy into the world war on the side of the Allies. Italy was granted sovereignty over the Dodecanese and the prospect of sovereignty over Antalya :

[...] In the event of the total or partial partition of Asian Turkey, it [Italy] will get a fair share of the Mediterranean region bordering Adalia . If France, Great Britain and Russia occupy territories in Asiatic Turkey during the war, the Mediterranean region bordering the province of Adalia , the borders of which are indicated above, will be reserved for Italy, which will be entitled to occupy it. [...] .

Hussein-McMahon correspondence

  • July 1915 to March 1916

During this period there was an exchange of letters between the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon , and the Sharif of Mecca , Hussein ibn Ali . The aim was to organize an Arab uprising against the Turks, which would be supported by the British. In return, the Arabs demanded the recognition of independence in a region from Persia to the Mediterranean, from the Indian Ocean to the 37th parallel. McMahon accepted the terms after three significant and ambiguous modifications.

[...] The two districts of Mersina and Alexandretta and parts of Syria [...] cannot be viewed as purely Arab, so these areas should be excluded from the required borders [...]
[…] Great Britain will protect the holy places against external aggression and recognize their inviolability […]
[...] With regard to these regions, which lie within the borders in which Great Britain has a free hand - taking into account the interests of its ally France - [...] and which are the subject of these modifications, Great Britain is ready to promote the independence of the Arabs in all to recognize and support the regions within the borders requested by the Sherif of Mecca, Hussein [...]

Sykes-Picot Agreement

  • May 9 to May 16, 1916

This agreement governed the division of the territories whose occupation by France and Great Britain had been envisaged in the Agreement on Constantinople and the Straits of 1915. It called out to:

  • an international administration in Palestine
  • the annexation of the coasts of Syria but also of the interior areas by France
  • the British annexation of lower Mesopotamia

Within the British and French zones of influence, both states were obliged to recognize and maintain an independent Arab state or an independent confederation of Arab states.

Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne

  • August 18, 1917

This agreement gave Italy a certain area in Asia Minor for possible annexation as well as a wider zone of influence. The purpose of the agreement was to extend the scope of the Sykes-Picot Agreement to Italy.

Since Russia was unable to sign this agreement due to the Russian Revolution , the agreement later gave rise to sharp disputes between Italy and the other powers over the question of its validity.

Balfour Declaration

  • November 2, 1917

A declaration by the British Government addressed to the leaders of the World Zionist Organization .

[…] Her Majesty's Government looks forward to the establishment of a national homestead in Palestine for the Jewish people, and it will make every effort to achieve this goal, it is clear that nothing should be done that will benefit the civil and religious The rights of non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status of Jews in any other country [...]

Hogarth message

  • January 1918

After the October Revolution in Russia, the new Bolshevik government in Russia published and distanced itself from all agreements concluded by the tsarist government, including the Agreement on Constantinople and the Straits and the Sykes-Picot Agreement. The British government felt compelled to reassure the Arabs that the Entente powers were still convinced of the concept of Arab independence. The British government emphasized that the Balfour Declaration did not conflict with previous promises to the Arabs and would only be implemented insofar as it was economically and politically compatible with the freedom of the local peoples.

Fourteen points

  • January 8, 1918

Article 12 of US President Wilson’s US peace objectives dealt with the Ottoman Empire:

The Turkish parts of the current Ottoman Empire should be guaranteed a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities, now under Turkish rule, should be guaranteed security of life and [...] autonomous administration, the Dardanelles should be permanently open under international guarantees Passage of ships and trade of all nations.

Four principles

  • February 11, 1918

US President Wilson defined his conception of the right to self-government of nations more precisely using four principles . Some of the utterances:

[...] No exchange can take place via peoples and provinces [...]
[...] Any territorial settlement that was involved in the war must be made in the interest and for the benefit of the respective populations.
[...] All well-defined national endeavors are to be approved to the utmost satisfaction [...] without introducing new elements of contention or continuing old elements of contention [...]

Declaration to the seven

  • June 1918

In this report from the British government to seven Arab leaders, Britain declares its recognition of the complete and sovereign independence of the Arabs in territories that were independent before the war or that were detached from Turkish control during the war. Territories besieged by the Allies or remaining under Turkish control would be treated on the basis of the consent of the ruled.

Four ends

  • 4th July 1918

US President Wilson reiterated that the peace agreement must be based on "the settlement of every question", it must be based on "the free acceptance of the agreement by the people it affects".

Five statements

  • September 27, 1918

This was the last major statement made by US President Wilson on the terms of peace. Peace must be based on impartial justice between those "we wish to be righteous" and those "we do not wish to be righteous". It must be a justice that knows no favorites and no standards, but only considers the same rights of different peoples.

English-French declaration

  • November 7, 1918

The British and French governments jointly declared that everything must be done to ensure that governments are established in the Middle East which "derive their authority from the initiative and free choice of local people". Both governments refused to impose any specific institutions on the peoples of these regions. The British and French thereby explicitly agreed to Wilson's concept of self-government by nations.

Problems

All of these agreements and statements taken together did not result in a clear draft regulation of the Middle East. The “soul” of the Sykes-Picot Agreement was in clear conflict with the British promises to the Arabs. The Russian withdrawal from the war meant the removal of a milestone on which subsequent agreements had been networked. The Balfour Declaration promised the Jews a homestead on territory that had a Jewish population of only 10%.

US President Wilson's promise of equal justice for the victor and the vanquished was nowhere to be found in the secret treaties that divided both Turkish and non-Turkish territories into zones of influence of European states.

If Wilson's concept of national self-government, to which Great Britain and France agreed on November 7, 1918, had been consistently pursued, many secret commissions between France, Great Britain and Italy would have to have been nullified.

See also

literature

  • Paul C. Helmreich: From Paris to Sèvres. The Partition of the Ottoman Empire at the Peace Conference of 1919-1920. Ohio State University Press, Columbus OH 1974, ISBN 0-8142-0170-9 , pp. 5-10, section: Wartime Agreements and Commitments .
  • Jacob C. Hurewitz: Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. A Documentary Record. Volume 2: 1914-1956. Van Nostrand, Princeton NJ 1956.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 5.
  2. ↑ Hurewitz diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. Vol. 2, pp. 7-11.
  3. ↑ Ulrich Gehrke: Persia in the German Orientpolitik during the First World War (= representations on foreign policy. Vol. 1, ISSN  0418-3894 ). W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1960, p. 90.
  4. ↑ a b Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 6.
  5. ↑ Hurewitz diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. Vol. 2, pp. 11-12.
  6. ^ Great Britain Parliamentary Papers, 1920 , Agreement between France, Russia, Great Britain and Italy. Signed at London, April 26, 1915. Command 671, London 1920
  7. ↑ Hurewitz diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. Vol. 2, p. 15.
  8. ^ Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 6f.
  9. ↑ a b Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 7.
  10. ↑ Hurewitz diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. Vol. 2, p. 26.
  11. ^ Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 7f.
  12. ↑ Hurewitz diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. Vol. 2, p. 29.
  13. ↑ Great Britain Parliamentary Papers, 1939 , Command 5964, "Statements Made on behalf of His Majesty's Government During the Year 1918 in regard to the Future Status of certain parts of the Ottoman Empire"
  14. ↑ a b Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 8.
  15. ↑ United States Congressional Record. 65th Congress, 2d session, 1/8/18, 1918, Vol. 56: pp. 680-681.
  16. ↑ United States Congressional Record. 65th Congress, 2d session, 2/11/18, 1918, Vol. 56: p. 1937.
  17. ^ Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 8f.
  18. ↑ Hurewitz diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. Vol. 2, pp. 29-30.
  19. ^ Great Britain Parliamentary Papers, 1939 , Command 5964, "Statements during 1918"
  20. ↑ a b c Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 9.
  21. ↑ United States Congressional Record. 65th Congress, 2d session, 7/5/18, Vol. 56: p. 8671.
  22. ↑ United States Congressional Record. 65th Congress, 2d session, 9/28/18, Vol. 56: p. 10887.
  23. ↑ Hurewitz diplomacy in the Near and Middle East. Vol. 2, p. 30.
  24. ^ Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 10.
  25. ^ Helmreich From Paris to Sèvres. P. 9f.