La spartizione dell’impero ottomano e l’utopia del trattato di pace di Sèvres
Main Article Content
Abstract
The fifth peace treaty after the First World War, which was signed at
Sèvres on 10 August 1920, was unworkable from the start and had no prospect
of ever being implemented. According to the writer, the treaty was utopian for
the following reasons.
i) The aspirations of the great powers that signed the treaty (especially
France, Great Britain, and Italy) were entirely at odds; the diplomatic representatives themselves, and public opinion in the countries concerned, believed the treaty to be unworkable.
ii) Interests intersected and conflicted on a vast geographical scale: in
south-eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Near East, and northern Africa. iii) The sultanic regime in the Ottoman Empire was overthrown and the
emerging nationalist faction seized power.
iv) The diplomatically isolated Greece was economically and militarily
weak. Its divided leadership, the strong survival of nineteenth-century national
romanticism, and a general lack of realism further favoured the non-implementation of the terms of the treaty, especially in Asia Minor and Eastern
Thrace.
Sèvres on 10 August 1920, was unworkable from the start and had no prospect
of ever being implemented. According to the writer, the treaty was utopian for
the following reasons.
i) The aspirations of the great powers that signed the treaty (especially
France, Great Britain, and Italy) were entirely at odds; the diplomatic representatives themselves, and public opinion in the countries concerned, believed the treaty to be unworkable.
ii) Interests intersected and conflicted on a vast geographical scale: in
south-eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Near East, and northern Africa. iii) The sultanic regime in the Ottoman Empire was overthrown and the
emerging nationalist faction seized power.
iv) The diplomatically isolated Greece was economically and militarily
weak. Its divided leadership, the strong survival of nineteenth-century national
romanticism, and a general lack of realism further favoured the non-implementation of the terms of the treaty, especially in Asia Minor and Eastern
Thrace.
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles