The Treaty of Lausanne created a new world order outdated from the start

The sun sets on an empire

It was a time when the Ottoman Empire was on its last legs under Muhammad VI Wahid al-Din. The sultan's authority had waned significantly compared to the powerful rulers of the past, from the Osman family. The Ottoman Empire was defeated on all fronts, exhausted by the Balkan War that led to the loss of all of its territory in Europe.

Jamie Wignall

Read more: The coup that brought down the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman government's decision to align with the Central Powers – Germany and Austria-Hungary – during World War I weakened its position further.

Indeed, several Turkish officers and politicians vehemently rejected the Treaty of Sèvres, which was imposed on the defeated Ottoman Empire by the victorious powers after World War I.

The treaty aimed to dismember Anatolia and Rumeli, the European territories of the Ottoman Empire and distribute them among various Allied nations, notably the French, British, Greeks, and Italians.

In response to the unacceptable terms of the Sèvres – and the threat of partitioning their homeland – the Turkish War of Independence began in 1919.

A new leader rises

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who had previously commanded the Yildirim Army Group during World War I, emerged as the prominent leader of the nationalist movement fighting against foreign occupation and seeking to preserve the territorial integrity of Turkey.

Under Atatürk, Turkish forces achieved a series of significant victories against the occupying Allied forces, particularly the Greeks. These victories ultimately led to the restoration of control over much of the Anatolian plateau, Istanbul, and the southern coastal cities.

This, in turn, led to the declaration of the Turkish Republic, the abolition of the Islamic caliphate, and the emergence of Atatürk as the father of the Turks. Atatürk's new form of rule continues to this day, based on the principles of secularism, nationalism, and democracy.

His victory meant the Allies had to accept a new reality as the Turkish victory brought about the abolition of the Treaty of Sèvres.

"Fait accompli" diplomacy

So-called "fait accompli" diplomacy was a prominent characteristic of the broader picture during what came next. It is often overlooked in the traditional historical narrative that solely focuses on the Treaty of Lausanne.

To fully understand the treaty's significance, it is essential to consider the circumstances leading up to it within the overall atmosphere at the time.

The Berlin Conference of 1884 played a crucial role in shaping Lausanne's contemporary context. During the gathering, major powers disregarded the interests of smaller and poorer nations, openly dividing spheres of influence based on their military and economic strength.

Berlin was emblematic of the prevailing approach – to perpetuate the dominance of the strongest nations over the weakest – which ultimately set the conditions that led to World War I.

Four empires vanish

World War I had profound consequences, leading to the collapse of four great empires. Russia experienced the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, causing it to withdraw from the war and focus on internal conflicts.

The Treaty of Versailles unfairly burdened Germany with the responsibility for the entire war. The Austro-Hungarian Empire could no longer meet the national aspirations of its diverse peoples.

Lastly, the Ottoman Empire struggled to modernise and justify its existence amid the rising demand for independence among various populations within its borders.

That is how the stage was set for the Treaty of Lausanne, which became such a significant part of the diplomatic drama as the world moved on from World War I.

Restoring order to Europe and the Middle East, the primary arenas of the global conflict, was of utmost importance. The approach taken by the victorious powers was similar to the Berlin Conference, resulting in the treaties of Versailles and Sèvres.

The vultures of Versailles

Unfortunately, the Treaty of Versailles had dire consequences and is widely regarded as a contributing factor to the outbreak of World War II.  It meant the German Weimar Republic struggled to establish stable democratic rule amid severe economic crises and intense conflicts between political factions on the extremes of both the left and the right.

But there was a difference.

Unlike at the Berlin Conference, the aftermath of World War I brought the emergence of the United States as a significant international power. The US played a crucial role in the final stages of the war on the European stage, sending hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

President Woodrow Wilson presented a 14-point programme at a peace conference in Paris, aiming to preserve the integrity of the Turkish part of the Ottoman Empire while ensuring the right to self-determination for non-Turk regions.

Unfortunately, Wilson's plan faced significant challenges. It clashed with the interests of major European powers, which were reluctant to abandon their traditional methods and colonial ambitions.

 These powers viewed the disintegrating Ottoman Empire as the "sick man of Europe and pursued their own ambitions for its territory. That undermined Wilson's vision for a more just and inclusive post-war order.

Mapping a new world order

But the process of redrawing the map of Europe and the Middle East was underway.

While the Treaty of Versailles usually receives the most attention due to its establishment of the League of Nations, based on Wilson's ideas about international peace, other treaties like Sèvres and Lausanne indirectly impacted the Arab world through their involvement in reshaping Turkey's borders.

That followed the victory of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in the country's War of Independence.

The Paris Conference also had far-reaching implications beyond these well-known treaties. It paved the way for various agreements aimed at perpetuating the war's outcomes throughout Europe and the Middle East.

The Treaty of Locarno included a German pledge not to engage in further wars. The Treaty of Neuilly had Bulgaria relinquishing lands it had previously taken from Turkey, returning them to Greece.

The Treaty of Saint-Germain effectively dissolved the Austro-Hungarian Empire by separating Austria from Hungary. The Treaty of Trianon significantly altered the map of Hungary to the advantage of its neighbours.

The Paris Conference and the ensuing treaties were ambitious attempts to ensure the world had just fought the war to end all wars, remaking the global map and its political and diplomatic order.

It didn't work.

The groundwork was inadvertently laid for future conflicts. Many of the treaties signed with defeated countries were vengeful.

This was especially true for the Treaty of Versailles. Historians now widely agree that this treaty aimed to humiliate Germany and punish it for its role in causing the war, but its authors failed to consider the long-term consequences of their actions, contributing to the seeds of future hostilities.

The irony lies in how the efforts to achieve lasting peace inadvertently set the stage for further geopolitical tensions and conflict in the years to come.

Like Versailles, the Treaty of Sèvres also suffered from shortsightedness. The handing over of vast areas of Anatolia and the occupation of Istanbul without considering the aspirations of the Turkish people eventually led to the outbreak of the Turkish War of Independence.

While the subsequent Treaty of Lausanne did restore some consideration to Turkey, it still restricted the country's territorial claims and tacitly accepted the Sykes-Picot agreement, in which France and Britain divided the Arab East between themselves.

Genocide and forced displacement

Even more troubling, the Treaty of Lausanne perpetuated outdated values and practices that had been prevalent in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The implementation of the treaty led to a forced population exchange between Turkey and Greece, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

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Greek Muslims, along with other Muslims from the Balkans, were deported to Turkey, and many Greeks from different regions were compelled to abandon their homes and relocate to Greece. This worsened tensions and conflicts.

Tragically, the Allies turned a blind eye to the Armenian genocide in 1915, as well as other ethnic cleansing operations that targeted Greeks and Syriacs, extending into the early 1920s.

Turkish authorities still deny overall responsibility for these incidents and label them as individual crimes.

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Moreover, the treaty compelled Turkey to abandon its claim to oil-rich Mosul, which Britain sought to acquire due to the emerging significance of the commodity.

By disregarding the rights of weaker peoples living under the declining Ottoman Sultanate's rule, the Treaty of Lausanne inadvertently led to new conflicts over national and cultural rights, with the most prominent example being the ongoing and complex conflict with the Kurds.

For over a century, this conflict has evolved, encompassing armed uprisings and has cast a long shadow over Turkey's internal politics.