Revision of the Treaty of Sevres in 1921

The most important task of theBritish foreign policy in the Middle East in 1921 was that of ending the war in Asia Minor and signing a peace treaty with the new NationalGovernment of Turkey as a result of a revision of the Treaty of Sevres signed in August 1920 by the government of the TurkishSultan. The article tells about the work of the London conference in March and February 1921 attended by the Prime Ministers and Ministersof Foreign Affairs of England, France and Italy as well as delegations from Greece and Turkey. Various materials from Documentson British foreign policy 1919-1939 edited by Professor W.N. Meedlicott of Oxford University, in particular, from volume 17covering the events of the period from January 1921 till September 1922 are studied by the author. The documents contain a number ofmemos and other papers prepared by the Foreign Office for the meetings with allies with the purpose of revision of the peace treaty withTurkey. These diplomatic papers give evidence of the fact that the British government made every effort to preserve as much as possiblefrom the Treaty of Sevres, making only insignificant concessions and thus creating the impression of compromise decisions acceptableto all participating parties. The study of the materials of the meetings of the British Cabinet held in summer 1921 from The ChanakAffair by D. Walder suggests the conclusion that the British Cabinet took a number of measures to enhance Greek military forces andencourage military operations in Asia Minor with an aim of enforcing the Treaty of Sevres. The failure of the London conference, worseningof the relations with France and Italy who concluded separate agreements with Turkey, and a crushing defeat of the Greek militaryforces in September 1921 in Asia Minor caused dissatisfaction of some of the ministers of the Cabinet, parliamentarians and politicalquarters. At the end of the article new suggestions and initiatives coming from the War Office and the Foreign Office with an aim ofradical revision of the treaty with Turkey and restoring good relations with the allies are considered.

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