The
Occupation of ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
(present-day
IstanbulIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
) (November 13 1918 – September 23 1923) was the occupation of the capital of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, following the
Armistice of MudrosThe Armistice of Moudros ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...
by the
Triple EntenteThe Triple Entente was the name given to the loose alignment between the United Kingdom, France, and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907...
of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. The first French troops entered the city on November 12 1918, followed by British troops the next day. The occupation had two stages: the
de facto stage from November 13 1918 to March 20 1920, and the
de jure stage from March 20 1920 to the days following the
Treaty of LausanneThe Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire by annulment of the Treaty of Sèvres that was signed by the Constantinople-based Ottoman government; as the consequence of the...
. The last Allied troops departed from the city on September 23 1923. The first
Turkish troops entered the city on October 6 1923. Allied troops occupied based on the sections of Istanbul and set up an Allied military administration beginning early in December 1918. The occupation along with the
occupation of İzmirThe Occupation of İzmir established between 21 May 1918 to 8 September 1922 by Greek forces under the High Commissioner Aristidis Stergiadis in the İzmir district aligned with the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. There was no military hostilities between Greece and the Ottoman Empire...
, mobilized the
establishment of the Turkish national movement"The establishment of the Turkish national movement" explains the creation of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The establishment of an alliance of Turkish revolutionaries during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire resulted in the declaration of the Republic of Turkey and abolishment of the...
and the
Turkish War of IndependenceThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
.
Background
In 1920, Istanbul boasted an estimate of 1 million to 1,200,000 inhabitants; 560,434 were
Muslim MilletMillet is an Ottoman Turkish term for a confessional community in the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, with the Tanzimat reforms, the term started to refer to legally protected religious minority groups, other than the ruling Sunni. Millet comes from the Arabic word millah and literally means...
; 384,689
Phanariot GreeksMillet is an Ottoman Turkish term for a confessional community in the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, with the Tanzimat reforms, the term started to refer to legally protected religious minority groups, other than the ruling Sunni. Millet comes from the Arabic word millah and literally means...
; 118,000
Armenian MilletMillet is an Ottoman Turkish term for a confessional community in the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, with the Tanzimat reforms, the term started to refer to legally protected religious minority groups, other than the ruling Sunni. Millet comes from the Arabic word millah and literally means...
and 44, 795
Jewish milletMillet is an Ottoman Turkish term for a confessional community in the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, with the Tanzimat reforms, the term started to refer to legally protected religious minority groups, other than the ruling Sunni. Millet comes from the Arabic word millah and literally means...
.
Legality of the occupation
The
Armistice of MudrosThe Armistice of Moudros ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...
, which defined the end of World War One for the Ottoman Empire, mentions the occupation of Bosphorous fort and Dardanelles fort. On October 30, 1918,
Somerset Arthur Gough-CalthorpeAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe GCB, GCMG, CVO , sometimes known as Sir Somerset Calthorpe, was a British Royal Navy admiral....
, the British signatory (British enforcer during the
Turkish War of IndependenceThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
) stated the Triple Entente's position that they had no intention to dismantle the government or place it under
military occupationBelligerent military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
by "occupying Istanbul". This verbal promise and lack of mention of the occupation of Istanbul in the armistice did not change the realities for the Ottoman Empire. Admiral Arthur G. Calthorpe puts the British position as "No kind of favour whatsoever to any Turk and to hold out no hope for them" The Ottoman side returned to the capital with a personal letter from Calthorpe, intended only for the eyes of Rauf Bey, the
Grand VizierGrand Vizier, in Turkish Sadr-ı Azam or Serdar-ı Ekrem , deriving from the Persian word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
, and the
SultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
, in which he promised on behalf of the British government that only British and French troops would be used in the occupation of the Straits fortifications. A small number of Ottoman troops could be allowed to stay on in the occupied areas as a symbol of sovereignty.
The Sultan's position
According to Sir Horace Rumbold, 9th Baronet, the British ambassador to
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
(1920–1924), the
SultanMehmed VI Wahid ed-din was the 36th and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1918 to 1922. The brother of Mehmed V, he succeeded to the throne as the eldest male member of the House of Osman after the 1916 suicide of Abdülaziz's son Yusuf Izzettin, the heir to the throne...
had never grasped or accepted the form of Kemalist national perspective which was represented by the
Turkish national movementThe Turkish National Movement encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries which resulted in the creation and shaping of the Republic of Turkey, a consequence of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I.Turkish revolutionaries...
. He never perceived the significance of the military and political events following the
Armistice of MudrosThe Armistice of Moudros ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...
, failing to realise that the partitioning of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
was a reflection of his captivity. For him, it was he and his close circle who formed and represented the Turks. There was a group of real Turks who were loyal and working to save the Empire at any cost. Most probably based on their individual activities, some of the
Turkish revolutionaries fell in/out of the Sultan's definition of a Turk. Also according to Rumbold, the Sultan claimed that Mustafa Kemal was a Macedonian revolutionary of an unverified origin, Bekir Sami was a
CircassianThe term Circassian may refer to:*Circassians, term used to designated various peoples of the north Caucasus.* Northwest Caucasian languages, specifically:**Adyghe language, West Circassian**Kabardian language, East Circassian...
and that other individual revolutionaries were Turkish-speaking
AlbaniansAlbanians are a people from southeast Europe who live in Albania and neighboring countries. They speak the Albanian language. About half of them live in Albania, with other large groups residing in Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro...
, Circassians, etc. Moreover, Rumbold maintained that the Sultan thought that resistance against the Allies with support found in the Bolsheviks would bring Turkey the same fate as
Azerbaijan Democratic RepublicThe Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world . The ADR was founded on May 28, 1918 after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917 by Azerbaijani National Council in...
, which had become the
Azerbaijan SSRThe Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Azerbaijan SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union....
. The ideology behind the Sultan's perception of the events had taken a very different path.
In the following years, Enver Pasha went to
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
and later to
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
, where his ultimate intention was to regain power (against the Allies) by using the Bolsheviks through the organization of the Union of Islamic Revolutionary Societies and an affiliated Party of People's Councils. The Turkish national movement did not give way to the Bolsheviks but instead made peace with the Allies. Enver Pasha was killed fighting the
Red ArmyThe Red Army The Red Army The Red Army was the Soviet government’s revolutionary militia beginning in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the USSR. Since 1946, after the Second World War, it was called the Soviet Army.The 'Red...
.
Atatürk's ReformsAtatürk's Reforms were a series of political, legal, cultural, social and economic reforms that were implemented to transform the young Republic of Turkey into a modern, democratic and secular nation-state. They were implemented under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in accordance with...
abolished the
CaliphateThe term caliphate refers to the first form of government inspired by Islam. It was initially led by Muhammad's disciples as a continuation of the political authority the prophet established, known as the 'rashidun caliphates'. It represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah, and was the...
; the
Khilafat MovementThe Khilafat movement was a political campaign launched mainly by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of World War I...
did not save the Ottoman
CaliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
, but became a nationalistic movement that improved Hindu-Muslim relations.
Military administration
The Allies did not wait for a peace treaty for claiming the Ottoman territory. Just 13 days after the
Armistice of MudrosThe Armistice of Moudros ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...
, a French brigade entered İstanbul on November 12, 1918. The first British Troops entered the city on November 13 1918. Early in December 1918, Allied troops occupied sections of Istanbul and set up an Allied military administration.
On February 8, 1919, the French general
Franchet d' EspèreyLouis Félix Marie François Franchet d'Espèrey was a French general during World War I.-Early life:He was born in Mostaganem in what is today Algeria, the son of an officer of cavalry in the Chasseurs d'Afrique. He was educated at Saint-Cyr and graduated in 1876...
entered the city on a white horse, emulating
Mehmed the ConquerorMehmet II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446,...
's entrance in 1453 after the
Fall of ConstantinopleThe Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire which occurred after a siege laid by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Sultan Mehmed II. The siege lasted from Thursday, 5 April, 1453 until Tuesday, 29 May, 1453 , when the city fell to the Ottomans...
, signifying that Ottoman sovereignty over the imperial city was over. On November 13, 1919, the Allied fleet sailed into the Bosphorus.
Somerset Calthorpe, December 1918 – August 1919
After the armistice, High Commissioner Admiral
Somerset Arthur Gough-CalthorpeAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe GCB, GCMG, CVO , sometimes known as Sir Somerset Calthorpe, was a British Royal Navy admiral....
was assigned as the military adviser to Istanbul. His first task was to arrest between 160 and 200 persons from the Government of Tevfik Pasha in January 1919. Among this group, he sent thirty to Malta (
Malta exilesMalta exiles is the term for politicians, high ranking soldiers , administrators and intellectuals of the Ottoman Empire who were sent into exile on Malta after the armistice of Mudros during the Occupation of İstanbul by the Allied forces...
).
Establishing authority
The British rounded up a number of members of the old establishment and interned them in Malta, awaiting their trial for alleged crimes during WWI. Calthorpe included only Turkish members of the Government of Tevfik Pasha and the military/political personalities. He wanted to send a message that a
military occupationBelligerent military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
was in effect and failure to comply would end with harsh punishment. His position was not shared with other partners. The French Government's response on these presumed guilty people was "distinction to disadvantage of Muslim-Turks while Bulgarian, Austrian and German offenders were as yet neither arrested nor molested". However, the government and the Sultan understood the message. In February 1919, allies were informed that the Ottoman Empire was in compliance with its full apparatus to the occupation forces. Any source of conflict (including
Armenian questionThe term "Armenian Question" as used in European history, became common place among diplomatic circles and in the popular press after the Congress of Berlin; that in like Eastern Question, refers to powers of Europe's involvement to the Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire beginning with the...
s) would be investigated by a commission which neutral Governments can attach two legal superintendents. Calthorpe's correspondence to Foreign Office was "The action undertaken for the arrests was very satisfactory, and has, I think, intimidated the
Committee of Union and ProgressThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Hüseyinzade Ali...
of Constantinople".
Conflict resolution
The message of Calthorpe fully noted by the Sultan. There was an eastern tradition of presenting gifts to the authority during the serious conflicts; sometimes "falling of heads". There was no higher goal than preserving the integrity of the Ottoman Institution. If the anger of Calthorpe could be calmed down by the foisting the blame on a few members of the
Committee of Union and ProgressThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Hüseyinzade Ali...
, which Ottoman Empire could thereby receive more lenient treatment at the
Paris peace conferenceThe Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors in World War I to set the peace terms for Germany and other defeated nations, and to deal with the empires of the defeated powers following the Armistice of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than...
; that could be achieved. The trials began in Istanbul on April 28, 1919. The prosecution come-up with "forty-two authenticated documents substantiating the charges therein, many bearing dates, identification of senders of the cipher telegrams and letters, and names of recipients." On July 22, the court-martial found several defendants guilty of subverting constitutionalism by force and found them responsible for massacres. During its whole existence from April 28 1919 to March 29 1920, Ottoman trials did performed very poorly with increasing inefficiency; as presumed guilty people were already intended as sacrifice to save the Empire. However, as an occupation authority, the historical rightfulness of the allies were on the table. Calthorpe wrote to London; "proving to be a farce and injurious to our own prestige and to that of the Turkish government.". The Allies considered Ottoman trials as a travesty of justice, which Ottoman justice had to be replaced with the
WesternThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
justice by moving the trials to Malta as "International" trials. The "International" trials declined to use any evidence developed by the Ottoman tribunals. When the International trials were staged, Calthorpe was replaced by John de Robeck.
John de RobeckAdmiral of the Fleet Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG, GCVO was an admiral in the British Royal Navy who commanded the Allied naval force in the Dardanelles during World War I....
regarding the trials; "that its findings cannot be held of any account at all." All of the
Malta exilesMalta exiles is the term for politicians, high ranking soldiers , administrators and intellectuals of the Ottoman Empire who were sent into exile on Malta after the armistice of Mudros during the Occupation of İstanbul by the Allied forces...
were released.
A new movement
Calthorpe was alarmed when he learned that the winner of
GallipoliThe Gallipoli Campaign took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916, during the First World War. A joint British Empire and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, and secure a sea route to Russia...
had become the inspector general for Anatolia and Mustafa Kemal's behaviors during this period did nothing to improve matters. Calthorpe urged that Kemal be recalled. Thanks to friends and sympathizers of Mustafa Kemal's in government circles, a 'compromise' was developed whereby the power of the inspector general was curbed, at least on paper. "Inspector General" became a title that had no power to command. On June 23 1919, Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe began to put the pieces on Kemal and his role in the
establishment of the Turkish national movement"The establishment of the Turkish national movement" explains the creation of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The establishment of an alliance of Turkish revolutionaries during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire resulted in the declaration of the Republic of Turkey and abolishment of the...
. He sent a report about Mustafa Kemal to the Foreign Office. His remarks were downplayed by George Kidson of the Eastern Department. Captain Hurst (British army) in
SamsunSamsun is a city in northern Turkey, on the coast of the Black Sea, with a population of 725,111 as of 2007. It is the capital city of Samsun Province and an important port...
warned Calthorpe one more time about the Turkish national movement, but his units were replaced with a
Brigade of GurkhasThe Brigade of Gurkhas is the collective term for units of the current British Army that are composed of Nepalese soldiers. The brigade, which is 3,640 strong, draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army prior to Indian independence, and prior to that of...
.
Arthur Gough-Calthorpe was assigned to another position on August 5, 1919 and left Istanbul.
John de Robeck, August 1919 – 1922
From August 1919 to 1922
John de RobeckAdmiral of the Fleet Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG, GCVO was an admiral in the British Royal Navy who commanded the Allied naval force in the Dardanelles during World War I....
replaced Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe with the title of "Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, and High Commissioner, at Constantinople". He was responsible for activities regarding Russia and Turkey (Ottoman Empire-Turkish national movement).
John de Robeck was very worried by the defiant mood of the Ottoman parliament. When 1920 arrived, he was concerned by reports that substantial stocks of arms were reaching
Turkish revolutionaries, some from French and Italian sources. In one of his letters to London, he asked: "Against whom would these sources be employed?"
In London, the
Conference of London (February 1920)In the Conference of London, , following World War I, leaders of Britain, France, and Italy met to discuss the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and the negotiation of agreements that would become the Treaty of Sèvres...
took place; it featured discussions about settling the treaty terms to be offered in San Remo. John de Robeck reminded participants that Anatolia was moving into a resistance stage. There were arguments of "National out" (
Misak-ı MilliMisak-ı Millî is the set of six important decisions made by the last term of the Ottoman Parliament. Parliament met on 28 January 1920 and published their decisions on 12 February 1920...
) were circulating and if these would be solidified that would take a longer time and more resources to handle the case (
partitioning of the Ottoman EmpireThe Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire was a political event that occurred after World War I. The huge conglomeration of territories and peoples formerly ruled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new nations....
). He tried to persuade the leaders to take quick action and control the Sultan and pressure the rebels (from both directions). This request posted awkward problems at the highest level: promises for national sovereignty were on the table and United states was fast withdrawing into isolation.
Parliament acting by itself, January 1920
The newly established Ottoman parliament did not recognize that there was a
de facto occupation. Ottoman parliament developed a National Pact (Misak-ı Milli). They adapted six principles; which called for self-determination, the security of Constantinople, and the opening of the Straits, also the abolishment of the capitulations. While in Istanbul, self-determination and protection of the Ottoman Empire was voiced, the
Khilafat MovementThe Khilafat movement was a political campaign launched mainly by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of World War I...
in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
try to influence the British government to protect the
caliphateThe term caliphate refers to the first form of government inspired by Islam. It was initially led by Muhammad's disciples as a continuation of the political authority the prophet established, known as the 'rashidun caliphates'. It represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah, and was the...
of the
Ottoman empireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
and although it was mainly a Muslim religious movement, the Khilafat struggle was becoming a part of the wider
Indian independence movementThe term Indian independence movement incorporates various national and regional campaigns, agitations and efforts of both nonviolent and militant philosophy. The term encompasses a wide spectrum of political organizations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending the British...
. Both these two movements (Misak-ı Milli and Khilafat Movement) on the ideological level share a lot of notions, which during the
Conference of London (February 1920)In the Conference of London, , following World War I, leaders of Britain, France, and Italy met to discuss the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and the negotiation of agreements that would become the Treaty of Sèvres...
allies concentrated on these issues.
The Ottoman Empire did lose in World War I, but Misak-ı Milli in the local Khilafat Movement in a global sense was in conflict with the Allies' plans.
Solidification of the partitioning, February 1920
The plans for
partitioning of the Ottoman EmpireThe Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire was a political event that occurred after World War I. The huge conglomeration of territories and peoples formerly ruled by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new nations....
needed to be solidified. At Conference of London on March 4, 1920, the Triple Entente decided to implement its previous (secret) agreements and form what will be the
Treaty of SèvresThe Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...
. In doing so, all forms of resistance originating from Ottoman Empire (rebellions, Sultan, etc) had to be dismantled. The Allies' military forces in Istanbul ordered to take the necessary actions; also political side increased the efforts to put the Treaty of Sèvres] in writing.
On the political side, negotiations for Treaty of Sèvres presumed a Greek (Christian Administration), a French-Armenian (Christian Administration), Italian occupation region (Christian Administration) and Wilsonian Armenia (Christian Administration) over what was Ottoman Empire (Muslim Administration). Muslim citizens of the Ottoman Empire perceived this plan as losing their sovereignty. British intelligence registered the Turkish national movement as a movement of the Muslim citizens of Anatolia. The Muslim unrest all around Anatolia brought two arguments to the British government regarding the new establishments: the Muslim administration (Ottoman Empire) was not safe for Christians; the Treaty of Sèvres was the only way that Christians could be safe. Enforcing the Treaty of Sèvres could not happen without repressing Mustafa Kemal's (
Turkish Revolutionaries) national movement.
On the military side the British claimed that if the Allies could not control
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
at that time, they could at least control Istanbul. Plan was step by step beginning from Istanbul dismantle every organization and slowly move deep into the Anatolia. That meant facing with what will be called as the
Turkish War of IndependenceThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
. British foreign department was asked to devise a plan to ease this path. British foreign department developed the same plan that they used during the
Arab revoltThe Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein ibn Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :The rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire goes back to 1821...
. This policy of breaking down authority by separating the Sultan from his government, and working different
milletsMillet is an Ottoman Turkish term for a confessional community in the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, with the Tanzimat reforms, the term started to refer to legally protected religious minority groups, other than the ruling Sunni. Millet comes from the Arabic word millah and literally means...
against each other, such as the Christian millet against the Muslim millet, was the best solution if minimal British force was to be used. The details of these covert operations in Anatolia are covered under
Turkish war of independenceThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
.
Dissolution of the parliament, March 1920
The Telegram House was occupied on March 14. On the night of March 15 British troops began to occupy the key buildings and arrest Turkish nationalists. It was a very messy operation. The 10th division and military music school resisted the arrest. At least 10 students died under the gunfire of the British Indian army. The total death toll is unknown. On March 18 the Ottoman parliament met and sent a protest to allies; "it was unacceptable to arrest five of its members" declared the parliament. This marked the end of the Ottoman Political system. The British move on the parliament left the Sultan as sole controller of the Empire; without parliament the Sultan stood alone with the British. Beginning with March 18, the Sultan become the puppet of the British foreign department, saying, "There would be no one left to blame for what will be coming soon"; the Sultan revealed his own version of the declaration of dissolution on April 11, after approximately 150 politicians were exiled to Malta.
The dissolution of the parliament followed by the raid and closing of the journal
Yeni Gün (
New Day).
Yeni Gün was owned by
Yunus Nadi AbalıoğluYunus Nadi Abalıoğlu was a renowned Turkish journalist and founder of the newspaper Cumhuriyet.Yunus Nadi was born in 1879 in the Seydiler village of the south Aegean town Fethiye. After primary school in Fethiye, he was schooled on Rhodes. Later on, Yunus Nadi moved to Istanbul, where he...
, an influential journalist, and was the main media organ publishing the news about the resistance (Turkish War of Independence) to the outside world.
Official declaration, March 16, 1920
On March 16, 1920, third day of hostilities the allied forces declared the occupation:
Forcing the peace treaty
The June was determined as a target to put the peace treaty (
Treaty of SèvresThe Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...
) on the signature. From March to June, the existence of all resistance was planned to be curbed down.
Early pressure on insurgency, April – June 1920
British claimed the insurgency of the
Turkish revolutionaries should be handled by the forces within the Anatolia through British training and material support. In response to this request, the Istanbul government, government without parliament, appointed its own extraordinary Anatolian general inspector
Süleyman Şefik PashaSüleyman Şefik Pasha was the commander of Kuvâ-i İnzibâtiyye , which was an army established on 18 April 1920 by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire in order to fight against the Turkish National Movement in the aftermath of World War I.The Kuvâ-i İnzibâtiyye was...
and a new Security Army,
Kuva-i InzibatiyeThe Kuvâ-i İnzibâtiyye was an army established on 18 April 1920 by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire in order to fight against the Turkish National Movement in the aftermath of World War I...
, to enforce its rule and fight the nationalists with British support. British also supported detachment guerrilla groups around the Anatolia (the term used for them was independent army), led by Circassians refugees driven into Anatolia by the Russians. Most famous, Circassian, Ahmet Anzavur, a conservative movement and force with money and arms provided by the Istanbul government and the British. Ahmet Anzavur even led the
Kuva-i InzibatiyeThe Kuvâ-i İnzibâtiyye was an army established on 18 April 1920 by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire in order to fight against the Turkish National Movement in the aftermath of World War I...
, or more properly some battalions, and his bands began to ravage the countryside.
The details of these military units against the Turkish National movement is explained under
Turkish War of IndependenceThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
. These forces were unsuccessful against the national movement, such that the clash outside İzmit brought serious consequences. The British forces opened fire on the nationalists and bombed them from the air. This bombing forced a retreat but there was a panic in Istanbul. The British commander, General
George MilneField Marshal George Francis Milne, 1st Baron Milne GCB, GCMG, DSO , was a British military commander who served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1926 to 1933.-Army career:...
, asked for reinforcements. This initiated a chain reaction to determine how much power was required to handle the national movement. Marshal
Ferdinand FochFerdinand Foch . OM GCB was a French soldier, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its final year: 1918...
signed the final report with summation to twenty seven divisions. The British army did not have twenty-seven divisions and was not willing to channel these forces while they claimed that World War I had ended with their victory. A deployment of this size could have had political consequences that were beyond the British government's capacity to handle.
The British were quick to accept the fact that the nationalistic movement, which had hardened during World War I, could not be faced without the deployment of consistent and well-trained forces. On June 25 the forces originating from Kuva-i Inzibatiye were dismantled on the advice of the British, who said that there was no use for them.
Presentation of the treaty to the Sultan, June 1920
The treaty terms were presented to the Sultan in the middle of June. The treaty was harsher than anyone expected. However, because of the military pressure placed on the insurgency from April to June 1920, the Allies did not expect that there would be any serious opposition.
End of the occupation
- October 11 1922: Signing of the Armistice of Mudanya
The Armistice of Mudanya was an agreement between Turkey, Italy, France and Britain, signed in the town of Mudanya, Turkey, on 11 October, 1922. Greece acceded to the armistice on 14 October...
, end of the Turkish War of IndependenceThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
.
- November 1 1922: Abolition of the Ottoman
The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
Sultanate.
- November 17 1922: Departure of the last Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI
Mehmed VI Wahid ed-din was the 36th and last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1918 to 1922. The brother of Mehmed V, he succeeded to the throne as the eldest male member of the House of Osman after the 1916 suicide of Abdülaziz's son Yusuf Izzettin, the heir to the throne...
Vahideddin from Istanbul.
- July 24 1923: Signing of the Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire by annulment of the Treaty of Sèvres that was signed by the Constantinople-based Ottoman government; as the consequence of the...
.
- August 23 1923: Allied forces start evacuating Istanbul in the frame of the Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire by annulment of the Treaty of Sèvres that was signed by the Constantinople-based Ottoman government; as the consequence of the...
.
- September 23 1923: Last Allied troops depart from Istanbul.
- October 6 1923: First Turkish troops enter Istanbul.
- October 29 1923: Proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, with Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2007 the city had a population of 4,751,360, which includes eight districts under the city's administration...
as its capital city.
List of Allied High Commissioners
French:
- November 1918 – January 1919 Louis Franchet d'Esperey
Louis Félix Marie François Franchet d'Espèrey was a French general during World War I.-Early life:He was born in Mostaganem in what is today Algeria, the son of an officer of cavalry in the Chasseurs d'Afrique. He was educated at Saint-Cyr and graduated in 1876...
- January 30, 1919 – December 1920 Albert Defrance
- 1921 October 22, 1923 Maurice César Joseph Pelle
Italy:
- November 1918 – January 1919 Count Carlo Sforza
- September 1920 – October 22 1923 Marchese Eugenio Camillo Garroni
United States of America:
- November 1918, January 1919 Gabriel Bie Ravndal
March 1919 – October 22 1923
Mark Lambert BristolMark Lambert Bristol was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.-Biography:Born in Glassboro, New Jersey, Bristol graduated from the Naval Academy in 1887. During the Spanish-American War he served aboard Texas and participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba...
Resources
- Nur Bilge CRISS, "Istanbul under Allied Occupation 1918–1923", 1999 Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 9004112596 (limited preview)