LORD CURZON'S SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS OF GREAT BRITAIN ON THE NEAR EAST CONFERENCE

Abstract

With the 19th century, the imperialist states entered into a great struggle to share the Ottoman Empire. The entry of the Ottoman Empire to the First World War alongside Germany was an important opportunity for Great Britain, France and Russia. These three states divided the Ottoman lands with secret agreements and later joined this sharing in Italy. The First World War brought great destruction to the Ottoman Empire and ended with defeat. Thus, the Entente States started to implement their plans to share the Ottoman lands. Sharing plans were revised at the Paris Peace Conference. However, no agreement was reached at the conference on sharing the Ottoman lands. After the conferences held in London and San Remo, a compromise was reached and the Treaty of Sevres was prepared. Great Britain is the most effective state in shaping the Treaty of Sevres. At the request of Great Britain, Greece took action to impose the Treaty of Sevres on the Turks. From time to time, the Treaty of Sèvres caused some debates in the British Parliament. The emergence of the National Struggle caused new conferences to be convened to make peace. In such cases, the Treaty of Sèvres continued to occupy the agenda in Great Britain. After the negotiations before the Great Offensive, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Lord Curzon had to defend the criticized treaty in the House of Lords.