Wilsonian Armenia

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Wilsonian Armenia according to the Treaty of Sèvres.
Map showing the boundaries of Armenia as awarded by President Wilson

Wilsonian Armenia (

Paris Peace Conference of 1919, but the Greek government of Eleftherios Venizelos
feared the precarious position of such a state, so a portion of it was instead included in the proposed state of Wilsonian Armenia.

The United States Senate rejected the mandate for Armenia in 1920. The outbreak of the

Democratic Republic of Armenia by the Soviet Army on December 2, 1920, and signed between the Soviet government in Armenia on October 23, 1921. The latter was never accepted by the overthrown Armenian government. The government of Soviet Russia separately negotiated a similar border between what it considered its territory of Armenia and Turkey in the Treaty of Moscow (1921)
.

Negotiations

See also:
Paris Peace Conference, 1919

During the

King-Crane Commission and General James Harbord to the region to study the claims made by the Armenian national movement, and to determine if these claims were compatible with Wilson's Fourteen Points
. The 12th point was:

The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

The King-Crane Commission noted that the Armenians had suffered a traumatic experience, that they couldn't trust the Ottoman Empire to respect their rights any more, and that the Armenians were "a people."

Caucasus Campaign
should be respected by the international community and insured by the Allies.

Armenian arguments

The

Russian Empire.[citation needed
]

Another argument developed during this period was that the population was becoming increasingly more Armenian, and therefore Armenians were not a minority but a plurality; moving the displaced Armenians to this area should be considered as an option. In 1917, some 150,000 Armenians relocated to the provinces of Erzurum, Bitlis, Muş, and Van.[3] The Armenians had already begun building their houses and creating their farmlands. In 1917, the provincial governor Aram Manukian stated that a new autonomous state in the region should be founded, under Russia or the Ottoman Empire. Armen Garo (Karekin Pastermajian) and other spokesmen proposed to have Armenian soldiers in Europe transfer to the Caucasus front for the protection and stability of the new establishment. Armenian soldiers began to create a protective line between the Ottoman Army and Armenian front.[citation needed]

Demographics

Armenian historian Ara Papian writes that in the 103,599 square kilometres (40,000 square miles) of territory awarded to Armenia by the Treaty of Sèvres, the pre-war population was 3,570,000, whereby Muslims formed 49 percent of the population, Armenians – 40 percent, Laz – 5 percent, Greeks – 4 percent, and others – 1 percent. Moreover, he projects that if the region had been joined to Armenia, the overall population would rise to 3 million and there would be a steady flow of Armenian repatriates to shift the demographics into the Armenians' favour.[4] After a year of being joined to Armenia, it was predicted that the overall population would rise to 3 million (large amounts of Armenians were expected to return whereas "far few" Muslims wouldn't return to the four vilayets awarded to Armenia), whereby Armenians would form 50 percent of the population, Muslims – 40 percent, Lazes – 6 percent, Greeks – 4 percent, and others – 1 percent.[1]: 37 

Diyarbekir), 120,000 (out of 300,000) from Azerbaijan and Georgia each, 50,000 (out of 180,000) from Bessarabia, Crimea, the Don, and the rest of Russia, 10,000 (out of 95,000) from the North Caucasus and Batumi, 30,000 from the Balkans, 10,000 (out of 30,000) from Egypt, the Sudan, and Ethiopia, 30,000 (out of 130,000) from Iran, and 50,000 (out of 130,000) from the United States.[5]
: 29–30 

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the King-Crane Commissions, events on the ground took their own course. President Wilson asked the United States Congress for the authority to establish a mandate for Armenia on May 24, 1920. The United States Senate rejected his request by a vote of 52 to 23 on June 1, 1920. In September 1920, the Turkish–Armenian War broke out. The First Republic of Armenia was defeated in November 1920 and signed the Treaty of Alexandropol under which it renounced the Treaty of Sèvres along with various territorial claims to "Western Armenia". The government of Armenia was subsequently overthrown. The new Armenian government signed the Treaty of Kars, which reaffirmed the previous Armenian concessions to Turkey and determined the modern-day borders between the two countries.[citation needed]

In late 1922, the various international parties negotiated the Treaty of Lausanne as a replacement for the Treaty of Sèvres. Given previous Turkish-Armenian treaties and the views of the then-current Soviet Armenian government, the issue of Armenian claims to "Western Armenia" was dropped.

Main article: Soviet territorial claims against Turkey

After

State Department backed Turkey as well, saying, as it had since 1934, that its previous support for Wilsonian Armenia had since expired.[7] The Soviet Union dropped its claims against Turkey after Stalin's death in 1953.[8]

Modern times

Today, as a continuation of the initial goal, the creation of an independent and united Armenia consisting of all territories designated as Wilsonian Armenia by the Treaty of Sèvres is a stated aim of the

Armen Sargsyan stated that "The Treaty of Sèvres even today remains an essential document for the right of the Armenian people to achieve a fair resolution of the Armenian issue" and that it is "a legal, interstate agreement which is de facto still in force".[10]

Armenian Genocide historian Vahakn Dadrian argued that, though it began as an effort to improve the lot of Armenians, the Treaty of Sèvres served mainly to compound the misfortunes of Armenians. He wrote that:"However long overdue and deserved its terms might have seemed to the Armenians, its promise of restoring to the Armenians a large chunk of historic Armenia fueled extravagant Armenian hopes and irredentist aspirations."[11] Genesis of the Sèvres Treaty also coincided with the definitive defeat of the Damat Ferit's Cabinet in Istanbul which had initiated the prosecution against the authors of the genocide. From that period on court martial proceedings slackened and gradually disappeared.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0520088047
    .
  2. ^ "The King-Crane Commission Report, August 28, 1919".
  3. ^ Hovannisian Richard G. The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Vol. II: Foreign Domination to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century. New York: St Martin's Press, and London: Macmillan, 1997
  4. JSTOR 25597337
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0520088030
    .
  6. ^ Richard G. Hovannisian The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Foreign dominion to statehood: the fifteenth century to the twentieth century. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. P. 417
  7. ^
    ISBN 9780253207739
    .
  8. ^ Ro'i, Yaacov (1974). From Encroachment to Involvement: A Documentary Study of Soviet Policy in the Middle East, 1945-1973. Transaction Publisher. pp. 106–107.
  9. ^ Armenian traditional political parties issue joint statement on Treaty of Sevres, News.am
  10. ^ President Armen Sarkissian: “The Treaty of Sèvres even today remains an essential document for the right of the Armenian people to achieve a fair resolution of the Armenian issue”, President.am
  11. ^ a b Vahakn N. Dadrian The History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus, p. 359

External links

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