The War Alert in the Middle East in 1923: The Story of a Forgotten Crisis

This article focuses on a previously unexplored episode in the history of international relations, related to the temporary suspension of the Lausanne Conference on the Middle East in February 1923, which threatened to revive a state of war between Turkey and the Entente powers. This crisis, which unfolded at the same time as the Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr, had a significant impact on the final outcome of the peace settlement in the Middle East enshrined in the Lausanne Treaty. The aim of the article is to determine the place and role of this crisis in the process of establishing a new system of international relations after the Great War and its interconnection with other major events and processes of this period. The author consecutively analyses two phases of this crisis, the first relating to the Turkish demand for the withdrawal of the ships of the Allied Powers from its ports, and the second to the sharp aggravation of the situation on the Turkish-Syrian border. The crisis demonstrated the inability of France to defend its interests in the Middle East “single-handedly” and its forced dependence on British policy. Thus, its role in the development of international relations in the Middle East was similar to that played by the Ruhr Crisis in Europe. The paper draws on numerous sources, primarily British, French and Italian diplomatic documents.

Keywords

international relations, Middle East, Entente, Turkey, Syria, Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923, Ruhr Crisis of 1922–1923, Lausanne Treaty of 1923

Acknowledgment

The study was supported by the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational School of Lomonosov Moscow State University “Preservation of the World Cultural Heritage”.

Received

28.03.2022

Publication date

20.06.2022

Number of characters

69309

Cite

GOST	Fomin A. The “War Alert” in the Middle East in 1923: The Story of a Forgotten Crisis // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2022. – Issue 3 C. 151-171 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640017361-5-1 (circulation date: 18.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640017361-5
MLA	Fomin, Alexander "The “War Alert” in the Middle East in 1923: The Story of a Forgotten Crisis." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 3 (2022):151-171. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640017361-5
APA	Fomin A. (2022). The “War Alert” in the Middle East in 1923: The Story of a Forgotten Crisis. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (3), pp.151-171 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640017361-5

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