Reasons Of The Transmutation Of British Policy Towards Turkey After World WarⅠ

In1914, after the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers and lost the war at last. The Ottoman Sultan was forced to sign the Treaty of Sevres in1920, which would humiliate the country and forfeit its sovereignty. But it was rejected by the Turkish nationalists, and the treaty was replaced in1923by the Treaty of Lausanne, Britain made a lot of concessions to Turkey in it. The reasons were complex, and Britain as the undisputed leader of the Entente and the maximum gainer, played an important role in these causes through its transmutation of policies toward Turkey. Therefore, this article aims to analyze the reasons of British policy transmutation toward Turkey, so that people can know the details of the "Turkish miracle" partly.This paper is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is the transmutation of British policy towards Turkey after World War I:it firstly introduces the international relations and the "Eastern Question" before the outbreak of World War I, which can provide background support for the specific analysis of this paper, then it describes the two treaties which were signed between the Allies and Turkey after the end of World War I, and Turkey’s national liberation movement, and points out the transmutation process of British policy towards Turkey from driving it out of Europe and carving up it to make Turkey keep Constantinople and Anatolia, which would provide the basis of historical facts for this paper. The second chapter is the restriction of British domestic factors:it analyzes the reasons of transmutation of British policy towards Turkey respectively from the British post-war decline, the differences and pressure of domestic public opinion and the diversion of India and Irish problems; The third chapter is the rise of Turkey under the leadership of Kemal:Turkey won the military, diplomatic and opinion victory successively, the national power rose dramatically and forced Britain to change its policy; The fourth chapter is the influence of international factors:Britain was in contradiction with France, Italy and the United States extensively, when Greece failed in Turkey, Britain fell into international isolation, combining with the need of keeping away the Soviet Union, Britain was forced to make concessions to Turkey. Through the analysis above, the conclusions are as follows:Britain’s decline is the root reason of evolution, the rise of Turkey is the main reason, and the struggle between the Allies is the significant reason. International relations have an important influence on a nation’s policies. The Allies different attitudes on Turkish question were their rational choices based on their own national interests at the time of the international environment. And in today’s society, nations can obtain better development only through closer cooperation.