IREU 301 Turkish Foreign Policy

Lecture 4

Dr. S. BARIŞ GÜLMEZURL: https://royalholloway.academia.edu/barisgulmez

Email: Baris.gulmez.2009@live.rhul.ac.uk

Lausanne Treaty•Borders: delimited today’s borders except for Mosul and Straits (Hatay as well)

•Straits: Sovereignty Indeendent committee led by Turkish representative.

•Capitulations: Dismissed•Minorities: Only non-Muslims recognized as minorities although general understanding of minority based on ethnicity, language and religion.

WHY?•Debts: The Ottoman debts splitted among successor states

Mosul•Britain desired it: Defensive barrier against Turkey (and oil).

•Turkey desired it: Included in the National pact (allegedly oil as well).

•Britain rejected the National Pact argument: Largely populated by Kurds.

•İsmet İnönü: Kurds and Turkey No different. •Kurds supported Turkish independence war. •Unsettled but... •Both sides pledged to solve it within 9 months after Lausanne.

•Şeyh Sait rebellion (1925)... Mosul to British rule (1926)...

The Straits•Two restrictions for Turkish sovereignty:•1-Demilitarization of straits (Jeopardize the security of Istanbul)

•2-Committee for Straits •Both abandoned in Montreux

•Free passsage through straits and Marmara sea•Cannot be closed by Turkey even during war •Unrestricted passage of civilian (or neutral) ships even during war

•Conditional liberty to warships: No warship bigger than Soviet ship allowed

Capitulations•bilateral agreements conferring rights and privileges in favour of European citizens who resided and/or traded in the Ottoman territories.

•First issued to Venetian and Genoese merchants•France: First state to enjoy Capitulation

•Despite the efforts of the Entente powers, Turkey managed to abolish caputilations (article 28 of Lausanne Treaty).

•In return, Turkey respected contracts with foreign firms before 1914 and kept the low tariff issued by Ottomans in 1916 (defunct after 1929 crisis).

Ottoman Debts•Ottoman war debt: £170 millions British Pounds. •Turkey only paid its share:•Turkey agreed to pay 63% of the Ottoman debts issued before 1912 and 72% issued after 1912.

•Total payment: £78 millions (84.8 millions TL)•The last instalment paid in 1954. •Public debt administration (Duyunu umumiye) lifted...

Population exchange•Exchange of Greeks and Turks to homogenize both countries.

•Greeks in Anatolia: 900.000•Turks in Greece: 400.000.•Ended peaceful coexistence of two communities. •Anatolian Greeks always segregated in the Mainland. •Exception: Greeks in Istanbul stayed (120.000) •Their rights protected under Lausanne.•Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate remained in Istanbul.•19th Century: Non-Muslims 20% of the society•20th Century: Non-Muslims 2% of the society

Significance of Lausanne Treaty

•1-Sovereign Equality (Entitled to same rights as other states)

•2-Economic Independence (Lifted Capitulations and paid the debts)

•3-Political Independence (International recognition of Turkish state)

•Unlike other treaties, Lausanne through negotiations

•The only post-WWI treaty still valid

Great Depression•WWI greatly weakened the economies of Europe.•It strengthened the US economy.•The US economy became the rock star of the 1920s.•The US produced 42% of world industrial output in 1929, while Europeans only produced 28%.

•The boom of Hollywood movie industry•The US: the world’s greatest producer and creditor after the WWI.

•Huge dependence on the US trade and credits.•Japanese silk production: 90% of exports went to the US.

Great Depression•Europeans busy with crushing Germany•The German war reparations: 132 billion Gold Marks (impossible).

•Making Germany pay without restoring its economy (counter-productive)

•Europeans wanted cash rather than a share from the German industrial production and trade.

•Europeans hence forced Germany to borrow money from the US to pay its war debt.

•Main goal: Premanently weaken Germany by rendering it financially dependent on the US money. (Eternal borrower).

•However, this made Europeans highly sensitive to a potential crisis in the US economy

Great Depression•The US gave loans to Germany and Europeans•Germany paid war reparations to Europeans •Europeans paid their debts to the US•Vicious cycle

•The US economic prosperity was not solid.•Over-production and speculation, but not enough buyers...•Credit boom in the US: People had huge sums of loans to buy cars etc...

•1929 Stock Market Crash

Great Depression•World trade fell by 60% (1929-1932)•The US exports fell by 50%.•the value of European trade decreased by more than 65%

•Britain and France tried to revive their economies by adopting a “domestic-oriented and inward-looking” economic policy

•Destroyed all hope of restoring economy and society•Old-fashion liberalism was dead.

Economic impact•Destroyed economic liberalism half a centruy.•The Gold standard was abandoned by the US, UK, Canada, Scandinavian Countries, Belgium, Netherland and France.

•Gold standard: long created stable international currency exchange.

•The UK abandoned Free Trade (centre of British economic identity) in 1931...

•National self-protection measures: import and export ceased.

•Trade barriers raised considerably...

The Soviets: Immune to the Depression

•Not part of the Capitalist world: provided immunity•Five year planning•Massive industralization: Between 1929 and 1940, the Soviet industrial production tripled.

•The Soviet manufactured 5% of the world’s products in 1929.•This increased to 18% in 1938. •No unemployment.•While Capitalism failed, Communism prospered.•Communist economic policies started to be considered as a serious alternative to Capitalism.

•Therefore: The Great Depression was not a curse but a blessing for the Soviets.

Turkey’s economic policies after the great depression•Emphasis on Statist policies investing on industrial development and domestic production (Hershlag,1954:347)

•Turkey achieved surplus in the balance of trade, but also to develop strong economic relations with two major powers of the time; the Soviet Union and Germany (Hale, 1981:72-73)

•Etatism was criticized as “either contemporary communism, fascism or both” (Hale, 1981:55)

•Ataturk rejected being categorized in any ideology.

Turkey’s economic policies after the great depression•The Great Depression made Turkey and the Soviet Union develop closer economic relations

•Turkey received considerable amount of financial support from the Soviet Union and adapted its economic plan to the Soviet 5-year industrial plans (Barlas, 1998:12-6-127)

•close economic relations with Germany•Germany aimed for rendering Turkey economically dependent on her by exporting to Turkey at the lowest prices while importing at the highest prices (Hershlag, 1954:341).

Turkey’s economic policies after the great depression•While Germany’s share in Turkish imports and exports were 14 and 13 per cent respectively in 1928, it rose to 47 and 43 per cent in 1938 (Hale, 1981:72).

•In order to avoid too much dependence on Germany, Turkey approached Britain.

•close friendship between Atatürk and Sir Percy Loraine, the British Ambassador to Ankara

•In 1936, a British Construction Company (Brassert) was given the right to build the first steel factory in Turkey, although a German company (Krupps) had offered better terms.

Political Effects of the Depression

•Democratic governments were forced to resign•military coups in Latin America became daily practice •Striking move to the political right in Europe and Japan.

•Triggered extremist political groups•85% of the members of the Nazi Party were unemployed.•Led to the establishment of aggressive regimes in two major military powers: Japan (1931) and Germany (1933)

•Forced the «invard-looking» Britain and France to appease German revisionism

•Abandonment of Collective Security principled: League of Nations useless

AppeasementWhat did the major European power do against Germany?Appeasement: «the policy of making concessions to the dictatorial powers in order to avoid conflict»Mainly France and Britain.Public pressures to achive peace at any priceThe brutality of Great DepressionFR and UK were not physically capable of deterring Germany, Japan and ItalyAppeasement based on the assumption that Hitler was a reasonable man.

Nation-state policies in the 1930s

•Revisionism: Germany, Italy, Japan, The Soviet Union

•Appeasement: France and Britain•Bandwagoning: Bulgaria and Hungary•Failed diplomacy: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania•Isolationism: The US•Realist theory confirmed...

•Exception: Turkish diplomacy (Montreux)

Unilateralism•These 5 policies led to or could not prevent

unilateral action in world politics undermining diplomacy, rule of law and the League of Nations

•Unilateral action became the common state practice to survive

•Unilateral action: arbitrary and mostly illegal action.

Forms of unilateralism

•occupation or annexation of another state territory

•militarisation of a territory although banned by a multilateral agreement

•Undermining treaty provisions•Sending troops to the aid of a dictator

Examples of unilateral actionGERMANY

•reintroduced conscription in 16 March 1935 violating the treaty of Versailles,

•remilitarised Rhineland in 1936 violating both the Versailles Treaty and Locarno treaty,

•sent 6500 troops and air support to Spanish nationalists to overthrow the Republican government in 1936

•denounced the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 18 June 1935•denounced the 10-year non-aggression treaty with Poland signed in 26 January 1934

•incorporated Austria into the German Reich in 1938 •invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland•Acquired a small territory called Memel from Lithuania in 23 March 1939 by threat.

Examples of unilateral actionITALY

•remilitarised Dodecanese islands in 1934•occupied an Ethiopian territory, the Wal Wal Oasis 80 km inside Ethiopian frontier in November 1934

•invaded entire Ethiopia in 1936•provided military assistance to General Franco in Spanish Civil War

•Undermined non-intervention agreement regarding the civil war•invaded Albania in 7 April 1939•provided financial and military assistance to terrorist groups to destabilise Yugoslavia (USTASA assasinated the king Alexander)

Examples of unilateral actionThe Soviet Union

•The Soviets saw the Nazi expansion as a primary security threat

•Joined the League of Nations•However, undermined the LoN by signing a non-aggression pact with Germany in 1939.

•Occupied Bessarabia in Romania in 28 June 1939•During the WWII: although having announced its neutrality, the Soviets invaded Northern Bukoviana, another Romanian territory

Examples of unilateral actionJapan

•denounced the 1922 Washington treaty which limited its navy

•increased the size of its military fleet to 14.000, while it should be no more than 8000

•invaded Manchuria in 1931•İnvaded China in 1937

Examples of unilateral actionHungary

•The loser of the WWI. •Lost too much land to neighbours•Bandwagoned German and Italian aggressions to reclaim the lost territories

•unilaterally repudiated the provisions of the treaty of Trianon

•occupied approximately 12.000 square km of Czechoslovakian land heavily populated by Hungarians

•occupied sub-Carpathian Ruthenia in Czechoslovakia

Unilateral acts of Appeasers•France unilaterally changed the provision of the «bases of agreement» signed with Italy (1931) (parity in ship construction)

•Britain undermined its commitments over the «Stresa front» and signed a bilateral agreement with Germany in 1935.

•Romania undermined its committments arising out of «little entente» signed in 1921 which binds Romania to come to the aid of Czechoslovakia if attacked.

•Poland invaded Zaolzie area in Czechoslovakia in 1 October 1938 right after the Munich agreement was signed, and the next day it invaded the Czechoslovakian part of Teschen region

exception•Montreux convention on international straits (1936)•Turkey concerned over Italian revisionism•Militarization of the Dodecanese•Mussolini’s speeches about reclaiming Antalya and its environment

•Turkey managed to revise the provisions of the Lausanne Treaty

•Sovereignty of the straits granted back to Turkey•Turkey’s multilateralism facilitated diplomatic success as it was seen as a blessing in the time of unilateral actions.

•The political chaos granted Turkey a «relative autonomy» in its Foreign Policy

Turkish Foreign Policy after Lausanne

•From recognition to reconstruction•Peace motto respected....•Turkey concerned over Italian revisionism..•Mussolini overly announced his will to reclaim Italy’s territories in Asia and militarize the Dodecanese...

•Turkish efforts to deter Italian through bilateral and multilateral pacts (BoP)

•Turkey feared a possible Greek and Bulgarian alliance with Italians

•Turks acted first...

Non-aggression Pacts•Series of friendship pacts...•Entente Cordiale with Greece (common frontier over the Thrace against Italians)

•Non-aggression pact with Yugoslavia and Romania..

•Balkan pact (1934): greater pact with Gr, Yugos, Ro, TR•Bulgaria: (backed by IT) territorial claims over Macedonia and Western Thrace

•Turks feared possible attack from Bulgaria...•Greece did not extend the pact to protect each other against Italian attack,

•Probably Greece expected Italian attack to Turkey but Italy attacked Greece (1940)... (Hale 2001:46)

Desire for Regional Pact

•Ultimate Turkish objective: pact with FR, UK, IT, USSR and Balkans...

•Establish a security corridor in Europe•Never happened

•France and Britain appeased•Atatürk was even ready to partner up with Soviets and Germany to deter Italy

Pacts in the East•With France over Syria (1926)•With Britain over Iraq (1926)•Sadabat Pact with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan (1937)

•Prevent further Kurdish uprising with international cooperation (Oran 2001:252)

•Provide the security of Southern and Eastern Borders

Turkey and League of Nations•Turkey left out as loser of the WWI•Approached LoN suspiciously after its Mosul decision to take it away from Turkey

•Joined the LoN in 1932 to restore relations with West..•Received Soviet approval for membership.•«The integral maintenance of the league covenant was the foundation of TFP»

•However, Turkey joined when the LoN was weakest..•Italy and Germany left, Soviets were expelled...•LoN was practically useless...

Round up•Main Significance of the Lausanne Treaty for Turkey?

•Effects of the Great Depression?

•5 common policies of nation states during the 1930s?

•Unilateralism vs Multilateralism

•How did Turkey conduct foreign policy after Lausanne?

•Through which economic policies did Turkey manage to survive the great depression?

To be continued...•Turkish Diplomacy during 1930s: Multilateralism•Montreux and Hatay in detail....

Suggested reading: ORAN 2001, Vol.1, pp.370-387.Hale 2001, 2nd Chapter ‘Resistence, reconstruction and diplomacy’, pp.41-56.