Wilsonian Armenia

Wilsonian Armenia refers to the boundary configuration for a proposed Armenian state drawn up by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for the Treaty of Sèvres Dadrian Vahakn N. "The History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus" - Page 356] . The Treaty of Sèvres was a peace treaty signed by some of the Allies of World War I, on 10 August 1920. However, the final treaty was not signed by the United States of America, and was never ratified by the Ottoman Empire due to internal conflict.

The proposed state incorporated Erzurum, Bitlis, and Van Provinces, which were parts of the region referred to as Ottoman Armenia (also referred to as Western Armenia). This region was extended to the north, up to the west side of Trabzon Province to provide the Democratic Republic of Armenia with an outlet to the Black Sea at the port of Trabzon.

The Turkish War of Independence forced the former wartime Allies to return to the negotiating table prior to ratification of the Treaty. The parties signed and ratified the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, which annulled the Sèvres Treaty, and also established the current borders of Turkey. This included the previously established eastern borders of Turkey as agreed by all parties by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of Alexandropol, signed on November 2 1920, the Treaty of Moscow (1921) and the Treaty of Kars, signed on October 23, 1921 and ratified in Yerevan on September 11, 1922. [ [http://groong.usc.edu/treaties/kars.html Text of the Treaty of Kars] ] , the Treaty of Lausanne confirming them.

Negotiations

During the Conference of London, David Lloyd George encouraged Wilson to accept a mandate for Anatolia, and particularly with the support of Armenian diaspora for the provinces claimed by Administration for Western Armenia. Wilson sent the King-Crane Commission and General James Harbord to the region to understand the claims of Armenian national movement, and to determine if these claims were compatible with Wilson's Fourteen Points. The 12^th 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 tackled the issue of whether there should be an Armenian state, and whether or not this state should be created under a US mandate. The King-Crane Commission came to the conclusion that there should be one. It has been noted that the arguments the Commission proposed to justify the creation of an Armenian state were quite similar to later arguments for the existence of Israel after World War II.Facts|date=April 2007 Harbord recommended against dividing the territories containing the Armenian population, in order to prevent potential problems such as intercommunal wars. Harbord's report stated that "the temptation to reprisals for past wrongs" would make it extremely difficult to maintain peace in the region.

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 anymore, and that the Armenians were "a people." The Commission therefore recommended that the hard-won Armenian independence established during the Caucasus Campaign should be respected by the international community and insured by the Allies.

Armenian arguments

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), using their position of leaders of Armenian national movement, defended that this region should not be part of the Ottoman Empire. They claimed Armenians have the capability to build a nation. Armenians had the de facto control of a region around Van Province of Ottoman Empire for nearly 3 years (1915-1918). ARF stated that it was natural to annex this region to the newly established Democratic Republic of Armenia (1918-1920), the first modern establishment of an Armenian republic, that was created after the collapse of the Russian Tsarist empire.

Another argument developed during this period was that the population was becoming increasingly more Armenian, Armenians were not a minority but a plurality, and 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.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] The Armenians already began building their houses and creating their farmlands. In 1917, the provincial governor Aram Manougian ("Aram Pasha") stated that a new autonomous state in the region should be founded, under Russia or the Ottoman Empire. Armen Garo ("Karekin Pastirmaciyan") 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 strongmen between the Ottoman Army and Armenian front. All these activities were proof that there is a national structure and it should be taken into consideration. The Armenian people have a right to have a self-governed nation in the region.

Wilson's conclusion

Woodrow Wilson agreed to transfer what will be named as "Wilsonian Armenia" to the Armenians in the Treaty of Sèvres. President Wilson’s acceptance letter (for drawing the frontier), to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 said: "The world expects of [the Armenians] that they give every encouragement and help within their power to those Turkish refugees who may desire to return to their former homes in the districts of Trebizond, Erzerum, Van, and Bitlis, remembering that these peoples, too, have suffered greatly." [President Wilson’s Acceptance letter for drawing the frontier given to the Paris Peace Conference, Washington, November 22, 1920.]

Aftermath

As the coming months had shown, King-Crane Commission had not adequately analysed the situation. Some sources even claim they did not even spend enough time. The realities of the ground were different, and they were not included in the report. Treaty of Alexandropol and then the Treaty of Kars were the first blockage to this idea and then within the following months Treaty of Sèvres put to shelf as it was superseded by Treaty of Lausanne. The Armenian national fight for "Western Armenia" being somewhat part of the newly established Turkish republic dropped from the table.

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 Armenian Revolutionary Federation, regardless of the fact that these territories are now inhabited mainly by ethnic Kurds and Turks.

ee also

*Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire

References

External links

* [http://www.wilsonforarmenia.am Armenian Cause and International Law] , Wilson for Armenia.