Chapter 1: Defending Lausanne

The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which established Turkey’s modern borders, has long held pride of place in accounts of the country’s history. Often called the “title deed” of the Turkish republic, Lausanne even had its own national holiday, Lausanne Day, celebrated on July 24. In traditional nationalist history, the treaty was the diplomatic culmination of Turkey’s War of Independence, and the formal ratification of the sovereignty that Turkey won on the battlefield. Where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was the hero of the war, Ismet Inönü, who negotiated the treaty, became “the Hero of Lausanne.”

While the veneration of Lausanne could be exaggerated, it both reflected and reinforced an appreciation for the political independence and territorial borders that Turkey had established following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. After several centuries in which European powers had consistently chipped away at Ottoman territory, culminating in the attempted colonization of Istanbul and Anatolia, Turkey’s new leadership had good reason to be proud of their accomplishment. Most had begun their careers as military officers who feared the destruction of their state. Then, with the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, they had seen these fears briefly realized. In this light, it was not without some justification that they referred to the country’s independence struggle as the