proposed that Armenia should be placed under the League of
Nations; the League decided that the acceptance of mandates
did not fall within its purpose. And when , at a later date, Armenia
applied for admission to the League membership was refused
her.
Treaty of Sevres and Armenia. The Treaty of Sevres, imposed upon Turkey and signed on Aug. 20 1920, provided for the creation of an enlarged Armenian state and for the settlement of its boundaries. In Caucasia they were to be adjusted by direct agreement between the states concerned or, in failure of that method, by the Allied Powers. In Turkey they were to be defined by President Wilson as arbitrator; and the Treaty bound Turkey to accept his decision, but limited the area subject to award to the whole or parts of the vilayets of Trebizond, Erzerum, Van and Bitlis. The interests of Armenians remaining in Turkish territory were safeguarded under the Protection of Minorities clauses of the Treaty.
President Wilson's Award. The award defining the Turkish frontiers of Armenia was given by President Wilson in March 1921. It assigned to Armenia the greater part of the vilayets of Trebizond and Erzerum, and the whole of the vilayets of Bitlis and Van in all an area of about 30,000 sq. miles. The award gave the territory essential to the creation and develop- ment of a self-supporting state. It included the greater part of the eastern districts of Asia Minor containing the bulk of the Armenian population in Turkey. It provided a coastline for the state of about 150 m., and included the historic seaport of Trebizond on which north-eastern Asia Minor depends for access to the sea. And while fulfilling these conditions it brought within Armenian territory as small a proportion of Turkish Moslems as might be.
Wrecking of the Award. But however admirable in itself, President Wilson's decision took Armenia little further towards actual possession of the territory awarded under the terms of the Treaty of Sevres. The Peace Conference might assign the territory by treaty; the Turkish Government at Constantinople might accept and sign the treaty; and President Wilson might define the boundaries; but for Armenia to gain possession was another matter. It was on this difficulty a difficulty to be overcome only by use of a great military force that the fair prospect of an enlarged and independent Armenia was wrecked.
Even before the acceptance of the Treaty of Sevres by the Constantinople Government the Turkish Nationalist movement had appeared in Asia Minor. Its chief purpose was to offer armed resistance to the execution of any treaty involving the transfer of Ottoman territory to Greece and Armenia. Whether the movement originated with the discredited Young Turk leaders or was a genuine movement recognized by them as a promising means to their own restoration to power, is not clear. But the movement grew rapidly in strength. Within a year the Nationalist Government, organized at Angora, was sovereign not only in Asia Minor, but had overshadowed the Constantinople Government and become the real rulers of the whole of Turkey. And as the movement gained in strength so the old Young Turk leaders reappeared Tal'at Pasha, Enver Pasha, Kemal Pasha, and others promoting an alliance with Bolshevik Russia; urging Pan-Islamic ambitions, and apparently forming with their followers the extremist Left wing of the Nationalist move- ment. To suppress this rival Government, even had there been no secret concord between the two, was beyond the power of the Government at Constantinople. Nor were the Allied Powers in a position to enforce a treaty by a great new war involving vast expense. Still less was any single Power willing to undertake the task. Beaten and dismembered though the Ottoman Empire was, there still remained in Anatolia a reserve of strength, which, in combination with the great military difficulties presented by the country, and aided by Bolshevik Russia, was able to defy and thwart the decisions of the Peace Conference.
Greece, indeed, her own territorial gains at stake, and sup- ported by the Allies, commenced military operations against the Nationalists in May 1920; and it seemed probable that the Armenian cause might benefit. The republic of Erivan there-
fore prepared to send troops into the territory assigned her by the Treaty of Sevres, and desultory fighting occurred. Turkish strength in eastern Asia Minor, however, was too great for the small force Erivan could spare from other fronts to have any prospect of success, and no actual invasion of Turkish territory took place. Meanwhile Greek armies encountered little resist- ance and occupied a large area of western Asia Minor. These operations, however, in no way crushed the Nationalist power.
In Feb. 1921, Greece undertook yet greater operations; this time unsupported by the Allies, and in defiance of their wishes. She aimed at destroying the Nationalist forces and capturing Angora; but by the end of March her armies were driven back, and she found that an offensive on a vastly greater scale would be necessary to ensure success. To this yet more serious cam- paign she definitely committed herself in the summer of 1921.
Bolshevik Invasion of Caucasia. To complete this historical sketch, it is only necessary to glance more particularly at the unhappy events in Caucasia and south-eastern Asia Minor during 1920-1, for in this period the tragedy of the Armenian race seemed to have reached its climax.
The Bolshevik occupation of Baku, at the close of April 1920, ended the independence of the republic of Azerbaijan and established a Soviet Government in alliance with Moscow; it also brought Bolshevik forces into an area whence they could apply pressure to Georgia and Erivan. Bolshevik Russia and Nationalist Turkey were even now working together. Apart from strictly Bolshevik aims the common purpose existed of establishing direct communication between Russia, via Baku, and Nationalist Turkey. This could only be done through Erivan and Georgia by railway, or through Erivan by road; the republic of Erivan, in fact, completely barred both routes. In spite of Bolshevik propaganda in Erivan the people as a whole were strongly opposed to Bolshevism, and when in May Bolshevik forces in Azerbaijan attacked Erivan they encountered a vigorous defence, and were repulsed. Moscow now endeavoured to negotiate a treaty of alliance with Erivan, but the terms offered were too severe. They included: the right of transit through Erivan by rail for Soviet troops; the cession of the disputed districts of Karabagh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan to Bolshevik Azerbaijan; and the control of the foreign policy of Erivan by the Moscow Soviet. Erivan refused, but in July was served with an ultimatum requiring it to evacuate the three districts just named.
The isolated republic had been in desperate straits for food, fuel for its railways, munitions and clothing for its troops; but supplies of munitions and uniforms, sent from England, reached the country just before the ultimatum was presented. For allowing the passage of these vital supplies through Georgia that republic, however, had insisted on retaining 20% of everything by way of toll.
While Soviet Russia applied pressure upon Erivan from the east, Nationalist Turkey did likewise from the west. The outcome was that the republic agreed to the occupation of Karabagh, Zangezur and Nakhichevan by Bolshevik troops, thus giving direct road communication between Azerbaijan and Nationalist Turkey. With the very existence of Erivan thus threatened and conscious that the same danger hung over their own country the Georgian people might have been expected to make common cause with their Armenian neighbours. The danger, however, seemed to them less; they had open communi- cation by sea and could, they thought, await developments. They mobilized troops on their frontiers; but gave no active assistance to Erivan.
Fall of Republic of Erivan. By Sept. everything was in readi- ness for the next act in the tragedy. At the end of the month a Turkish Nationalist army suddenly attacked and captured Olti on the western frontier of Erivan. In the meantime Bolshevik forces in Azerbaijan were massed along the railway skirting the northern frontier of the unfortunate Armenian Republic. An overwhelming Turkish advance was then made along the railway upon the great fortress of Kars in the heart of Erivan. Armenian troops checked the advance for a time, and
