Wilsonian Armenia
Wilsonian Armenia (Armenian: Վիլսոնյան Հայաստան) was the unimplemented boundary configuration of the First Republic of Armenia in the Treaty of Sèvres, as drawn by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's Department of State.[1]: 40–44 The Treaty of Sèvres was a peace treaty that had been drafted and signed between the Western Allied Powers and the defeated government of the Ottoman Empire in August 1920, but it was never ratified and was subsequently superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne. The proposed boundaries of Wilsonian Armenia incorporated portions of the Ottoman vilayets of Erzurum, Bitlis, Van, and Trabzon, which had Armenian populations of varying sizes. The inclusion of portions of Trabzon Vilayet was intended to provide the First Republic of Armenia with an outlet to the Black Sea at the port of Trabzon. A proposed Republic of Pontus was discussed at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, but the Greek government of Eleftherios Venizelos feared the precarious position of such a state, so a portion of it was instead included in the proposed state of Wilsonian Armenia.
The United States Senate rejected the mandate for Armenia in 1920. The outbreak of the Turkish War of Independence led to the Ottoman Empire not ratifying the Treaty of Sèvres. Later in that year, the Turkish–Armenian War broke out. Armenia was defeated and signed the Treaty of Alexandropol on November 2, 1920, renouncing its territorial integrity under the Sèvres Treaty. The Treaty of Kars was negotiated between Soviet Russia and Turkey following the annexation of the Democratic Republic of Armenia by the Soviet Army on December 2, 1920, and signed between the Soviet government in Armenia on October 23, 1921. The latter was never accepted by the overthrown Armenian government. The government of Soviet Russia separately negotiated a similar border between what it considered its territory of Armenia and Turkey in the Treaty of Moscow (1921).
Armenian arguments[edit]
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), using their position of leaders of the Armenian national movement, claimed that this region should not be part of the Ottoman Empire based on their assertion that Armenians had the capability to build a nation. Armenians had de facto control over a region surrounding the Van Province of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 3 years (1915–1918). The ARF stated that it was natural to annex this region to the newly established First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920), the first modern Armenian republic created after the collapse of the Russian Empire.
Another argument developed during this period was that the population was becoming increasingly more Armenian, and therefore Armenians were not a minority but a plurality; 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.[3] The Armenians had already begun building their houses and creating their farmlands. In 1917, the provincial governor Aram Manukian stated that a new autonomous state in the region should be founded, under Russia or the Ottoman Empire. Armen Garo (Karekin Pastermajian) 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 protective line between the Ottoman Army and Armenian front.
Demographics[edit]
Armenian historian Ara Papian writes that in the 103,599 square kilometres (40,000 square miles) of territory awarded to Armenia by the Treaty of Sèvres, the pre-war population was 3,570,000, whereby Muslims formed 49 percent of the population, Armenians – 40 percent, Laz – 5 percent, Greeks – 4 percent, and others – 1 percent. Moreover, he projects that if the region had been joined to Armenia, the overall population would rise to 3 million and there would be a steady flow of Armenian repatriates to shift the demographics into the Armenians' favour.[4] After a year of being joined to Armenia, it was predicted that the overall population would rise to 3 million (large amounts of Armenians were expected to return whereas "far few" Muslims wouldn't return to the four vilayets awarded to Armenia), whereby Armenians would form 50 percent of the population, Muslims – 40 percent, Lazes – 6 percent, Greeks – 4 percent, and others – 1 percent.[1]: 37
Avetis Aharonian, the head of the Armenian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, made the conservative estimate that 815,000 Armenians abroad would repatriate to the territories awarded to Armenia: All 295,000 refugees from the Ottoman Empire within the Caucasus, 100,000 survivors in Anatolia (mainly concentrated in Sivas, Kharput, and Diyarbekir), 120,000 (out of 300,000) from Azerbaijan and Georgia each, 50,000 (out of 180,000) from Bessarabia, Crimea, the Don, and the rest of Russia, 10,000 (out of 95,000) from the North Caucasus and Batumi, 30,000 from the Balkans, 10,000 (out of 30,000) from Egypt, the Sudan, and Ethiopia, 30,000 (out of 130,000) from Iran, and 50,000 (out of 130,000) from the United States.[5]: 29–30
Modern times[edit]
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 United States's official ending of support for the idea in 1934[7] and the fact that these territories are now inhabited mainly by ethnic Kurds and Turks. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, as well as the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party in a joint statement on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Sèvres, stated that it still needs to be implemented, and that it is the only treaty signed by Turkey and the Republic of Armenia, by the free will of the Armenian side.[9] On 10 July 2020 the President of Armenia Armen Sargsyan stated that "The Treaty of Sèvres even today remains an essential document for the right of the Armenian people to achieve a fair resolution of the Armenian issue" and that it is "a legal, interstate agreement which is de facto still in force".[10]
Armenian Genocide historian Vahakn Dadrian argued that, though it began as an effort to improve the lot of Armenians, the Treaty of Sèvres served mainly to compound the misfortunes of Armenians. He wrote that:"However long overdue and deserved its terms might have seemed to the Armenians, its promise of restoring to the Armenians a large chunk of historic Armenia fueled extravagant Armenian hopes and irredentist aspirations."[11] Genesis of the Sèvres Treaty also coincided with the definitive defeat of the Damat Ferit's Cabinet in Istanbul which had initiated the prosecution against the authors of the genocide. From that period on court martial proceedings slackened and gradually disappeared.[11]