Treaty of Sèvres/Preamble

Treaty of Peace between the Allied Powers and Turkey

THE BRITISH EMPIRE, FRANCE, ITALY AND JAPAN, these Powers being described in the present Treaty as the Principal Allied Powers,

ARMENIA, BELGIUM, GREECE, THE HEDJAZ, POLAND, PORTUGAL, ROUMANIA, THE SERB-CROAT-SLOVENE STATE, and CZECHOSLOVAKIA, these Powers constituting with the Principal Powers mentioned above the Allied Powers, of the one part;

And TURKEY of the other part;

WHEREAS on the request of the Imperial Ottoman Government an Armistice was granted to Turkey on 30 October 1918, by the Principal Allied Powers in order that a Treaty of Peace might be concluded, and

Whereas the Allied Powers are equally desirous that the war in which certain among them were successively involved, directly or indirectly, against Turkey, and which originated in the declaration of war against Serbia on 28 July 1914, by the former Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Government, and in the hostilities opened by Turkey against the Allied Powers on 29 October 1914, and conducted by Germany in alliance with Turkey, should be replaced by a firm, just and durable Peace,

FOR THIS PURPOSE the High Contracting Parties have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:
 * His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, by:
 * Sir George Dixon Grahame KCVO, CB, Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty at Paris;
 * And for the Dominion of Canada, by:
 * The Honourable Sir George Halsey Perley KCMG, High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom;
 * for the Commonwealth of Australia, by:
 * The Right Honourable Andrew Fisher, High Commissioner for Australia in the United Kingdom;
 * for the Dominion of New Zealand, by:
 * Sir George Dixon Grahame KCVO, CB, Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty at Paris;
 * for the Union of South Africa, by:
 * Mr Reginald Andrew Blankenberg OBE, Acting High Commissioner for the Union of South Africa in the United Kingdom;
 * for India, by:
 * Sir Artur Hirtzel KCB, Assistant Under Secretary of State for India;
 * The President of the French Republic, by:
 * Mr Alexandre Millerand, President of the Council, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * Mr Frédéric François-Marsal, Minister of Finance;
 * Mr Auguste Paul-Louis Isaac, Minister of Commerce and Industry;
 * Mr Jules Cambon, Ambassador of France;
 * Mr George Maurice Paléologue, Ambassador of France, Secretary-General of the Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * His Majesty the King of Italy, by:
 * Count Lelio Bonin Longare, Senator of the Kingdom, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of HM the King of Italy at Paris;
 * General Giovanni Marietti, Italian Military Representative on the Supreme War Council;
 * His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, by:
 * Viscount Chinda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of HM the Emperor of Japan at London;
 * Mr K. Matsui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of HM the Emperor of Japan at Paris;
 * Armenia:
 * Mr Avetis Aharonian, President of the Delegation of the Armenian Republic;
 * His Majesty the King of the Belgians, by:
 * Mr Jules van den Heuvel, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Minister of State;
 * Mr Rolin Jaequemyns, Member of the Institute of Private International Law, Secretary-General of the Belgian Delegation;
 * His Majesty the King of the Hellenes, by:
 * Mr Eleftherios K. Venizelos, President of the Council of Ministers;
 * Mr Athos Romanos, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of HM the King of the Hellenes at Paris;
 * His Majesty the King of the Hedjaz:
 * The President of the Polish Republic, by:
 * Count Maurice Zamoyski, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Polish Republic at Paris;
 * Mr Erasme Piltz;
 * The President of the Portuguese Republic, by:
 * Dr Affonso da Costa, formerly President of the Council of Ministers;
 * His Majesty the King of Roumania, by:
 * Mr Nicolae Titulescu, Minister of Finance;
 * Prince Dimitrie Ghika, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of HM the King of Roumania at Paris;
 * His Majesty the King of the Serbs, the Croats, and the Slovenes, by:
 * Mr Nicholas P. Pachitch, formerly President of the Council of Ministers;
 * Mr Ante Trumbic, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * The President of the Czeco-Slovak Republic, by:
 * Mr Eduard Beneš, Minister for Foreign Affairs;
 * Mr Stephen Osusky, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Czecho-Slovak Republic at London;


 * Turkey:
 * General Haadi Pasha, Senator;
 * Riza Tevfik Bey, Senator;
 * Rechas Haliss Bey, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Turkey at Berne;

Who having communicated their full powers found in good and due form have agreed as follows:

From the coming into force of the present Treaty the state of war will terminate.

From that moment and subject to the provisions of this Treaty, official relations will exist between the Allied and Associated Powers and Turkey.