12 - Britain, France and Italy

Summary

The conflict among the British, the French and the Italians over the spoils in the Ottoman Empire cannot be justified in any terms other than the archaic traditions of imperialism and warfare – ‘to the victor belong the spoils’. In terms of what was best for the peoples of the region, none of the European claims could be justified. Neglecting political morality, however, in terms of the ‘Allied solidarity’ they always called for, the British were constantly duplicitous, demanding support from their Allies without consideration for the Allies’ needs and wishes. In terms of honour and trust, the British refused to accept treaties and promises to the French in Iraq and to the Italians in Anatolia and the Balkans. They then complained at every step of disloyal allies.

The French often did not agree with British plans for the Ottoman Empire. As the Turkish War of Independence wore on, the French increasingly began to doubt if the Allied plans were proving successful. They argued in Allied conferences for the lessening of strictures on the Turks. Yet until the final year of the crisis, the French capitulated to Lloyd George and Curzon. Though the French might argue against the British in meetings and conferences, the treaties and accords mainly reflected the British positions. Why were the French so compliant? The reasons were practical: the French hoped for British solidarity on many proposals for the European peace treaties – German reparations, attitude toward the Russian Revolution, the settlement of Eastern Europe and Polish–German–Russian conflicts, as well as British commitment to future French security in Europe. They looked for French economic and political benefit in Europe, and they proved to be willing to compromise in the Ottoman Empire to obtain British support for French European goals. It was practical concerns, not ideological agreement, that forced the French to cooperate with the British.

Friction between France and Britain began as soon as the world war ended. The French resented that the Mudros Armistice had been negotiated solely by the British. They thereafter strived to assert French dominance in the Ottoman Empire, but they were stymied by their need for British support for French plans for Europe and the de facto British occupation of the Middle East.