Although the Turks favored neutrality in the conflict germinating between the Central Powers of Germany and Austria and the allied countries of England, France, and Russia, Enver Pasa, who declared himself war minister in 1914, favored cooperation with the Germans.
In the summer of 1914, Enver Pasa signed a secret peace treaty with the Germans promising naval assistance in the face of Russian aggression in the Black Sea. Two months later, the Ottoman Empire was dragged into a war. With the Arab revolts in the east and the Russians on the northern border, the Turks were surrounded by hostile forces. Atatürk's legendary defense of Gallipoli in 1915 succeeded in saving the Straits, and therefore Istanbul, from invasion. But Turkish forces were no match for Allied tanks, automatic weapons, and airplanes. On October 30, 1918, the Turks, represented by the CUP government, agreed to an armistice with England and France.
The Treaty of Sèvres was signed on August 20, 1920 by the government of Mehmet VI. Under the treaty, the Ottomans relinquished all European territories except for a small area around Istanbul. Armenia and Kurdistan gained autonomy, Greece was assigned the administration of the region around Izmir, and French and Italian troops were left to occupy portions of the rest of Anatolia. Control of Turkish finances was taken over by the Allies. But the treaty was to be short-lived.
Turkish Statehood
Spurred on by defeat and foreign occupation, nationalists established pockets of resistance called "Defense of Rights" groups. Atatürk -- who was already an active nationalist, having taken part in the CUP overthrow of 1909 -- began organizing various nationalist factions, with the twin goals of recognition of a national movement and the liberation of Anatolia from foreign occupation.
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