Treaty of Lausanne, October,
1912.
1. INTRODUCTION.
Italy declared war on Turkey September 29,
1911, because the latter had failed to accept the Italian 24-hour
ultimatum to allow Italy to occupy Tripoli and Cyrenaica. By
formal royal decree, November 5, 1911, confirmed by an act of
Parliament, February 25, 1912, these two provinces were declared
to be under the full and entire sovereignty of the Italian
Kingdom.
2. NEGOTIATION.
Russia suggested mediation, February, 1912, but
the reply of the Marquis de San Giuliano, March 15, and the
statement of the Porte, April 23, furnished the powers no
opportunity for such action. Informal diplomatic conversations
were opened at Caux, Switzerland, in July, and later these were
continued at Ouchy. Agreement was impossible, since the Turkish
representatives insisted that any action on the part of the
delegates must be sanctioned by their respective Parliaments.
Italy saw in this demand the familiar Turkish play for delay.
Finally an Italian ultimatum gave Turkey three days, October 12
to 15, in which to accept the Italian proposals. As Montenegro ha
declared war on Turkey, October 9, and the other States of the
Balkan League were preparing to follow, the Turkish delegates
were authorized to conclude a treaty. Terms of the protocol were
accepted on the 15th, but the final draft was signed on the 19th.
In the interim, the Ottoman Government by a firman, October 16,
granted autonomy to Tripoli and Cyrenaica and the Sultan
appointed a spiritual representative for the provinces. An irade
of the Sultan guaranteed administrative and juridical reforms for
the Aegean Islands. By royal proclamation the Italian Government
granted amnesty and guaranteed religious freedom to the two
provinces. A commission was appointed, consisting in part of
natives, to make civil regulations respecting local customs.
3. TERMS OF THE TREATY.
The final draft of the Treaty of Lausanne was signed October 18, 1912, by Pietro-Bertolini, Guido Fusinnato, and Giuseppe Volpe, plenipotentiaries for Italy, and Mehemmed Naby Bey and Roumboyoglon Fahreddin Bey, plenipotentiaries for Turkey. It provided for:
Article 1, immediate and
simultaneous cessation of hostilities.
Article 2, Turkey's immediate recall
of officers, troops, and civil functionaries from Tripoli and
Cyrenaica, this to be followed immediately by Italy's withdrawal
from the Aegean Islands (the Dodecanese). (It is to be noted,
that there is no formal recognition of any change in territorial
sovereignty and that Italy has not withdrawn from the Islands.)
Article 3, immediate exchange of
prisoners and hostages.
Article 4, mutual and full amnesty
for all hostile acts, crimes at common law excepted.
Article 5, resumption of all
treaties as before the war.
Article 6, an Italian engagement to
conclude a treaty of commerce without the
"capitulation" servitudes whenever the other powers do
so.
Article 7, an Italian engagement to
suppress Italian post offices in the Ottoman Empire whenever
other powers do so.
Article 8, the signification of
willingness on the part of Italy to lend support to the powers
for the general suppression of the "capitulations" in
the Ottoman Empire.
Article 9, a Turkish engagement to
restore dismissed subjects of Italy to their administrative
positions in the Empire without loss of retirement pension rights
and a promise by Turkey to use her influence with nongovernmental
institutions to act in a similar manner.
Article 10, an Italian pledge to pay
into the Turkish treasury an annual sum equivalent to the average
sums which for the three years previous to the war had been
allocated for the use of the public debt to the two provinces;
the amount to be determined by a commission of three -- one
Turkish, one Italian, and a third chosen by the two. In case of
failure to agree each State was to choose a power as mediator and
the two powers thus designated were to select a, chief
arbitrator. Italy was given the right to substitute for the
annuity a sum corresponding to the amount capitalized at the rate
of 4 per cent. (The commission fixed on 2,000,000 lire annually.)
4. CONCLUSION.
The vagueness of the treaty as regards the
questions at issue is taken to mean that the provisions of the
ultimatum, the acts of annexation, the proclamation of amnesty
and religious freedom, the firman and the irade had already
accomplished the settlement of these matters.
Source: Anderson, Frank Maloy and Amos Shartle Hershey, Handbook for the Diplomatic History of Europe, Asia, and Africa 1870-1914. Prepared for the National Board for Historical Service. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1918.