Blackwell Reference Online

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Also known as the Straits agreements, these were a set of secret undertakings signed on March 18, 1915, between the triple entente powers of Britain, France, and Russia which looked ahead to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (see turkey and europe ) at the end of world war i . Britain and France agreed that Russia would receive the dardanelles , part of the bosphorus , and its long-sought prize of Constantinople (Istanbul), though the city would remain a free port. In return, Russia would endorse the territorial ambitions of its allies “in the near east and elsewhere.” A year later the sykespicot agreements resulted in further plans for the apportionment of Turkish territory. In the event, the Constantinople agreements were never fulfilled, partially because of the failure of the Dardanelles campaign; nor did they achieve their broader aim of preventing Russia from concluding a separate peace. Much to Britain's embarrassment, lenin reneged on all tsarist pledges and made public what had been agreed, thus increasing atatürk's determination to defy the Allies and claim Istanbul for the new Turkish republic. ... log in or subscribe to read full text