The Last Treaty
Lausanne and the End of the First World War in the Middle East

Major new account of Europe's extended war with the Ottoman Empire through to the signing of Lausanne in 1923.

Michelle Tusan (Author)

9781009371087, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 June 2023

348 pages, 15 b/w illus. 7 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.668 kg

'The Last Treaty is a book about endings: ending of war, ending of empire, ending of hope for some. It is a pioneering work in its meticulous analysis of the entangled relationship between military conquest and humanitarianism, a relationship that not only has been ignored in the scholarship of humanitarianism in the Eastern Mediterranean, but also significantly shaped the conduct and outcome of the war.' Melanie S. Tanielian, author of The Charity of War: Famine, Humanitarian Aid, and World War I in the Middle East

In The Last Treaty, Michelle Tusan profoundly reshapes the story of how the First World War ended in the Middle East. Tracing Europe's war with the Ottoman Empire through to the signing of Lausanne, which finally ended the war in 1923, she places the decisive Allied victory over Germany in 1918 in sharp relief against the unrelenting war in the East and reassesses the military operations, humanitarian activities and diplomatic dealings that continued after the signing of Versailles in 1919. She shows how, on the Middle Eastern Front, Britain and France directed Allied war strategy against a resurgent Ottoman Empire to sustain an imperial system that favored Europe's dominance within the nascent international system. The protracted nature of the conflict and ongoing humanitarian crisis proved devastating for the civilian populations caught in its wake and increasingly questioned old certainties about a European-led imperial order and humanitarian intervention. Its consequences would transform the postwar world.

List of figures
List of maps
Acknowledgements
Note on place names and names in the text
Introduction
Part I Conflict: 1. How World War I came to the Middle East
2. The Middle Eastern Front
Part II Occupation: 3. Civilians at war
4. How war didn't end
Part III Making peace: 5. The Treaty of Sèvres
6. Humanitarian crusades
7. The Treaty of Lausanne
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW]