Sazonov–Paléologue Agreement Explained
The Sazonov–Paléologue Agreement was a 26 April 1916 letter from Russian Foreign minister Sergey Sazonov to French ambassador to Russia Maurice Paléologue regarding Western Armenia and the Anglo-French Sykes–Picot Agreement. The agreement for Russian influence over Western Armenia was given in return for Russian assent to the Sykes-Picot arrangement.[1] [2] The agreement took place on the first anniversary of the Treaty of London.[3]
Russia was allocated the vilayets of Erzurum, Trebizond, Bitlis and Van;[3] much of which was under Russian occupation at the time.[3]
Bibliography
Notes and References
- Book: Spencer Tucker. World War I: Encyclopedia. 2005. ABC-CLIO. 978-1-85109-420-2. 1142–.
- Book: The Armenian Review. 1956. Hairenik Association. The Sazonov-Paleologue agreement of April 26, 1916 between Great Britain and France and the Sykes–Picot agreement of May 16, 1916 between Great Britain and France which together made up the Anglo-Franco-Russian accord of 1916....
- Book: Edward Mead Earle. Turkey, the Great Powers, and the Bagdad Railway: A Study in Imperialism. 1923. Macmillan. 292. Accordingly, on April 26, 1916 the first anniversary of the Treaty of London with Italy France and Russia signed the secret Sazonov-Paleologue Treaty concerning their respective territorial rights in Asiatic Turkey. Russia was awarded full sovereignty over the vilayets of Trebizond, Erzerum, Bitlis, and Van a vast area of 60,000 square miles (about one and one-fifth times the size of the State of New York), containing valuable mineral and petroleum resources. This handsome prize put Russia well on the road to Constantinople and in a fair way to turn the Black Sea into a Russian lake. And at the moment the treaty was signed the armies of the Grand Duke Nicholas were actually overrunning the territory which Russia had staked out for herself.
