The Chanak Crisis; or, how a war between Greece and Turkey led to full Canadian Sovereignty.

Since I haven't posted in a while, and no doubt suspicions are forming of my untimely death, I assure you: No! I am busy at work.

As a part of my job, I composed this short summary of the Chanak Crisis of 1922.

In 1922 Britain was poised on the brink of war. A British army detachment had occupied the former Ottoman city of Chanak. The Ottoman Empire had dissolved in 1918 at the conclusion of the First World War, and much of the coast of western Anatolia (modern Turkey) had been awarded to Greece as a war prize. The Greeks had not been satisfied and invaded the interior of Anatolia – and been routed by Ataturk’s new army. While the Greeks fled west, the Italians evacuated, leaving the British alone.

            The British government of Lloyd George decided that the Turks had to be shown a lesson. They also felt that it would be best, both for Britain and the Empire, if the Dominions joined Britain in confronting the Turks. The Canadian army reacted favourably to the news, and began to draw up plans for an army 300,000 strong to go to Turkey. However, the Canadian government demurred, deciding that it would not support the British in an armed confrontation against the Turks in Turkey.

            With a definite no from Canada, and lukewarm or non-existent support from the other Dominions, the British gave up and decided to withdraw from Chanak. War had been avoided – though not defeat, as Lloyd George’s government fell. In Ottawa, the new government of Mackenzie King survived – as it would, more or less, until 1949.

            Technologically, the crisis showed off the capability of the new communications technologies refined in the First World War. The British government was able to micro-manage its army leaders in Turkey on a scale never before seen. More positively, the rapid communication between London and the Dominion Capitals ensured that the Dominion’s reservations were made known before the crisis could escalate into a conflict. Truly, the good and bad of new technology were on display during the Crisis.

            For Canada, this was truly the country’s coming of age. For the first time, it had made a decisive move on the global stage – one that resulted in the downfall of a British government. More importantly, it forced the British to acknowledge the Dominions within the Empire as equals. Thus, the Statute of Westminster of 1931 which formally acknowledged the independence of the Dominions was a result of the Chanak Crisis.