İzmir’in İşgalinde İtalya'nın Rolü

After the end of the Italo-Turkish war of 1911-1912, Italy became more directly involved in the Ottoman affairs. The Italian intervention in the Great War following the signature of the London Pact encouraged the dream of extending the country’s influence over Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia. The port-city of İzmir, which hosted a relevant Italian community, was seen as the obvious target by Italian diplomacy which struggled successfully for the recognition of Italian claims by Great Britain and France through the St. Jean de Maurienne agreement. This essay aims to offer an updated historical account of the Italian involvement in the partition of the Ottoman Empire focusing specifically on the events which led to the 15 May 1919 Greek-led interallied occupation of İzmir and the beginning of the failure of the Italian claims for Anatolia. Through the reading of the Italian diplomatic sources as well as existing historiography on the subject, the essay attempts to evaluate the position of Izmir in the Italian expansionist plans and to reconstruct the Italian leading cadre’s perception of the occupation of the city.