Date of Award

Fall 2007

Project Type

Thesis

Program or Major

History

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Abstract

The U.S. and Turkey signed the Lausanne Treaty in 1923 and established equal relations. In 1927, the U.S. Senate rejected this treaty. The Coolidge administration, however, ignored the Senate's rejection and activated the Treaty shortly thereafter. This study was conducted to determine why the Lausanne Treaty was rejected and how it survived. Under investigation were: the origins of the U.S. foreign policy in the Near East, the Lausanne Conference negotiations, and the American public's reaction to the Lausanne Treaty. The Lausanne Treaty was a result of a persistent U.S. Open Door foreign policy that was supported by the new Turkish government. But an important segment of the American public strenuously objected to this policy. Furthermore, the Turks' massacre of its Armenians minority population in large scales in 1914 and 1915 galvanized the American public against the Turks. Despite these factors, the Lausanne Treaty survived because the anti-Lausanne Treaty movement lost momentum due to some people's rejection of the prejudiced propaganda and a weary U.S. public turning its attention elsewhere.

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