Plaque Commemorating the Treaty of Lausanne 1923

The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty which was negotiated at at the Chateau Ouchy on the lake-front at Lausanne in Switzerland on 24 July 1923.

It formally ended the state of war that had existed between Turkey (formally the Ottoman Empire) and the Allies of the First World War, consisting of the British Empire, French Republic, the USA, Kingdom of Italy, Empire of Japan, Kingdom of Greece, Kingdom of Romania, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State.

It was a second attempt at peace after the failed Treaty of Sèvres, which was signed by all previous parties but later rejected by the Turkish national movement led by Ataturk, who fought against the previous terms and loss of territory.

The Treaty of Lausanne ended the conflict and defined the borders of the modern Turkish state except for its border with Iraq. In the treaty, Turkey gave up all claims to the remainder of the Ottoman Empire (including Cyprus, Sudan etc) and in return the Allies recognized Turkish sovereignty within its new borders.