the Mudanya Armistice, signed by Britain and Turkey on 11 October 1922, and received international recognition in the Treaty of Lausanne, signed 24 July 1923.

The Turkish victory in the War of Independence was not simply the thwarting of the imperialist designs of a number of European Powers. As has already been suggested, the matter must be seen in a much wider perspective: for a thousand years the Turks had been "the standard-bearers of the Islamic World" against the Christian West. The word Turk was synonymous with Islam. When they were victorious against the West, it was in the name of Islam, and when they suffered defeat, it was at Islam, which they represented, that the blows had very often been directed. And so, when the Ottomans failed to match the material progress of the West and as a result became progressively subject to it, this was interpreted by Christian Europe as being proof of the superiority of Western civilization. And it was also seen as a kind of justification for their greed, as they vied with one another over the disposal of "the sick man of Europe's" estate.

It was for British imperialism that Islam came to present the greatest obstacle. Though British efforts to conquer, subdue, and divide the Islamic world had been countered with some success by the Ottomans' caliphate policy and movement for Islamic Unity, which has been mentioned above. The revolt of the Arabs against the Ottomans during the First World War and subsequent setting up of separate Arab states was one result of Britain's sustained and intense espionage and propaganda campaign against the Ottomans.

Thus, the defeat of the Ottomans in 1918 was seen by the victors as the final triumph of the West over Islam, of Western civilization over Islamic civilization, of the cross over the crescent, It is in this light that the occupation of Istanbul should be seen, [^290] and also the extremely harsh terms of the peace treaties, which were far harsher than those imposed on the other defeated nations. [^291]

[^290]:Shaw and Shaw, History, ii, 329.

[^291]:T. Z. Tunaya, Türkiye'de Siyasal Partiler, ii, 27.

But the desire of the British and French in particular to venge themselves on their ancient foe did not stop there. Appointing officials to oversee the various ministries, the government itself was no more than a puppet, And having for many years spurred on the Christian minorities to rebel against the Ottoman state, they now proceeded to encourage them to take over all positions of authority in local government and state officialdom. This discrimination against Muslim Turks in their own country went so far