The Convention of Saint Germain-en-Laye dated September 10, 1919 on the Abolition of Slavery in Africa and its Ratification by Türkiye in the Treaty of Lausanne
Gürsoy ŞahinThe study purposes to examine the content of the Convention of Saint Germain-en-Laye dated September 10, 1919 about Africa and slave trade, which Türkiye committed to participate and ratify as required by the Treaty of Lausanne. This contract underlined in the Lausanne Treaty is generally mentioned in the sources with the principles for preventing the slave trade. However, the convention declared that the states exercising their sovereign rights in the African territories would continue to oversee the protection of the indigenous population and inspect the improvement of their material and spiritual welfare. Again, according to the agreement, efforts would also be made to ensure the abolition of all types of slavery in particular, as well as slave trade by sea and land. Moreover, decisions were made regarding issues such as the future of Africa, water basins, commercial equality, and etc. In this way, through the Treaty of Lausanne, Türkiye was involved in the issues related to Africa and slavery, as well as became a party to the decisions taken on this issue in the international field. The basic sources of the study involve official publications, Ottoman Archive documents, and the Minutes of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye.
Afrika’da Köleliğin Kaldırılmasına Dair 10 Eylül 1919 Tarihli Saint Germain-en-Laye Sözleşmesi ve Lozan Barış Antlaşması’nda Türkiye Tarafından Onaylanması
Gürsoy ŞahinÇalışmanın amacı Lozan Barış Antlaşması gereği Türkiye’nin katılmayı ve onaylamayı taahhüt ettiği 10 Eylül 1919 tarihli, Afrika ve köle ticareti hakkındaki Saint Germain-en-Laye Sözleşmesinin içeriğini irdelemektir. Lozan Antlaşması’nda vurgu yapılan bu sözleşme, kaynaklarda genel olarak köle ticaretinin önlenmesine yönelik esaslarla anılmaktadır. Sözleşmede Afrika topraklarında egemenlik haklarını kullanan devletlerin yerli nüfusun korunmasını gözetmeye ve onların maddi ve manevi refah koşullarının iyileştirilmesini denetlemeye devam edecekleri bildirilmekteydi. Yine sözleşmeye göre özellikle köleliğin her türü ile deniz ve kara yoluyla yapılan köle ticaretinin ortadan kaldırılmasını güvence altına almak için gayret gösterilecekti. Ayrıca Afrika’nın geleceği, su havzaları, ticari eşitlik vb. hususlarla ilgili kararlar da alınmış idi. Bu şekilde Türkiye, Lozan Antlaşması’yla Afrika ve kölelikle ilgili meselelere dâhil olup, uluslararası alanda bu konuda alınmış kararlara taraf oldu. Çalışmanın kaynaklarını temel olarak resmî yayınlar, Osmanlı Arşivi belgeleri ve TBMM Zabıt Cerideleri oluşturdu.
The Republic of Türkiye was recognized politically, legally, and economically through the Treaty of Lausanne, which also established its borders. At the Lausanne Conference, negotiations were held extensively during the meetings to find solutions to the several issues that had been inherited from the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish committee resolved some issues by confirming the international contracts and agreements that had been signed during the Ottoman era. In this sense, Türkiye undertook to participate and approve the contracts and treaties listed under 14 titles in the Article 100 of the Treaty of Lausanne. One of these contracts was the Convention Revising the General Act of Berlin of 1885 and the General Act and Declaration of Brussels of 1890, signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 10, 1919.
The first of the agreements referred to in this convention was the General Act of Berlin, which dated from February 26, 1885, in which the Ottoman Empire had become a party to the issue of Africa’s future for preventing the slave trade. The Ottoman Empire had approved this contract on June 25, 1885. The second agreement the Ottoman Empire had joined as a party was the Declaration of Brussels on July 2, 1890 and again involved the issue of preventing the slave trade. The states that signed the Treaty of Lausanne also approved the General Act of Berlin and the Declaration of Brussels as well. The agreement mentioned in Article 100 was the Convention of St. Germain-en-Laye, dated September 10, 1919. Essentially, the 1885 General Act of Berlin, the 1890 General Act and Declaration of Brussels were revised through this contract to which the Ottoman Empire had not become a party.
The Treaty of Lausanne presented a perspective for solving the problems remaining from the Ottoman Empire. One of the most important indicators of this was how the 1919 Convention of St. Germain-en-Laye, which had redrafted the Berlin Contract of February 26, 1885 as well as the General Act and Declaration of Brussels of July 2, 1890 for preventing the slave trade, was placed in front of Türkiye. The Treaty of Lausanne therefore resolved the issue that the Ottoman government had not been a party to the Convention of St. Germain-en-Laye in 1919. The Treaty of Lausanne also had fundamental articles regarding the commercial future of Africa. One should also keep in mind that Türkiye showed initiative in rejecting slavery and slave trade by becoming a party to the Convention of St. Germain-en-Laye, as positioned in Article 100 of the Treaty of Lausanne.
While reconstructing the Middle East as the winners of World War I, the Allies tried to get the states that had lost the war to accept Africa’s de facto status in order to protect the bases they had established there by using the discourse of prohibiting slavery and slave trading. The Allies were very successful in this strategy. In addition, the Allies gained the opportunity to design Africa in accordance with their wishes both commercially and politically while on the other hand sharing the lands of Middle East.While Germany, having been defeated in World War I, was made to sign the Treaty of Versailles, one of the dictated articles pertained to the redrafting the 1885 Berlin Contract and 1890 General Act and Declaration of Brussels. The Convention of St. Germain-en-Laye also ensured Austria to accept the same article, as well as the mentioned article again occurring in the Treaty of Trianon that was signed with Hungary. Türkiye’s turn came next, and Türkiye was also made to accept the same principles through the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923.
