Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne

However, the lack of Russian consent to the Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne agreement was used by the British at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference to invalidate it, a position that greatly incensed the Italian government.

An exchange of views took place as to the situation which might result for the Allied Powers at the moment of peace with respect to the Ottoman Empire.

The British and French governments added a number of conditions to the proposed Italian sphere of influence which had not been discussed between the prime ministers at the 19 April conference.

[9] Under its terms France would be allotted the Adana region, while Italy would receive the remainder of southwestern Anatolia, including İzmir (Smyrna).

In 1919, the Greek prime minister, Eleuthérios Venizélos, by obtaining the permission of the Paris Peace Conference for Greece to occupy İzmir, overrode the provisions of the agreement despite Italian opposition.

Map of the agreement, signed by Balfour in August 1917. The dotted green line in the Aegean Sea notes the Italian Islands of the Aegean , already under Italian control.
Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne; version ratified between the Allies, subject to the consent of Russia (which was never achieved), in August 1917
Six days after the meeting, the British War Cabinet approved a note to be sent to the Italians stating that they "agree conditionally" to the proposal made at the conference, whilst pointing out that the Italian contribution to the war was yet to justify it. [ 4 ] The French government sent a similar communication on 10 May. [ 5 ]