Treaty of Alexandropol
Treaty signed by the defeated Dashnak government and Kemalist Turkey on the night of 2–3 December 1920. It reduced Armenia to a Yerevan-centred rump and was signed just as Soviet power took over, so it was never ratified but remains the starkest symbol of Armenia’s military collapse.
Account
Background
By late 1920 the First Republic of Armenia was defeated by Turkish nationalist forces, isolated diplomatically and internally exhausted. Sèvres had promised a large Armenia in August; by December Armenian negotiators faced terms that stripped the republic of most of its territory and army.
The treaty
The Treaty of Alexandropol surrendered Kars and Surmalu, renounced Sèvres, limited Armenia's army and reduced the state to a small core around Yerevan. It was signed hours before the Soviet takeover of Armenia became effective.
Legal and political meaning
Alexandropol was never ratified and was superseded by the Treaty of Moscow and Treaty of Kars. Its importance is therefore political rather than operative editorial. For Armenian memory, Alexandropol is the inverse of Sèvres: the document of near-erasure rather than promised restoration.