I'm working on a timeline where the Treaty of London is maintained. Armenia gets a big chunk of Turkey, from Alexandretta and the Taurus to the Black Sea (not including Trabzon) and bordering Kurdistan.
In this timeline, Istanbul was made a Free City, which had been on the talks for a while. Kinda like Danzig. It was supposed to be a compromise between Russia's aspirations to the city and the other countries' attempts at land-grabbing. In the end, the general consensus, influenced by Wilson's points, was that Turkey could be reasoned with (and bought, too).
Time goes on and the status of Istanbul is maintained. Bordering Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and a small portion of the northern Bosphorus belonging to Russia, the Free Straits, or "the City" as it's usually known as, is an oddity of older times, a fossile of the League of Nations (which survives to this day, albeit almost honorific in nature). Invaded twice but restituted again, it found footing with the tension between Communist Eastern Europe and the Capitalist West, being a hub for spies, bootleggers and smugglers, as well as diplomats, merchants and scientists.
Regardless of all this, I find myself a bit hard pressed believing this could work (let alone prosper) in this troubled area. What is needed for a Free Istanbul to be a reality and survive?
Thanks!
In this timeline, Istanbul was made a Free City, which had been on the talks for a while. Kinda like Danzig. It was supposed to be a compromise between Russia's aspirations to the city and the other countries' attempts at land-grabbing. In the end, the general consensus, influenced by Wilson's points, was that Turkey could be reasoned with (and bought, too).
Time goes on and the status of Istanbul is maintained. Bordering Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and a small portion of the northern Bosphorus belonging to Russia, the Free Straits, or "the City" as it's usually known as, is an oddity of older times, a fossile of the League of Nations (which survives to this day, albeit almost honorific in nature). Invaded twice but restituted again, it found footing with the tension between Communist Eastern Europe and the Capitalist West, being a hub for spies, bootleggers and smugglers, as well as diplomats, merchants and scientists.
Regardless of all this, I find myself a bit hard pressed believing this could work (let alone prosper) in this troubled area. What is needed for a Free Istanbul to be a reality and survive?
Thanks!