On 14 October 1918 the armistice terminating the war was signed in the port of Mudros, in Lemnos, betweeen the Allied Powers, represented by the British Admiral Calthorpe, and the Ottoman Empire,

represented by the Minister of Marine, Husein Raouf.

The armistice bound the Ottoman Empire to demobilize its army and surrender its fleet, to ensure the Allies free passage through the Straits, to surrender to the Allies control over transport and communications as well as the right to seize points of strategic importance 'in case of disorder' and supply with food and fuel the occupation troops. It was also bound to end its relations with the Central Powers, to withdraw its troops from Syria, Yemen, Cilicia, Hejaz, Mesopotamia and Armenia.

After the signing of the armistice the Allies mobilized in order to be in a position to implement its terms. The British landed troops in Thrace and the Dardanelles, and they captured the oil-bearing Caucasus and Mesopotamia. The French landed in Cilicia and, in March 1919, the Italians in Antalya. A communal Allied occupation was established in Constantinople, an an a Allied committee exercised military and administrative control.

The Turks were deeply humiliated by the developments and the terms of the armistice that would be established as peace terms. The Sultan' s government opted for the solution of cooperation with the Allies, whereas members of the political world and personalities made representations to prevent the imminent partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The annulment of these attempts and the overall climate of humiliation and threat of extermination reinforced Turkish nationalism and the reaction initiated by the army officers against the terms of the armistice began to spread in the countryside. An opportunity for the development of Turkish resistance resulted from the defective implementation of the terms of the armistice and the conflicting allied interests. Indeed, quite soon the Allies would turn, due to competition, their lack of an understanding and the revision of their eastern policy, to cooperation with the Turkish nationalist movement.