Under the Treaty of Sevres Turkey was left in possession of only one- fourth of her total area and within these areas also so many limitations were imposed on the sovereignty of Turkey that she was virtually reduced to the position of a veritable colony.
She was not permitted any military, judicial, economic or financial independence. Though the terms of the treaty were quite humiliating, the Sultan and his Grand Vazier believed that the only hope for salvation of Turkey lay in strict compliance with these terms.
As Mustafa Kamal Pasha was quite unhappy with the terms of Treaty of Sevres, he assembled his Turkish followers and decided to oppose the Allies. He launched struggle in remote Anatolian highlands and set up an independent government at Angora and thus restricted the authority of the Sultan to the areas around his capital.
In 1920 he commanded his armies and freed Smyrna from the Greeks. In 1921 he occupied western Anatolia. These victories provided a great boost to his prestige and greatly contributed to the revival of Turkish national spirit.
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Kamal Pasha also won a series of victories against France, Italy and Britain. In 1920 he defeated the French forces in the vicinity of Adana. He occupied the hinterland of the Gulf of Izmir after British occupation forces withdrew from the area.
He also succeeded in getting back those areas of Turkish empire evacuated which fell within its border through negotiations with the French and the Italians. He then waged war against the Greeks and liberated Izmir on 9 September 1922.
At the Mudanya Conference, which took place in October 1922, Kamal Ateturk, recovered Thrace from the Greeks without any bloodshed and even the Allies agreed to evacuate Istanbul and Straits. Thus he succeeded in achieving the goals of national integrity and independence and virtually tore up the Treaty of Serves.
After the Turks tore up the Treaty of Sevres the Allies began to treat them with great respect and offered them a new treaty which was signed at Laussane on 24 July 1923.
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As a result of this treaty Turkey regained all the territories in Europe and Asia Minor which she held in 1914. The other restrictions of extra-territoriality etc. were also removed.
In 1923 Turkey concluded an agreement with Greece which provided for compulsory exchange of population between the two countries. However, the Greeks of Constantinople and the Turks of Western Thrace were exempted from the arrangement.