The First Victory of Maritime Law in the Young Republic: The Lotus Case and Its International Repercussions

Abstract

The August 2, 1926 collision on the high seas between the Lotus, a French steamer, and the Bozkurt, a Turkish steamer, started first a political and then a legal process between France and Turkiye. The beginning of the Lotus Case, its trial, and then transfer to international court have been the source of much scientific research. This study benefits from the main national sources written on the subject and additionally examines how the USA and Britain, who were not parties to the process, handled the issue. Because no detailed study could be obtained from American and British sources, this article aims to read the case through the official documents and press of America and Britain and thus set a scientific example of the international perception of this important legal struggle in 1926 for the Republic of Turkiye, which had been newly established and realized its modern legal revolutions. The article examines British archival documents and news articles in many national and local newspapers as sources, especially The Times in the British press, and also benefits from the official correspondence on the subject in the American National Archive, reports submitted to the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and some prominent news articles in the American press.