Transcript Ataturk and Turkish Republic

TURKEY:
ATATURK AND TURKISH
REPUBLIC
Milli & Karina
BACKGROUND

'Anatolia' under occupation after
the WWI ended, armistice was
signed

Istanbul taken over by Allied forces
and placed under their
administration

Other major cities around the
southern Mediterranean coast
under the French

Allies wanted to keep Mohammad
VI on the throne of the Ottoman
Sultan but became powerless as
power was now in the West
BACKGROUND
Turkey wanted to emerge from war
with pride and rebuild as a modern state


Ataturk- Father of the Turks (1881-1938) was a part
of the Young Turk Revolution
 Overthrow of the Sultan's autocratic power by the
Turks, limiting power to restore the Parliament
and the constitution

Served in Gallipoli campaign in WWI

Emerged as ideal candidate to lead 'modern Turkey'
OBJECTIVE

Clear foreign troops

Reverse the Treaty of Sevres

Restore authority in Anatolia
 TOS formally ended the WWI for the Ottoman
Empire in 1920
 Between the Entente (Allies), Associated
Powers (including US, Portugal, Japan and the
Ottoman Empire
ESTABLISHMENT OF MODERN TURKEY





Mustafa Kemal (1881- 1938),
later known as the ‘Ataturk’,
began his career in the military,
fighting as part of the Young
Turks revolution, later the
Gallipoli campaign
Sultanate: Ottoman system of
government
Was considered outdated and
weak by Kemal, who sought to
dismantle it.
He aimed to replace the
Sultanate with a Republic,
however most Turks had strong
loyalty to their sultan and the
sultanate system
With this in mind he was very
subtle in his tactics
MUSTAFA KEMAL AND THE REPUBLIC
1920: Establishes power in the city of Ankara
instead of the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. A
dual power exists for two years between the
two.. He sought to show that the Ottoman
empire was too dependent on the West and
lacking in legitimacy.
In January of 1920 the Ottoman Parliament
adopted a pact wherein they stated that
‘Turkey’s boundaries were the areas inhabited
by Ottoman Muslim majority’. This was
considered a highly nationalist message, and
once published, British, French and Italian
troops occupied Istanbul. This showed that
Istanbul was at the mercy of foreign
CHANGE FROM SULTANATE TO REPUBLIC
The Grand National Assembly in
Ankara presented to the people of
Turkey, and with the current
political situation in mind, the
people voted to make the
alternative seat of power
legitimate.
23 April, 1920: Grand National
Assembly makes Mustafa Kemal
president
1 November, 1922: Grand National
Assembly passes a law abolishing
the sultanate for good
29 October, 1923: Signing of Treaty
of Lausanne, Turkey is officially
proclaimed a Republic

REFORMS UNDER THE REPUBLIC

Reformism/revolutionism

Republicanism

Secularism

Nationalism

Populism

Etatism/Statism
REFORMISM/ REVOLUTIONALISM

Reformism was to reinforce state-controlled,
"orderly change"

‘Kemalism’ was seen as a paternalistic ideology
 Policy which governed the people by providing
their needs without giving rights and
responsibilities
 He 'fathered' the Turks, thinking of better life
for them
REFORMISM/ REVOLUTIONALISM
Cultural

Ataturk aimed to tie in
other Western European
nations with Turkey

Used them as models for
his progress on Turkey
 The closer to
European
neighbours, the
better the life
Political

Aimed to strengthen
state through
establishing one
ideology uniting the
citizens of Turkey
under a centralised
model
REFORMISM/ REVOLUTIONALISM

Restricted clothing
 Traditional headgear no longer worn and
women discouraged from wearing the veil
 Encouraged to dress in similarity to the
Western European style
 Politically, it successfully stopped the regional
and ethnical differences in the country
REFORMISM/ REVOLUTIONALISM

E.g. the Kurdish (Iranic) transitioned from
traditional dress to modern clothing

Helped introduced mono-ethnic, modern Turkish
culture

European calendar replaced Islamic lunar
calendar in 1926
REFORMISM/ REVOLUTIONALISM


Sunday was the 'rest' day as opposed to Friday
which was a significant shift of Western influence
for Turkey

Turkish alphabet with Latin letters replaced
Ottoman alphabet

Education was free but compulsory
Writing in similar Western style- one step closer to
the Turkish and Western European relation
 Disabled new generation to read Ottoman scriptwhich ended their past
 Qur’an translated
REFORMS UNDER THE REPUBLIC: REPUBLICANISM
October 29, 1923: Treaty of Lausanne signed, Kemal made
president, state of Republic declared.
1924: Constitution passed stating that ‘sovereignty lay with the
people, who elected a parliament, the Grand National Assembly,
which then elected the president, who chose the prime minister.’
Civil liberties, however, were still very restricted under Kemal’s
rule.
1925: One- party system of Republican People’s Party (RPP)
established, any opposition severly discouraged. Opposition
were either Rebels, or anti- Kemalists.
 Elections held every four years, by candidates were presented
by the party themselves.
1931: Press Law was adopted which gave the government the
right to close down any newspaper contradicting the ‘general
policies of the country’.
REFORMS UNDER THE REPUBLIC:
NATIONALISM
1925: Turkish Historical Society was founded. It
emphasised Turkey’s pre- Islamic history, and
reinterpreted much of Turkey’s history
1926: Mustafa Kemal’s memoirs were published,
depicting him as the one who led the nationalist
movement from the start, branding his colleagues
as incompetent
1934: ‘History of the Turkish Revolution’ became a
compulsory subject in school.
1934: the title of ‘Ataturk’ was bestowed upon
Kemal. Describes this title and himself as ‘the
immortal leader and incomparable national hero’.
SECULARISM

Islam - representation of the past and reminder of the
Ottoman Empire

Separation of the caliphate (religious authority) from
the sultanate (political authority)

3rd March 1924- Caliphate law abolished

Religious schools, ministries of religious endowments
were abolished
 Call to Prayer was read in Turkish

Kemalism- strong transition of religion from the State
to religion belonging to private sphere
POPULISM

Common interests of the nation were valued over
interests of groups or classes

Fair, as it didn't prevent/ privilege specific groups

Turkish Hearth Movment in 1932
REFORMS UNDER THE REPUBLIC:
ETATISM/ STATISM
Once of the main Kemalist ideas was that to
strengthen the state; economic planning was
introduced and the state now had the
predominant role in the economic field
 Many of the other countries at the time of the
inter- war years were taking a similar approach,
after some form of economic crisis and mass food
and resource shortages directly after the war
 The model taken on by Kemal was a mixture of
Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ and Hitler’s planned
economy, which at the time was thriving.

KEMALISM IN MORE DETAIL
Kemal’s era was defined by
nationalism,
republicanism and
secularism. Loyalty to a
Turkish identity replaced
the concept of Loyalty to
the Ottoman Ruler. The
success of Ataturk,
however, was not always
consistent.
TURKIFICATION


Ethnic minorities were
discouraged from dressing or
speaking in their traditional
way. The concept of ‘monoethnicism’ was encouraged
while ‘multi- ethnicism’ was
discouraged. This particularly
affected the Kurdish people,
derogatorily refered to as
‘Mountain Turks’
In 1925 the Kurds revolted
against the government in
protest. Under law, this lead to
a large number of rebels
excecuted. The Kurdish
Rebellion, as it is known,
resulted in 20,000
deportations under the
Ataturk.
POLICIES
EQUAL RIGHTS FROM MEN AND
WOMEN
Kemalism attempted to provide equal
benefits and treatment of men and
women
1933: 13 female judges in Turkey
1935 Elections: 17 women elected into
parliament
These numbers, however, were not
maintained, until the 21st century saw a
resurgent in the presence of women in
parliament

RELATIONS WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
Mosul
Ataturk considered the effects of adding
Mosul to Turkey
 Would increase the strength of Kurdish
ethnic minority – dangerous to the newly
developed Turkish Republic

 Signed
several treaties with
various countries in Western
Europe
BIBLIOGRAPHY





Allaboutturkey.com (2006) Ataturk’s reforms - All About
Turkey. [online] Available at:
http://www.allaboutturkey.com/reform.htm [Accessed: 22 Aug
2012].
Firstworldwar.com (2009) First World War.com - Feature
Articles - The Armistice. [online] Available at:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/armistice.htm
[Accessed: 20 Aug 2012].
Histclo.com (n.d.) World War I -- Turkey Ottoman Empire.
[online] Available at:
http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww1/cou/w1c-tur.html [Accessed:
24 Aug 2012].
Mtholyoke.edu (2011) The Turkish Revolution of 1908-9..
[online] Available at:
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/boshtml/bos126.htm
[Accessed: 22 Aug 2012].
Unknown. (2012) [online] Available at: http://sam.gov.tr/wpcontent/uploads/2012/01/TURKEY-BETWEEN-EAST-ANDWEST-Book-Review.pdf [Accessed: 22 Aug 2012].