Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – Republic of Turkey
TASK 1: Read the following quote and look at the picture of Atatürk. What
do they suggest about his character and personality.
“Since his death, Atatürk has become the embodiment of Turkey and
of Turkishness. Indeed, criticism of Atatürk is unthinkable - even illegal - in
Turkey to this day. None of the other dictators on my top 10 list (not even
Mao or Stalin) have had the same lasting social, cultural or political impacts
on their subjects as Atatürk has had on his.“
WILLIAMS, Roger. Dictators of the World: Top 10 Profile: Kemal Atatürk;. In:
Http://authoritarianism.blogspot.cz/ [online]. 2006 [cit. 2013-09-29]. Dostupné z:
http://authoritarianism.blogspot.cz/2006/05/top-10-profile-kemal-atatrk.html
Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938) and the Turkish War of Independence
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Successful military commander, hero of the Gallipoli Campaign 1915
October 1918 the Ottoman Empire signed armistice
March 1919, Association for the Defence of the Rights formed in Anatolia – opposition to the demands of the
Allies
May 1919 - Greece occupied the Smyrna (Izmir) area
May 19, 1919 – Mustafa Kemal sent on an official mission to Ankara to check on the activities of the nationalists,
joinded them, became the head of the movement
January 1920 – new parliament elected – opposed to the government, demands borders based on the armistice
lines 1918
March 1920 – Allies extended the occupied area of Istanbul – the Sultan and his government agree with the
peace terms
April 1920 – Grand National Assembly met in Ankara – opposed to the Sultan, peace terms, executive council
headed by Kemal formed, new name of the state Turkey introduced – war of independence begins
August 1920 the Sultan signed the Treaty of Sevres
TASK 2: What were the terms of the Treaty of Sevres? Which country attempted to misuse the internal turmoil of
Turkey most?
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Greek army advanced towards Ankara
August 1921 Battle at Sakarya River – Greek army defeated
September 1922 Smyrna conquered and burned by the Turks
Kemal managed to reconquer the areas with the majority of Turkish population
Treaties with the Soviet Union, Italy, France – territories restored
November 1922 Sultanate abolished by the assembly – last sultan Mehmed VI left Turkey, his cousin
Abdülmecid II remained Caliph
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July 23, 1923 Treaty of Lausanne
Task 3: What are the major differences between the Treaty of Sevres and the Treaty of Lausanne?
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1 300 000 Greeks left Turkey x 400 000 Turks returned
Straights under international control until 1936
Republic of Turkey
 October 29, 1923 Republic of Turkey declared
 March 1924 Caliphate abolished – all members of the Ottoman dynasty expelled
 April 1924 Constitution, including a clause stating that Islam is the state religion (1928 removed from the
constitution – Turkey a purely secular republic)
Atatürk’s system of government
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Elected president, but ruled as an autocrat introducing one party system (till 1950), got rid of opposition (many
opponents sentenced to death)
Dealt successfully with all uprisings against his system including the three uprisings of the Kurds (1925, 1930,
1937)
The Six Fundamental Principles of Atatürk’s policy:
1. Revolution - radical reorganization of the political, social and economic systems
2. Populism – effort to mobilize popular support for his reforms, spreading the new national culture to the
countryside
3. Nationalism – glorification of the Turkish past, new curricula at schools, Turkish language promoted (all
languages were descended from the Turkish)
4. Statism – state controlled economy, nationalization of industry
- 1934 a five-year plan introduced
5. Secularism
- Secular state, religion became a private matter of the inhabitants, separated from the state
- Religious courts and schools abolished
- Secular family law
- Arabic alphabet replaced by Latin alphabet
- Gregorian calendar introduced
- Sunday replaced Friday as the weekly holiday
- Wearing of the fez abolished
- Wearing of the clerical garb outside of the places of worship forbidden
- Dervish orders abolished
6. Republicanism – creation of a republic, end of old system of government
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Foreign policy – neutrality kept even during the Second World War though there was a strong temptation to
join Germany at the beginning, finally joined the allies in February 1945
Important changes since 1945
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The army got a strong position thanks to the war (during Atatürk’s period the army was kept small and
underfinanced), surprisingly the army became the watchdog of values imposed by Atatürk, democracy
Liberal reforms – 1950 plurality of political parties
Due to the pressure of the Soviet Union Turkey seeked and obtained assistance from the USA since 1947,
became member of the NATO
Central planning slowly abolished x series of periods of inflation, unrest
1960 military coup – 1961 new constitution
1970s – economic crisis, radical groups, terrorism
1980 military coup – new constitution – presidential power increased
1984 Kurds started War of Independence x defeated, army stays in Kurdish areas (1992-1995, 2007 crossed the
borders with Iraq to destroy Kurdish bases there)
2002 Justice and Development Party won in the elections (and 2007, 2011) – Islamic background
 Prime minister Erdogan since 2003
 President Abdullah Gül since 2007 (though resigned after his first election 2007 due to the pressure of
secularist organisations)