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Essay Subject: Life & career of 20th Cent. Turkish leader. Education, role in WWI, politics, modernization, cultural changes.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Life & career of 20th Cent. Turkish leader. Education, role in WWI, politics, modernization, cultural changes. Paper Introduction: Mustafa Kemal This paper will examine the life of Mustafa Kemal, later known as Kemal Ataturk ("Father of the Turks") . The first part of the paper will describe his life in general, including his childhood and his military record in the Balkan Wars and the First World War. The second part of the paper will examine his political ideas which led to the revolution which established him as leader of Turkey. The third part of the paper will discuss the changes he brought to Turkish society and the method in which they were brought about. Mustafa Kemal was born in 1881 in the town of Salonika in Macedonia, a Balkan provinces controlled by Turkey. His family would have been considered lower-middle class by the standards of the day: his father, Ali Riza, started as a minor clerk in a Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. One of the firststeps towards establishing the power of the people in the government wasthe formation of the People's Party in 1922; this party quickly came todominate the Assembly after the establishment of the Republic (Sherrill137). For nine months the Turkish armyunder the command of Kemal fought the British, Australian, and New Zealandtroops to a standstill; every attempt to expand the beachhead was met byTurkish counterattacks, some brilliant and others suicidal. On hearing this, he asked to berelieved of his command, as his poor health prevented him from working sucha non-stop schedule any longer. He grudgingly accepted the conceptof organized political opposition, since it was a western tradition, but hemistrusted it. Foreign words were slowly eliminated from the Turkish language andreplaced by Turkish words, many of which were entirely new words (althoughsupposedly based upon ancient Turkish roots) . A program was launched topromote Turkish visual artists and architects. Mustafa inherited his blue eyes and unusually fair featuresfrom his mother, Zubeyde, who was of a devout Muslim peasant family. The popular hero of this revolution was ayoung officer named Enver, who eventually became one of Mustafa's primaryantagonists during the First World War. This self -image was bolstered by his superior intellect inmost school subjects and by the bestowal of the second name, Kemal("perfection") , by his mathematics teacher in the military secondaryschool (Kinross 14). Butthis permission was refused by his superiors on the grounds that therecould be no waste of Turkish troops. Mustafa Kemal, by then known as Ghazi M. Gallipoli is located ona peninsula which juts out from Eastern Thrace on the European side of theDardanelles straits leading to the Black Sea. Thisprogression towards a westernized Turkey had begun in the 187 s with theadoption of a constitution, but the Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, had suspendedthe constitution in reaction to the liberal progression. 34). On October 29, 1923, Kemal proclaimed Turkey to be a Republic, withhimself as president. Mostbiographers have agreed that Mustafa's mother was one of his maininfluences throughout his life, triggering both devotion and conflict(Kinross, 1965, 9). If Turks have idolized him sincehe established the Republic it might be for good reason. At least once during his time at the War College, Kemalwas reprimanded for publishing an underground newspaper sympathetic toliberal reform. Likewise, he did not think it wise f or the Turksto enter the European war on the side of the Central Powers; he predictedthat if Germany won the war Turkey would become a German satellite, whileif Germany lost the war Turkey would be destroyed. Another result of the wars wasthe establishment of the dictatorship of the C.U.P. New York: CharlesScribner's Sons, 1934.Volkan, Vamik D., and Norman Itzkowitz. He ultimately sought not to end Islam in Turkey, but toend its political power; in western terms, he sought separate church andstate (Sherrill, 1934, 163). But his arguments fellon deaf ears and Turkey entered the war in November of 1914 (Kinross 78).Ironically, Kemal's actions as a military leader during the war wouldestablish his reputation as Turkey's savior after the war. Capitalist methodology ultimately foundno place in the Turkey of Mustafa Kemal; farmers received credit throughthe state-run bank, as did new manufacturing concerns (Froembgen 261-63).Similarly, in the government, Kemal ruled as a dictator rather than apopularly-elected president in a republic. re-establishedthe Constitution and began the modernization (or westernization) of Turkey,it clung to the Ottoman Empire. Although the republican form of government was revolutionary for anIslamic country, what probably had the most effect on the populace was theprocess which became known as "Kemalism." This was a virtual revolution inTurkish civilization, imposed by Kemal. Thus Kemal graduated andwas sent to the Staff College, which he completed in 19 5; he was thencommissioned as a captain (Kinross 24-25). Although the C.U.P. Although the YoungTurks also attempted to modernize Turkey, after the corrupt reign of theSultanate, they were sidetracked into the First World War and had themisfortune of backing the wrong side. This posting kept him away from the decisions which led Turkey intothe First World War as a German ally. This was literally a system ofmodernization which was intended to bring Turkish civilization up to thelevel of western Europe. As thecampaign wore on, he grew weak from malaria, but he continued to work withlittle sleep; he maintained a strong and tireless image in order to inspirehis troops. These two principles are, ofcourse, the very foundations for a republican form of government; Kemal hadbelieved for some time that the only way a country could survive in themodern world was to become a republic (Kinross 2 8-2 9). The language was "Turkicized," renaming placesto better reflect the Turkish heritage. As far back as 192 , he had outlined plans for a modernizingrevolution, which would be based upon two principles: the rights of thenation and the power of the people. To do this, he abolished the Caliphate, thestate religious head which had been created by the Sultanate centuriesearlier. Kemal was now the effectiveruler of Turkey, although the Grand National Assembly technically sharedpower; when Kemal dissolved the Assembly to hold new elections, he becamethe official ruler of Turkey (Kinross 265-426). Kemal Ataturk: A Biography. Kemal, gavehimself, under a special law, the surname AtatUrk, "Father Turk." Thus hemade the final transformation to that of "father" of the Turkish people(Volkan & Itzk. Mustafa Kemal was born in 1881 in the town of Salonika in Macedonia,a Balkan provinces controlled by Turkey. Although he wasvain and self-centered, autocratic in temperament and methods, and unableto give credit to others where it might have been due, the existence andform of the Turkish Republic was largely due to him. While at the War College, Kemal, along with many other young officersand trainees, became involved in the politics of Turkey at that time. As December, 1915 approached, he became convinced that theBritish were going to withdraw their troops and he began asking forpermission to launch a great offensive to destroy the Allied army. Indeed, young Mustafa came into conflictwith the clerical instructors at the school and Ali Riza pulled him out ofthe school and sent him to a private secular school, without any objectionsfrom Zubeyde. The third part of the paper willdiscuss the changes he brought to Turkish society and the method in whichthey were brought about. In this, Kemalagain utilized methods adopted by the Leninist revolution in Russia inorder to westernize Turkey. Ten days after he arrived in Istanbul hewas informed that the British had evacuated the peninsula (Brock, 1954, 87-112; Froembgen 11-35). With the end of the war with Greece, he usedhis new power and the momentum of the victory to abolish the Sultanate,officially ending the Ottoman Empire in 1922. Beginning at an early age, Mustafa felt himself to be special andunique, and he accordingly held himself apart from others his age(Froembgen, 1937, 42). Kemalism also encompassed forced cultural change. Although mostTurks, including himself, thought him to be virtually immortal, Kemalsuffered from periodic bouts of serious illness, such as the kidneyproblems which affected him as a relatively young man and the serious boutwith malaria during the Gallipoli campaign. The official end of the Caliphatesimply meant that religion no longer had any claim to the governance of thecountry (Kinross 437-4 ). From the time he was in military secondary school, Kemal had beengiven to heavy drinking. U. If there was one event which made Mustafa Kemal a hero in the eyes ofthe Turkish people it was the Gallipoli campaign. Kemal also wished toestablish new Turkish music, based not upon the Eastern music, but upon theEuropean forms of classical music (Froembgen 264-71). The Immortal Ataturk: A Psychobiography, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.----------------------- 1 This concept of"Turkishness" was also promoted in the arts. New York: Hillman-Curl,Inc., 1937.Kinross, Lord. The first part of the paper willdescribe his life in general, including his childhood and his militaryrecord in the Balkan Wars and the First World War. Although no friend of the westernEuropeans in international politics, Mustafa Kemal saw that the future ofTurkey as a powerful nation lay with a process of westernization. Ali Riza died when Mustafa was sevenyears old. Between 1918 and 1922, Kemal gradually consolidated his politicalposition, gaining further fame and power as the principal leader in thevictory over Greece in 1921. 3 2). The legend ofMustafa Kemal grew as he insisted upon exposing himself to enemy fire, onone memorable occasion he was hit by a piece of shrapnel, but it wasstopped by his watch in his breast pocket (Brock, 1954, 137-38). By the time of hisdeath, his rather poor health had forced him to relinquish most of hispower in the government, a state of affairs which probably had an effect onhis will to live (Volkan & Itzk. Kemal was unable to return from North Africabefore the First Balkan War was over; when he did return, he found that hismother and sister had been driven out of Salonika as refugees, forMacedonia had broken away from the Empire. As a result of his "exile," Kemal tried to distance himself frompolitics and concentrate on military matters. and was only a smallplayer in the 19 8 revolution. While he strove to westernizethe government, he utilized traditional eastern methods of overridingconsent through the force of authority. 331-333). triumvirate, whichincluded Enver as its most powerful member. P.) ,also known as the "Young Turks." Kemal had been a part of a parallelreform group which had been absorbed into the C.U.P. Kemal was again "exiled" to apost far from Constantinople, this time as a minister in Sofia (Kinross 49-7 ). Mustafa Kemal This paper will examine the life of Mustafa Kemal, later known asKemal Ataturk ("Father of the Turks") . Even as a young officer, Kemal hadenvisioned a westernized Turkey which would be the equal of the Europeanpowers. His primary opponent, Enver, was forced to flee Turkey with the armistice,to avoid being captured by the Allies. New York:Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1954.Froembgen, Hanns. Works CitedBrock, Ray. The second part of thepaper will examine his political ideas which led to the revolution whichestablished him as leader of Turkey. Kemal had criticized the growinginfluence of the Germans in Turkey, arguing that the Germans sought to makeTurkey a German puppet. In 1934, a law waspassed which required all Turks to acquire a surname, an unknown practicebefore that time. His criticisms became so vocal that the government sent him away toTripoli, where the Italians were attempting to wrest control of parts ofNorth Africa from the Ottoman Empire (Kinross 34-41). Foreign-run schools were closedand others were forced to utilize larger numbers of Turkish teachers.Religious ceremonies were to be conducted in Turkish, rather than Arabic.The Turkish language was given an alphabet based upon the Latin alphabetand huge publicity campaign was launched to instruct the population in itsuse. His punishment was rather lenient because these activitiesnever interfered with his formal studies and because much of the collegeadministration was also sympathetic to reform. Rumors spread throughout Turkey of Kemal's exploits at Gallipoli; hisreputation was enhanced at the end of the war when he commanded a Turkisharmy in Syria and prevented the British and Arab forces from advancing intothe Turkish homeland. After hegraduated from the military secondary school, he immediately went to theWar College in Constantinople, where he began his formal officer training(Kinross 1 -18). New York: William Morrow & Co., 1965.Sherrill, Charles H. The proclamation of the Republic was part of Kemal's plan tomodernize Turkey along Western ideals. The war, however, had brought a halt tothese efforts, since the primary sponsor of the programs had been Germany.Under Kemal, however, industrialization was only to be brought up tocertain point; Kemal thought that the heart of Turkey was the richAnatolian grain district. His family would have beenconsidered lower-middle class by the standards of the day: his father, AliRiza, started as a minor clerk in a Turkish government office and laterattempted, unsuccessfully, to establish himself as an independentbusinessman in the lumber trade. This was revolutionary in more ways than just one,for a republican form of government went against the tradition of Islam.Kemal was entirely aware of this and he ultimately intended to break thecontrol Islam held over the Turkish state. In 19 8, the Sultan was forced to share power with, and wasultimately overthrown by, the Committee of Union and Progress (C. But he could not stay awayfrom politics for very long because the government's policies had led toopen fighting in the Balkans. A Year's Embassy to Mustafa Kemal. Atthe turn of the century, the Ottoman Empire was in a precipitous decline,ruled by a corrupt Sultan and virtually subjugated by the European powerswho had been forced to bow before Ottoman might several centuries earlier.many, including Kemal, felt that the Turks should adopt the Western ways ofEurope in order to prevent the final destruction of Turkey. At the same time, some have suggested that Mustafaspent his life trying to reconcile the idealized image of his father as anindependent and adventurous businessman with the reality of his father'sultimate business failure (Volkan & Itzkowitz, 1984, 26). Ataturk: A Biography of Mustafa Kemal, Father of Modern Turkey. It was not until his motheracquiesced to his own wishes and sent him to a military secondary schoolthat Mustafa finally found contentment in his education. Ghost on Horseback: The Incredible Ataturk. In conclusion, it must be said that Ghazi Mustafa Kemal AtatUrk'simpact on modern turkey was tremendous. By the late 193 s, he wassuffering from cirrhosis of the liver, a probable result of his drinking;on November 1 , 1938 the disease finally killed him. At the time of the armistice in October of 1918, hehad never been defeated in battle and his name was known throughout Turkey. Kemal had been given commandof a newly forming army located in the area in March of 1915; in April, theBritish landed strong forces on the peninsula in an attempt to eventuallyopen the straits to Allied shipping. Infact, his methods of agrarian and industrial reform resembled nothing morethan Marxism, or even Stalinism. A strong agricultural sector would ensure selfsufficiencyin food and less reliance upon imports (Froembgen 26 -61). Although he intended to bring Turkey up to the levels of westernEuropean civilization, the methods he used were distinctly non-western. Thus Turkey was to be primarily an agrarianstate and modernization of the transportation system was intended toprimarily serve agricultural interests. The rights of the nation would beachieved through the formation of a new government; this new governmentwould be based upon the power of the people. Agriculture itself was to bemodernized, taking advantage of all the latest innovations in order toincrease output. He proclaimed himself to be abeliever in Islam, but a "rational believer." He was opposed to religiousfanaticism because it was backward-looking and went against modern ideas(Kinross 437-38). Reformers weredriven underground and discussions concerning liberal politics had to takeplace in secrecy. After the death of his father, Mustafa was sent to variousschools, lasting long at none of them. Ultimately, he ruled the country as he had commanded hismilitary units (Kinross 333-34). He has been described as having formulating aninflated self-concept of himself as a defense against the deprivations andtrauma he suffered as a child. He compromised with his wifeby sending Mustafa to a Muslim school, knowing that his strong-willed sonwould not last very long there. This trait increased in intensity as he grewolder and his ability to hold his liquor was legendary. Kemal, on the other hand, gradually cameto view the Empire as obsolete and even harmful to the interests of Turkey. Thus he was somewhat of a "loner," makingfew friends and participating little in the games of other youths (Volkan &Itzk. Zubeyde wished her son to be educated in a traditional Muslim school;Ali Riza wished for Mustafa to be given a Western school; Ali Riza wishedfor Mustafa to be given a Western education. Although the move created some concern in other Easterncountries, which had seen Turkey as an Islamic state, most Turks feltlittle or no effect since the practical power of the Caliphate had endedwhen the Sultanate had been abolished. Some of this had started before the First WorldWar with the Young Turks, such as the modernization of transportation andincreasing industrialization. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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