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The Turkish War of Indepence and Reforms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Andrija Kapetanović

Regional Centre for Talented Youth Belgrade II, Belgrade, Serbia, kapetanovicandrija@gmail.com

Introduction: allowed him complete devotion to internal affairs and implementation of
the Kemalist ideals that he envisaged. After the introduction of surnames,
The Turkish war of Independence and the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Kemal was given the surname “Atatürk“, as a sign of gratitude by the
Ataturk ilustrate one the most important chapters of Turkish history. The Turkish people.
Turkish revolutionaries, headed by Kemal Atatürk, succeeded in achieving
a military victory over the Greeks and Western expeditionary forces, thus Conclusion:
securing Turkey's independence and territorial integrity in within the
boundaries set in the Mudros ceasefire in 1918. Ataturk, encouraged by Rarely could such drastic changes be encountered in history as it was in
victories on the battlefield, assumed the leadership of the state and set on the case of Turkey in the 1920s. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a military officer,
to enact radical political, economic, social and diplomatic reforms. The decided to lead the Turkish resistance against the Entente Powers and
goal of these reforms were to convert Turkey and its society into a succeeded in securing Turksh Independence with a military victory. He
Western-style democracy, much different from its theocratic Ottoman past. then, together with his government, emabrked upon a slippery road of
radical reforms which ultimately changed the face of the Turkish state and
Methods: its society. Ataturk is celebrated as the father of the nation in modern
Turkey, which testifies to the great importance this historical figure has in
The key points of this research will be to shed light on the circumstances the lives of Turks in nowadays. All of this makes the Turkish War of
in which the Ottoman Empire found itself up until the start of the Kemalist Independence and the Reforms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk one of the most
revolution in 1919, as well as the society, economy and overall identity of interesting topics in the history of mankind, worthy of meticulous study.
this empire which dominated the Orient for a number of centuries. The
research will also focus on the causes of its downfall, its Bibliography:
underdevelopment, as well as its military defeats in the last year of the
Empire's existence. The next phase will include the depiction of the Џенгиз Хаков, Историја савремене Турске, Центар за турколошке
revolutionary struggle headed by Mustafa Kemal and how he achieved студије, Призрен, 2011
victory in the War for Independence. Finally, the research will end with an
analysis of Atatürk's reforms, the way in which they were enacted, as well Робер Мантран, група аутора, Историја Османског царства, 153 Clio,
as the great influence that it had not just on Turkish history, but on the Београд, 2002.
history of the region and, subsequently, the whole world.
Stanford J. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
Results: Volume I, 172, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1977.
Stanford J. Shaw & Ezel Kural Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and
The cause of the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, which later greatly Modern Turkey, Volume II, Cambridge University Press, 1977
influenced the events in the First World War and the Kemalist Revolution,
was the failure to modernise in time. The Ottoman did not succeed in Чедомир Попов, Од Версаја до Данцига, друго издање, Службени
creating a capitalist-style economic system which would fit the needs of лист СРЈ, 1995.
the modern world. Instead, the Ottoman state was kept in a constant
condition of undevelopment which finally resulted in the Industrial Salahi R. Sonyel, Atatürk-The founder of Modern Turkey, Turkish
Revolution not happening in the Ottoman Empire, which, in turn, caused Historical Printing House, Ankara, 1989.
the Empire to lack a modern-type of working class for that time, as was
the case of the leading European Powers. All of these factors, combined http://en.wikipedia.org (images)
with the ever-growing wishes of the West to dismantle and divide the
Ottoman Empire, each according to his own interests, contributed http://upload.wikimedia.org (images)
significantly to the harsh situation in which the Empire found itself in the
last century of its existence. After its defeat in WWI, the Ottoman Empire http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/turkey.jpg
was carved up between the Entente and Greece, each receiveing a portion
of the former territory of the Turkish state. As a reaction, a resistance
movement was founded, headed by Gazi Mustafa Kemal pasha, who
waged a bitter struggle against his enemies for 4 years (1919-1923) and,
with the enormous help of Soviet Russia (later the Soviet Union),
succeeded in gaining victory for his party. He then shifted his focus to
internal affairs which were aimed at transforming Turkey into a secular,
western-styled republic, which was much different from its past form of an
islamic theocratic government. In his reforms Kemal did not hesitate to
sometimes implement aggressive measure, due to the resistance of the
Turkish society to his reforms being immense. Mustafa Kemal banned
traditional Ottoman clothing, abolished the Sultanate, as well as the
Caliphate and carried out extensive reforms in education, culture, law and
even went on to introduce surnames, a feature that was virtually non-
existent among Turks up to that time. Kemal also initiated reconcilliation
and political cooperation on an international level, culminating in the
historical Greco-Turkish reconcilliation treaty of 1926. Mustafa Kemal
succeeded in fostering good relations with neighbouring states, which