Mustafa Kemal Ataturk: A Force to Reckon with Even Today - Coursework Example

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk- A Force to Reckon With Even Today Introduction Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881- 1938) was the founder of modern Turkey and also its first president. He was a visionary, a revolutionary statesman, who rewrote the history of Turkey and turned it into the modern republic that we see today. An extremely capable war officer, he remained the only undefeated commander of the Ottoman Turks during the World War I. After the Ottoman rule was abolished, he led the Turkish war of independence, and on gaining provincial establishment in Ankara he also defeated the allied forces. As Tavernise frames it “A brilliant military strategist, he led the Turkish uprising against occupying European powers at the end of World War I, driving them from the land they had seized from the dying Ottoman Empire. He was also a statesman, imposing a radical secular revolution on a poor, devout country. He changed the language, dress and even the cultural habits of his compatriots, severing ties with the Muslim world” (Tavernise, In Complex Times, Turkey Seeks a Reassuring Face). Once Turkey was free and Ataturk became the president, he set about to bring reforms, in the social, economic and political arena. A believer in the Enlightenment Theory he gave a new look to his country, a look that was secular, democratic and very modern. Muatafa Kemal Ataturk is venerated in Turkey even today. Even 72 years after his death he is still revered, with Turkey and his name almost becoming synonymous. This article will take a look at his life and times, his accession to power, his principles known as Kemalism that shaped the modern day Turkey and his impact on the social, economic and political fabric of Turkey. Body Early life of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born in May 1881 in Salonika, Macedonia, which was then under the Ottoman rule. His father was an Albanian, while his mother a deeply religious Macedonian Muslim. His mother right from his childhood tried to influence his religious leanings towards being a devout Muslim but Kemal refused to traverse that path. Instead he chose to remain secular and managed to convince his parents to allow him to go for a military education. He joined the army high school in1893 and later graduated from the army academy in 1905. Military career: After his graduation in 1905 Kemal was stationed as a lieutenant in Damascus. While serving in the army like the young Turks of that time, he too joined a secret band of reformist army officers. In 1907 he became the captain and was assigned to Manastir where he joined the committee of union and progress. As a member of the Young Turk Movement he was in the group that fought against the despotic ruler Sultan Abdülhamid II, who was later overthrown in a revolution by these young Turks in 1908, and military rule established. Turfan sums his military career after the establishment of the army rule, and tells us “He saw no contradiction between his military profession and his founding, joining, and propagating of various revolutionary societies in the Arabian and Macedonian provinces. Only when he perceived that factionalism based on military membership in political societies would undermine the discipline—and therefore the fighting capacity—of the armed forces did he advocate that the military disengage itself from partisan politics and from the officer corps, thus allowing it to assume an autonomous position and hence a commanding role. Unheeded, somewhat excluded, and overshadowed by higher-profile officers in the tumultuous aftermath of 1908, Atatürk devoted himself to military writing and fighting. He was active in quelling uprisings in the capital (1909) and Albania (1910), as well as in the defense of Ottoman Libya against Italy (1911–1912). It was the disastrous Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, however, that really accelerated his conversion to Turkish nationalism, not yet wholly eliminating his Ottomanism but salving his wounded Volksgeist” ( Turfan, Ataturk, Mustafa Kemal). After the World War I ended Kemal came out with full decorations of a great warrior, but his country was defeated and was faced with the prospect of losing its identity and existence in the face of the victories United Allies. It is in this precarious situation that we see the visionary tactics of Kemal, which made him the great revolutionary leader that we know and read about today. He believed in the theory that full independence of a country can never be granted; it has to be brought about by fighting for it. To achieve this complete freedom he first made the important step of centralizing all resistance by the Turkish people, and formed a united nationalist movement against the allied forces. After much resistance from the British and other allied forces and owing to a strong and decisive military and political leadership from Kemal, in July 24th 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed. On 29th October 1923, finally the war of independence came to an end and Turkey was declared a free republic. Ataturk as the president: Ataturk became the first president of the free republic of Turkey and remained in the post till his death in 1938. As a president, Ataturk continued with his modernist and reformist revolutionary ideas, which he now implemented in the political, social and economic arena of his country. This way he transformed a poverty stricken Muslim country and catapulted the previous Ottoman Empire into a nation-state that is completely secular, modern and democratic in its outlook. Ataturk’s policies were based on the fundamental theory of complete independence of a state. As Ataturk explains the meaning of complete independence he says, “Complete economic, financial, juridical, military, cultural independence and freedom in all matters. Being deprived of independence in any of these is equivalent to the nation and country being deprived of all its independence” (cited in Nonneman, 204). With this perspective in mind, Ataturk put all powers of the judiciary, legislation and economy firmly into their place. In fact to record the differences between the old Ottoman Empire and the new free Republic, Ataturk created a banner which signified the changes. This banner also known as the ‘six arrows’ formed the principles of Kemalism and were based on the ideas taken from the pragmatism and realism theories, to give rise to the ideals of nationalism, laicism and populism. These age old principles, in the hand of Ataturk, became the fundamental principles for the formation of the Free State republic of Turkey and gave a complete new dimension to the term secularism. As Tuncay tells us more on the kemalism principles “ Kemalism proper is symbolized in the six points enumerated in the Republican Peoples Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, or CHP) Statutes of 1935; these were incorporated in the constitution of 1937, which remained in effect until 1961, then only to be reformulated with slight modifications. These six principles are republicanism, statism (in economic policy), populism, laicism, nationalism, and reformism. Together they represent a kind of Jacobinism, defined by Atatürk himself as a method of utilizing political despotism in order to break down the social despotism prevalent among the traditionally minded Turkish-Muslim population, for which he blamed foremost the bigotry of the ulema” (Tuncay, Kemalism). Ataturk broke away from the old world traditions to encourage the integration of a contemporary world and fashioned it with a deep sense of nationalism, and created a sense of balance. This way he managed to implement drastic social changes without completely cutting off the past roots. His main aim was to educate the people of his country so that they could take charge of their own lives. He also wanted to free his country’s economy from all foreign dominance and make it stand on its own. Ataturk aimed to secularize politics, for which he removed the Shariat law, and brought all social institutions under the state rule. This is one step that he took to separate all government and religious affairs, and education was the first and foremost quarter where this was implicated. To foster national sovereignty Ataturk also removed the Caliphate from it former position of power. All madrasas were modernized by the state and the old form of Islamic education was completely reconstructed under the theories of pragmatism and Enlightenment. Soon it was made known to the people of Turkey that reforms in education and the aim to educate all, was even more important than the War of Independence. His aim to increase public literacy was applicable to all boys and girls alike, and all state schools were brought under a common curriculum known as ‘unification of education’. The Turkish alphabet was brought as a variant of the Latin alphabet and the Arabic script was removed. Modern methods under the supervision of the famous American educationist John Dewey were introduced, and media was asked to help to spread the importance of education at all levels of the population. All these steps brought about a revolutionary change in the social and educational level, and planted the seeds of secularism. It also heralded the end of the rule of clergy of the Ottomans. All Sufi saints were asked to close down and their dervishes were turned into museums. Ataturk encouraged the common people to break away from traditional Islamic way of dressing and to adopt the modern western wear. He discarded the Ottoman concept of segregating men and women into two different groups and focused on increasing their social interaction. Laws were made to give women equal rights in inheritance and divorce. Turkey was the forerunner amongst many countries, which gave political freedom to its women. In fact he believed that without participation of women in all social walks of life, Turkey would never gain its complete independence. His adopted daughters’ Afet Inan (a sociologist and historian) and Sabeha Gokchen (first woman combat pilot) became the idols for all Turkey women to follow. He also brought in art and sculpture in direct defiance to Islamic rules where idolatry in any form is banned. Ataturk broke away from all that was old and cumbersome, and brought in a new wave of reform that was more modern and western in their outlook. As Landau expands more on this, “in Ataturk’s vision of modernization, two basic elements were linked: political change, involving abolition of the absolutist ottoman state in favor of a democratic system with no walls between ruler and ruled; and the introduction of western type social, cultural and economic value system that would encourage individuals to develop and exercise their capacities in the economic, scientific and cultural fields” (Landau, 51). All such vigorous reforms brought in a lot of stiff opposition from the opponent politico parties and religious leaders, and a plot to assassinate him was unearthed in 1926, after which he famously proclaimed “My mortal body will turn into dust, but the Republic of Turkey will last forever". Such was the charisma and power in Ataturk’s mass appeal, that all such opposition fizzled out after some time in front of his iron will and determination to liberate Turkey from all that was old, binding and cumbersome. Ataturk supervised the first and second economic plan implementation during the 1929-33 phases. In the first plan industries that were substituted by the consumers were promoted, however after Kemal’s death and with the start of the World War II, the subsequent governments failed to implement these plans properly, leading to a fall in Turkey’s productivity during the later years. Ataturk being a visionary saw the future lay in the skies and funded in many aviation projects. Under Ataturk, the ministry of economy made plans and moved towards forming a mixed economy and private investments were encouraged. Private sectors were formed by the steel, paper, sugar and textile group of factories. Government sector was represented by the insurance companies, banks and power plants. Ataturk also promoted the cotton and automobile industry and it was under his regime that a treaty with England and France was signed signaling the move towards ‘west’. Ataturk at this time created a new social class that consisted of the industrial bourgeoisie class and a peasant class. He wanted to create an economic structure that would be close knit and under the state, to remove any foreign competition. In fact to achieve this, Istanbul a thriving foreign trade port was abandoned and it resources were moved elsewhere to other less developed parts of the country, to maintain a balance. One of the biggest achievements of Ataturk’s regime was to bring the lucrative tobacco business under state government control. Turkish railways were first started in 1927, and this mode of transportation was considered to be very important by Ataturk’s government to promote industrialization projects throughout the country. In 1931, to tackle the Great Depression, Ataturk helped to establish the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey mainly to supervise the exchange rates and in the process help private businesses to survive and function properly. By 1935, under Ataturk’s supervision Turkey was fast moving towards becoming an industrial country based on the role model of west Europe and by the time of his death it had already achieved macro and economic stability that was evident by the establishment of local banks. Ataturk’s foreign policies were based on his personal motto “peace at home and peace in the world”. The political relationship that Turkey had with other countries, under Ataturk’s regime, was based on moral, social and legal structure of the new republic. In fact, Ataturk had used his military power only during the fight for freedom and as a president he always used peaceful methods to resolve any dispute. The issue of Mosul was the first foreign affair related complication that Ataturk had to face a president. He tried to get Mosul from the British forces by way of negotiations, but failed as England was reluctant to part with the oil rich area. Through various negotiations and intervention of the United Nations, Ataturk however failed to hold onto Mosul which was finally given to Iraq. Ataturk maintained good relations with Russia in the north and also had cordial relations with President Roosevelt, England, Greece and its neighbors on the eastern side, consisting of Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Good relations amongst these Middle East countries deterred Mussolini from trying to occupy these regions. Conclusion Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was not only a great statesmen and a revolutionary leader, he was also a visionary and a nationalist leader who loved his country and changed its perspective completely. Some of his political opponents called him a dictator, which is not true. He never made any move to occupy foreign territory by military force, and with his political views he completely regenerated Turkey from an Islamic, poverty stricken country to an industrial state based on the principles of secularism, nationalism and populism. He gave equal rights to women, providing them with educational and political rights. As Elekdag defines the concept of Ataturkism and says “Ataturk’s concept was unique: it was a new secularism, a new nationalism, and a new concept of government and civilization. Ataturkism goes beyond capitalism, liberalism, conservatism, and socialism…it stands for freedom with peace and security, freedom which recognizes the dignity of the individual and the sanctity of all human life…Ataturkism respects the sacredness of all religions and believes the sanctity of religion is best served by keeping it outside politics…Ataturkism holds labor sacred. It seeks to provide workers with their just share of the national income in exchange for their toil…” (Cited in ‘Peace at home, peace in the world’, 36). A great warrior, a great leader, and above all a great reformist, he has managed to transcend all boundaries and limits of time, and stands eternally tall, even to this day, dwarfing all the divisive powers and forces that threaten to tear the world apart. Works cited Ataturk, M. In Gerd Nonneman, Analyzing Middle East foreign policies and the relationship with Europe. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print. Elekdag, S. In ‘Peace at home, peace in the world’- The Life Motto of Ataturk, father of the Modern Turkish republic. The Rotarian. Vol. 139, No. 6. ISSN 0035-838X. Illinois: Rotary International. Dec 1981. Print. Landau, J. Atatürk and the Modernization of Turkey. Colorado: BRILL, 1984. Print. Tavernise, S. In Complex Times, Turkey Seeks a Reassuring Face. The New York Times- Europe. Ankara journal. January 12 2008. Web. 24th February 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/world/europe/16ataturk.html Tunçay, M. Kemalism.  In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic Studies online. Web. 24th February 2010. http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0440 Turfan, N. Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal. .  In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic. Oxford Islamic Studies online. Web. 24th February 2010. http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0083 Read More