Any visitor to Turkey will immediately notice that Ataturk is everywhere: busts in front of every school and government building, pictures (like the one at the top of the page) in every classroom, office and even store, quotes on walls and on the first page of textbooks. There is a national holiday marking the day of his death, November 10, 1938, and the whole country observes a 3-minute silence at the time of his death. Every school and government office affirms at the beginning and end of every week that they are upholding the principles of Ataturk. While the 1950's finally saw political parties other than Ataturk's, no leader could get anywhere with any major disagreement with his principles. There is a major emphasis on whether Turkey is on the right track, meaning Ataturk's track.

What Evie and I found remarkable is that our US education NEVER ONCE mentioned Mustafa Kemal Ataturk! How could we not have learned about this key historical figure? Last fall I decided I needed to know more, and I read the classic 1962 biography by Brit Patrick Kinross. Let me give you a short summary.

Brief Biography

Mustafa Kemal (the Ataturk came much later) was born in Selanik (today's Greek city of Tessaloniki) in 1881 and at that time the city was part of Macedonian provinces of the huge but declining Ottoman Empire, which stretched from the Balkans to Bagdad to Egypt.

Ataturk attended a military academy and a war college. He became a military officer of Ottoman Empire. During the first World War, he was a bright lieutenant colonel of infantry. One of his first great achievements was as a key leader of the victory against British troops in 1915, successfully defending Gallipoli and the Dardanelles straight. The allies, led by admiral Winston Churchill, wanted to open up the straights to connect to Russia and the Black Sea. The 9 months of terrible, heavy fighting saw the Turks hold off the world powers, led by a brilliant young commander. With strategic and tactical genius, Ataturk emerged a Turkish folk hero and was raised to the rank of general or "Pasha".

The aftermath of WWI saw the Ottoman Empire in shambles, with Istanbul/Constantinople occupied by the British victors. The Sultan was reduced to almost a British puppet, and the peace terms were very harsh, reducing the once proud, enourmous empire to a small piece of central Anatolia. The British, French, Italians and Greeks all claimed pieces of the empire, including large pieces of present-day Turkey. As the aftermath unfolded, Ataturk became involved in the early planning of a revolution to throw out the invaders and found a new nation. The Ottoman Empire, controlled in Istanbul, began to see him as a dangerous. Soon he left Istanbul and started his revolution campaign. He moved to the heartland of central Anatolia and started revolutionary meetings in several locations, motivating people to defend the country against French, Italian and Greek armies. At the same time he started the movement for establishment of democratic institutions. With very limited resources and at great risks, he led a popular revolution and successful War of Independence, in 1922. Much of the fighting was pushing the occupying Greek forces out of Western Anatolia, finally taking Izmir.

After the war, Ataturk established a parliament and government in Ankara, previously a small town on the central plateau. The sultanate and caliphate in Istanbul was abolished, and the Turkish Republic was established in October 29, 1923. Ataturk was of course the first president. Until his death on November 10, 1938 in Dolmabahce Palace, he ruled the country with great, almost unchecked power, instituting great changes, and successfully transforming a ruined land into a modern republic.

Reforms and Philosophies

Ataturk changed the government, but also changed the people. The nation changed in so many ways during the first years of the Republic, and continues to change today. Some of Ataturk's most important and impressive reforms include:

• Change of alphabet from Arabic to Latin letters in 1928. Implemented in a period of about a year, the entire country changed alphabet completely!

  A gold plaque in the Ataturk museum celebrating the brand new alphabet, which he helped to design and implement in 1928. Arabic alphabet would have been much more difficult for us!

  
  
• Foundation of a secular state, with a very strict separation of religion and state (in a land which had always had the two as one).
• Introduction of a new civil code, parliament and law system.
• Major advances in women's rights, including prohibition of polygamy. Women were given the vote before many other modern democracies.
• Institution of the western calendar system and introduction of Sunday as the day of rest instead of Friday.
• Dress code (the fez was forbidden and the people's dress became western)
• Introduction of family surnames (before that people had just a single name; heads of household were allowed to pick surnames, resulting in interesting names such as Tavukcuoglu, meaning "son of a chicken seller." This is when Mustafa Kemal became Ataturk, "father of the Turks".)

Ataturk's tomb in Ankara is one of the most important monuments in Turkey.

We witnessed a wreath-laying ceremony inside Ataturk's tomb

The number of Ataturk pictures and busts, in all public places, is remarkable. This in a parking lot by a post office.

Ataturk summarized his views of government in 6 principles, Republicanism, Popularism, Secularism, Reformism, Nationalism, Statism. Click here for more info. Ataturk's approach to modernizing Turkey is interesting and controversial to me and to historians, because he imposed democracy from the top down. He wanted to change the people and the nation, quickly, and he did it. Whether or not the people were ready for it, he shaped the nation and the people came around. During his life, the parliament was completely under his control, completely one-party. He was a dominating character, not really a collaborator or a listener. His biography also alludes to a less than ideal personal life, problems with women and problems with alcohol. His dominating influence has continued in recent Turkish history after his death, too. There is a conservative establishment, close to the military, which essentially has veto power on the leaders the people elect. There have been coups when the military thinks a leader is deviating too much from the "Kemalist" principles.

Ataturk really wanted a great modern nation for the people of Turkey, and felt that eventually Turks would run their own country democratically. He appreciated the everyday Turk, travelled around the nation frequently, saying that "the real master of the country is the villager," a different perspective than the Sultans, who never were seen in public! Ataturk was a man of science and reason, and was a great admirer of the West. Ataturk also believed in "Peace at Home, Peace in the World," and the Turks have made peace with other countries on all sides, managing to straddle the West and the Muslim world.

Whatever you think of him and Turkey's national obsession with him, he is undeniably one of the most interesting and accomplished world leaders in the world in the last century. It's not really exagerating to say that he single-handedly created a modern, secular, democratic nation out of a backwards, crumbled mess. He created a strong Turkish national identity and pride where there never really was one. Americans have a few heroes like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln, MLK, etc, but we don't have a national obsession like Ataturk. We've found this year interesting: seeing the results, positive and negative, of such a dominating and world-changing figure.

Following the military triumph we accomplished by bayonets, weapons and blood, we shall strive to win victories in such fields as culture, scholarship, science and economics. -Mustafa Kemal Ataturk More info from the Ataturk Library