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Turkey and the Rise of Secularism

Modern Middle East

Fall 2002

The End of World War I and Turkey

� The Ottoman Naval Minister signed the Mudros Armistice in October 1918 ended the Turkish role in World War I.

� By this time, the Ottoman Empire was prostrate.

� The Turkish Army suffered 325,000 KIAs and another 400,000 WIAs.

� Another 250,000 were either POWs or were listed as MIAs.

� The cost of the war contributed to a crushing tax burden on the Turkish public.

The Fate of the Armenians

� The mass murder of the Armenians disrupted the Ottoman economy.

� The Armenians were Christians.

� Still they were loyal subjects.

� And industrious.

� But in the prewar period elements in Armenia sought an independent state.

� The responsibility rested with Armenian terrorists.

Who Remembers the Armenians?

� The Armenians had served in the Army and the bureaucracy.

� But Armenians also lived in Russia too.

� Only a few wanted a separate nation state.

� Starting in 1915, the Armenians were driven from their homes.

� With the men often killed.

� Over a million Armenians were murdered.

The Impact of the Armenian Genocide

� The survivors lost everything.

� Many relatives and heirs of the survivors wanted revenge against the Turks.

� An independent Armenia was created in 1918.

� Some actually wanted to make it a U.S. Mandate.

� The U.S. public was clearly pro-Armenian.

� But part of the Armenia state was absorbed into the new Turkish state.

� The rest taken by the Soviet Union.

The Impact of World War I for Turkey

� The war and conscription deprived many areas of Turkey of available men.

� Farms and villages were in a serious state of disrepair.

� Forests were deforested for fuel.

� High rates of desertion among the army.

� Armed bands of former soldiers roamed the countryside.

� Many Young Turks fled into the Caucus region in hopes of establishing a new Turkish State/Empire.

Former Young Turk Triumvirs

� Enver

� Talant

� Jemal

Legacy of World War I

� The war forced a major change for the Turks.

� Not only did the Turks eventually remove the Sultan, but managed to force the Allies to revise the Versailles Settlement.

� But also drove the French from the Anatolia.

� And in the process establish a new order in the former Ottoman Empire.

The End of the Young Turks

� The Mudros Armistice ended the Young Turk Regime.

� All the key Young Turk leaders fled from Istanbul onboard of a German warship.

� The Sultan really wanted to keep his post that he became an Ally of the Allies.

� The Sultan�s brother-in-law, Damad Ferid, began dismantling the Ottoman Army.

� The French entered Cilicia, southern Anatolia, an area ceded to France according to the Sykes-Picot Agreement.

� Likewise, the Italians wanted some too.

Aiding the Whites by Carving Up Turkey

� Under the pretext of aiding the Whites during the Russian Civil War the British and French occupied key areas in Turkey.

� Then the Turks faced the problems associated with Influenza in the winter of 1918-19.

� Greek nationalists in Istanbul began waving the Greek National Flag.

� But who would stop this slide?

� The French were so sure of themselves that the French CG entered Istanbul on a white horse, just like Mehmet the Conqueror.

War Weariness of the Turks

� The Turks had to accept the idea that they would lose territory and have to accept foreign domination for a while.

� Some even suggested that the U.S. should be given a mandate over the former Ottoman lands.

� Over all, the Turks were tired of war.

� Then the Greeks made a serious, serious mistake.

Greek Dreams of a multi-national State

� The Greek PM, Eleutherios Venizelos, wanted Smyrna given to them.

� He had dreams of re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.

� On May 25, 1919, 25,000 Greek Troops arrived on the scene.

� The Greeks who had lived in the region welcomed the Greek Troops.

� The Ottoman government did not protest the move.

� But it was this move that rekindled long dormant Turkish nationalism.

� Likewise, another move at Samsun, a Turkish Black Sea Port, would alter Turkish history forever.

Kemal�s Early Background

� Kemal was sent by the Sultan to disarm the public at Samsun and restore order.

� Earlier, he made a career in defeating the Allies at Gallipoli in 1915.

� He drove the Russians back in 1916.

� And organized the orderly withdrawal of Turks troops from Syria.

� But he opposed the Young Turks and Sultans wheeling and dealing with the Allies.

The Myth of Kemal

� Kemal did not necessary give added life to the rise of Turkish nationalism.

� There was a Turkish effort to resist the Greeks in Thrace, Armenians, and their foreign allies.

� The effort was not simply nationalist, but also Muslim.

� Kemal�s role was to energize the Turkish cause.

� Publically, Kemal resigned from the Turkish Army and convoke a national congress in Sivas in central Anatolia.

� A similar conference was held in Erzurum and became its chairman.

� The Turks at Erzurum wrote their National Pact calling for the preservation of Turkey.

The National Pact

� Preservation of Turkish Lands

� Minus the Arab Lands

� Opposition to any changes in those borders

� Formation of an elected government

� Denial of special privileges to non-Turks

� It set the stage for the Sivas Congress

Sivas Conference

� Rejected any foreign protectorate over Turkey.

� Demanded the weak central government in Istanbul resign and be replaced by an elected government.

� Which would support Turkish national interests.

� The Grand Vizer resigned.

� Which was hastened by a national telegraph operators strike.

� The Ottoman deputies did approve the National Pact, but it only antagonized the Allies who occupied Istanbul.

The Allies and The Ottomans

� The Allies occupied Istanbul.

� Restored those who would support the Sultan, who supported them.

� The Nationalists were considered Rebels.

� The Parliament was dissolved.

� And many of the deputies fled to Ankara.

� Then Kemal summoned the Grand National Council in April 1920.

� Soon the Kemalists found themselves at war with nearly everyone.

Enemies of the Nationalists

� The Sultan

� The British

� The Greeks

� The French

� The Armenians

The Provisions of the Treaty of Sevres

� The Straits would be regulated by an Allied Commission.

� Istanbul could be lost if minority rights were not respected.

� Eastern Anatolia would belong to an independent Armenia and a possibly independent Kurdistan.

� Greece would received Thrace and Smyrna.

� Italy and France would receive portions of Southwestern Anatolia.

� Arab lands would be divided between Britain and France.

� The Capitulations would be returned and expanded.

The Turk-Greek War

What Saved the Turks?

� The Russians, who too were experiencing a civil war.

� Together they crushed the Armenians.

� Kemal then slowed the Greeks in 1921.

� When the Allies would not support them, the Greeks retreated.

� Italy and France gave up claims on Anatolia.

� In 1922, the Kemalists conducted an offensive against the Greeks.

� The British then decided to cut their loses and seek a deal with Kemal.

� The Grand National Assembly then proceeded to terminate the Sultanate and became a Republic on October 29, 1923.

The Treaty of Lausanne (1923)

� The British thought they could win by diplomacy what they lost in the fighting.

� Kemal�s rep, Gen. Ismet, refused to give in.

� The Allies gave up the Capitulations and foreign occupation.

� There would be no independent Kurdistan or Armenia either.

� And there was a population exchange too.

Impact on the Turks

� The Turks were the only defeated nation that successfully challenged the victors.

� And revised the treaty system.

� The Treaty of Lausanne began the basis of modern Turkey.