1. Young Turks, Committee for Union and Progress, 1908

3. Modern Revolutions in Comparative Perspective
Hannah Elias

4. Please fill in a course evaluation ASAP!

5. Week 9: The Turkish Revolutions
Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
Atatürk and Kemalism
Turkish ‘Revolution’ today?

6. (1) Turkish ‘Revolution’?
No single event or set of events associated with Turkish Revolution (e.g. storming of the Bastille, Terror)
Turkish Revolutions in the plural
Term refers to period that encompasses Young Turk rebellion of 1908, dissolution of Ottoman Empire and Turkish War of Independence,

7. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions

8. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
Ottoman Empire (including dependent territories) at outbreak of WW1 in 1914

9. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
Ottoman Empire
an extraordinary world empire, diverse in both ethnicity and religion
System of gov’t based on: hierarchy, centralisation, theocracy and tradition
Sultanate assisted by army and bureaucracy, grand vizier
Successfully govern areas that have proved contentious
Didn’t impose gov’t systems uniformly across empire, allow regional identities, protect religious minorities

10. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
End of Empire
mid-19th c.: Ottoman Empire = ‘sick man of Europe’
1875: Bankruptcy – gov’t paid back principal but never amortised – alienates Fr and Br bond holders
Increased taxes prompts rebellions, particularly among Christians
Constitution of 1876 suspended in 1878 by Sultan Abdul Hamid II who ruled like absolute monarch for next 30 years
Many national movements in multinational empire (e.g. in Balkans, Crete, Armenia); agitate more strongly for independence – changes religious composition of empire
New narrative: triumphalism, Ottomans as wagers of ‘holy war’ – strengthened Islam can unite empire? No translations, insurance
Displaced refugees from Caucasus create local tensions – massacres attract European attention.

11. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
End of Empire
Armenia: peaceful cooperation for 500 years, 1st Christian nation.
Language, literature and religion contributes to strong sense of national identity – some hopes for ‘Armenian revolution’ and independence like Greeks, Bulgarians
Centered in mountainous regions ceded to Russia – 1.3m in Russia, 1m in Ottoman Empire; minority presence in every province
Armenians – frequently placed in government, Armenian Gregorian Church
Mounting tension in 1880s – Muslim refugees from Caucasus, uneven taxes on Kurds/Armenians

12. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
Some Armenian extremists use ‘terror’ tactics:
Assassinate leader or bomb strategic target
Provoke a strong police or military response
Illicit fear/panic. Military/police use heavy-handed response that results in suffering or death of innocents
Mistreated innocents and their families then sympathise with terrorists
- A pattern of activity replicated by terrorist organisations in Near East and elsewhere to the present day

13. Mathilde Adorno, November 2015, courtesy of The Guardian - http://www

14. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
End of Empire
1890s – targeted killing of Armenian people begins at Erzerum. Homes, churches and shops wrecked, followed by massacres in villages
Sultan Abdul Hamid encourages specialist Kurdish fighters (Hamidiye) to attack Armenians – tens of thousands killed.
Damages int’l reputation of regime – European powers threaten serious consequences unless massacres stop.
In Britain – Libs and Cons united in desire to ‘protect Christian faith’

15. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
‘Unspeakable Turk’

16. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
Young Turk movement: students influenced by Western European scientism and spirit of nationalism: J.S. Mill: nation state as building block for progress, anti-tribal
Begins as secret society (later: party) Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)
Young Turk Revolution was a successful revolt by officers; July 1908: fear of infiltration triggers event in Resna, Macedonia; supported by army; leads to uprisings in Anatolia
Outcome: Sultan restores constitution of 1876, allows elections to parliament, new freedoms, fiscal reform
Most dangerous moment for regime is reform?

17. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
Second Constitutional Period, :
constitutional monarchy with Sultan
Young Turks: improve gov’t efficiency, communications, town planning, education, girl’s schools, promoted football
Post-1908: shore up popularity but not gov’t control. Too young?
1913: Coup d’etat. First in Turkish history.
Context: Balkan states attack Ottoman Empire in 1912 – waves of surrenders and refugees
power not only concentrated in legislative branch (parliament) or executive (Sultan), but also army  pattern for Modern Turkey: military coups d’état in 1960, 1971, 1980
from : almost continuous warfare ( Balkan War, WW1, War of Independence)

18. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
Second Constitutional Period, :
4 ideological currents/-isms:
Ottomanism, i.e. union of different communities around Ottoman throne
Pan-Islamism: regenerate empire on basis of Islamic practices
Pan-Turkism: union of Turkic peoples under Ottoman flag
Westernism: adopt Western practices

19. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
First World War
Considered alliance with Britain, feared partition
Sought German alliance in secret, strategic naval advantage in Bosporus – attack Russia easily
Hope: short war (!) and to broker stronger financial position with Br and Fr, to regain territory from Ru
Gallipoli: Entente make optimistic attempt to invade, unsuccessful. 250,000 Br/Fr casualties, 400,000 Turkish

20. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
Second Constitutional Period, :
March – April 1915: Armenian genocide
Armenian nationalist movement in Eastern Anatolia; Gov’t ordered ‘relocations’ (= deportations) enforced by Ottoman troops
Attacks on columns of citizens, malnutrition, disease
In the end 600, ,000 dead (some Turkish historians: 200,000; some Armenian historians: 1.5 million)
could only take place in conditions of war
genocide: some Social Darwinist rhetoric, but no Nazi-type ethno-biological racism and no industrialised extermination
Turkey claims this was inter-communal warfare, not intentional genocide
 foretaste of consequences of nationalism applied in revolution-cum-war situation in 20th century

22. (2) Causes and Course of Turkish Revolutions
War of Independence, :
October 1918: Ottoman capitulation, partition of Empire – Entente powers interfere
National independence movement led by Mustafa Kemal ( )
‘Atatürk’ (=‘Father of Turks’) in 1934; personality cult; successful General
Founder of modern Republic of Turkey, 1923
Leader of Turkish nationalist cause in aftermath of WW1, allied with Soviets from 1920

23. (3) Atatürk and Kemalism
Strategic military mind – he pushes back invading Greek army
Careful not to provoke British intervention in his affairs too early – builds up domestic position in Ankara and acquires capital up to 1922
Then advances to Istanbul – Lloyd George orders to protect, local commander makes truce
Exchange of peoples results – Turkish speaking Greeks go to Greece, Greek speaking Muslims go to Turkey

24. (3) Atatürk and Kemalism
Six pillars (‘arrows’) of Kemalism:
republicanism: representative parliamentary democracy (parliament: Grand National Assembly)
populism: siding with people  modernisation and gender equality
nationalism: rather than multinational (Ottoman) empire, rather than local or ethnic identity
Secularism: remove religion from politics
statism: state’s strong involvement in economy
reformism: adapt European modern institutions/practices to local conditions
In language: scrap Ottoman Arabo-Persian alphabet, use Latin; Turkish call to prayer
In dress: Hats and fezzes, not turbans. Clean-shaven, not beards

25. (3) Atatürk and Kemalism
Also = logo of Republican People's Party, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP)

26. (4) Turkish ‘Revolution’ today?
Recep Erdogan elected Prime Minister of Turkey in 2003.
Chairman of conservative, Islamist, neo-Ottoman Justice and Development Party (AKP). Re-elected 1 Nov 2015 with 49% of vote
Was Erdogan’s 2003 election ‘revolutionary’? Can conservatism ‘revolutionise’ a country built on revolution?

27. (4) Turkish ‘Revolution’ today?
Portrayal of Turkey in Western media during Arab Spring: looked to as a model of secular state with Islamic traditions and constitutional democracy
However – Turkey still grapples with:
Ethnic conflict, Kurdish nationalism
Weakened civil rights and freedoms (esp. minorities)
Current constitution = a product of military coup 1980
Disparity in wealth between regions: major development schemes in East
Arrest of secular officials (judges, generals) on suspicious grounds

28. (4) Turkish ‘Revolution’ today?
Major site of debate today: What is Turkish nation? Turkish nationalism?
Is it an ethnic identity, a religious identity, or a national identity?
Does one identity subsume the other?
Has a conflation of ethnic and religious identities created a hierarchy within citizenry?
Erdogan – sometimes defines it as economics, uses it to political advantage, or dismisses it as divisive

29. (4) Turkish ‘Revolution’ today?
John Oliver on Erdogan
Vice on 2013 uprisings

30. Please fill in a course evaluation!