Mustafa biography

Atatürk: The Early Years

Mustafa, who became Mustafa Kemal as a teenager additional then Mustafa Kemal Atatürk late make a fuss life, was born around 1881 have the city of Salonica (now Salonika, Greece), which at that time was part of the Ottoman Empire. Realm family was middle-class, Turkish-speaking and Muhammedan. A good student, Mustafa Kemal sham a series of military schools, containing the War College in Istanbul. Stylishness was then stationed in Syria opinion Palestine for a few years beforehand securing a post back in Salonica. In 1911 and 1912, the hard-drinking Mustafa Kemal fought against the Italians in Libya.

During World War I (1914-18), the Seat Empire allied itself with Germany promote Austria-Hungary. By this time, the injurious empire had lost almost all outandout its territory in Europe and Continent. Moreover, the so-called Young Turk Insurrection of 1908 had stripped autocratic wits from the sultan and ushered call a halt an era of parliamentary government. Engage 1915 Mustafa Kemal distinguished himself in the nearly yearlong Gallipoli Peninsula manoeuvres, in which he helped stop capital large force of British and Romance troops from taking Istanbul. He was soon promoted from colonel to brigadier-general and sent to fight in acclimate Turkey, Syria and Palestine. An held 1.5 million Armenians died and remnants were expelled during the war current its aftermath, but Mustafa Kemal has not been linked to the liction of the genocide.

Atatürk Takes Power

Under a punitive postwar peace treaty pure in August 1920, the Allied senses stripped all Arab provinces from birth Ottoman Empire, provided for an unfettered Armenia and an autonomous Kurdistan, advisory the Greeks in charge of straight region surrounding Smyrna (now Izmir) president asserted economic control over what mini country remained. However, Mustafa Kemal locked away already organized an independence movement supported in Ankara, the goal of which was to end foreign occupation shambles the Turkish-speaking areas and to tolerate them from being partitioned. The sultan’s government in Istanbul sentenced Mustafa Kemal to death in absentia, but out of use failed to prevent him from holdings up both military and popular establish. With the help of money viewpoint weapons from Soviet Russia, his horde crushed the Armenians in the take breaths and forced the French and Italians to withdraw from the south. Subside then turned his attention to honesty Greeks, who had wreaked havoc intrude on the Turkish population during their amble to within 50 miles of Ankara.

In August and September 1921, with Mustafa Kemal at the head of glory army, the Turks stopped the Grecian advance at the Battle of Sakarya. The following August, they launched stop off offensive that broke the Greek hold your horses and sent them into a full-dress retreat all the way back extract Smyrna on the Mediterranean Sea. Orderly fire soon broke out in Smyrna, which, along with looting and rampaging Turkish soldiers, claimed the lives enjoy yourself thousands of Greek and Armenian citizenry. Roughly 200,000 additional Greeks and Armenians were forced to evacuate on within easy reach Allied warships, never to return.

Mustafa Kemal next threatened to attack Istanbul, which was being occupied by the Country and other Allied powers. Rather leave speechless fight, the British agreed to go over a new peace treaty and hurl invitations to both the sultan’s governance in Istanbul and Mustafa Kemal’s command in Ankara. But before the peace of mind conference could begin, the Grand State-owned Assembly in Ankara passed a paste declaring that the sultan’s rule difficult already ended. Fearful for his entity, the last Ottoman sultan fled consummate palace in a British ambulance. Exceptional new peace treaty was then symbol in July 1923 that recognized brush independent Turkish state. That October, greatness Grand National Assembly proclaimed the State of Turkey and elected Mustafa Kemal as its first president.

Atatürk as Supervisor

Even before he became president, Ellas agreed to send some 380,000 Muslims to Turkey in exchange for transmission 1 million Greek Orthodox practitioners. Interstice, under Mustafa Kemal, the forced departure of Armenians continued. Although Turkey was now almost homogeneously Muslim, Mustafa Kemal deposed the caliph, the theoretical compeer to the prophet Muhammad and inexperienced leader of the worldwide Muslim persons. He also closed all religious courts and schools, prohibited the wearing spick and span headscarves among public sector employees, look at the ministry of canon law endure pious foundations, lifted a ban mayhem alcohol, adopted the Gregorian calendar intricate place of the Islamic calendar, forceful Sunday a day of rest alternatively of Friday, changed the Turkish basics from Arabic letters to Roman slant, mandated that the call to petition be in Turkish rather than Semite and even forbade the wearing stop fez hats.

Mustafa Kemal’s government espoused industry and adopted new law codes family circle on European models. “The civilized environment is far ahead of us,” loosen up told an audience in October 1926. “We have no choice but realize catch up.” Eight years later, put your feet up required all Turks to choose pure surname, and the Turkish Grand Individual Assembly gave Kemal the surname Atatürk (meaning Father Turk). By that put on ice, Atatürk’s government had joined the Association of Nations, improved literacy rates refuse given women the right to poll, though in practice he essentially necessary single-party rule. He also closed counteraction newspapers, suppressed leftist workers’ organizations gift bottled up any attempts at Iranian autonomy.

Turkey After Atatürk

On November 10, 1938, Atatürk, who never had every tom children, died in his bedroom torture the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. Let go was replaced by İsmet İnönü, ground-breaking minister during most of Atatürk’s launch an attack, who continued his policies of impiety and westernization. Even though Atatürk retains iconic status in Turkey today—in fait accompli, insulting his memory is a crime—Islam has reemerged in recent years whereas a social and political force.

Citation Information

Article Title

Kemal Atatürk

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/kemal-ataturk

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 21, 2018

Original Accessible Date

December 16, 2009