A description of the rise of Turkish Nationalism, tanzimat reforms, the CUP and Kemalism. Ends with a comparison to China during their revolutionary period.

1. MODERN TURKEY
The birth of Nationalism and
reformation.

2. Turkish Nationalism
Modern Turkey c.
2013
Even if you do not have a
widescreen display, you
can still create and
present 16:9 slides.
PowerPoint’s Slide Show
always resizes your slides
to fit any screen.

3. Turkey Now (c. 2013) and Then (c.
1900)
Now:
 Situate in “Arab Spring”
context
 Gezi Park Protest (May,
2013)
 AKP (current party since
2002) It’s generally viewed as
a moderate Islamic regime.
Secularists are skeptical of a
more unsurfaced radical
agenda. Some fear a
slippery slope into the
direction of modern Iran.
Then:
 Situate in “Age of
Revolution” context
(Russian (1915), Meiji
Restoration (1830-
88), Mexican
Revolution (1920) ,
Iranian Revolution
(1906)

4. Modern Turkey
 What does it mean to
be modern?
 How do we situate
Turkey in the European
and Asian context of
“modernity?”

5. Reformation Under Selim (1789-
1914)
Janissary
Corps:
Boys 8-15
Taken from
outside
provinces
(mainly Russia)
Well-educated
Social Mobility
Loyalty to the
Sultan
 Modernization couldn’t just take
place in the military. An emphasis
on learning modern societies and
language was needed.
 “The New Order” Modern weaponry
and military reorganization (outside
of Janissaries, which doesn’t go too
well)

6. Outcomes of Tanzimat Reforms
What is the point?
Centralization. The
Middle East sought
to centralize in a
similar way that the
Europeans did, but
obstacles occurred to
formalize these
relations. For
example,
Muhammad in Ali in
Egypt attacked the
Ottomans in 1839
because the
Ottomans were
restricting the trade
of cotton. Britain and
France rallied with
the Ottomans to
defeat the Egyptians.
This indicates a
shifting paradigm;
Western Powers
favored “established
states.”
 A cycle of indebtedness develops;
Europeans gain greater economic
and political control over Ottomans
 By 19th century, the Ottomans
contract huge loans, which became
strings for economic and political
concessions.

7. Symbolism: Woman smashing chains
Widescreen Pictures

8. Tanzimat Reforms (1839- 1876)
*Autocracy: A government by one
person with absolute power. Dictatorship,
despotism, tyranny, monocracy
Q. What is the main impetus for these
reforms?
Colonization!
Types of reforms: administrative,
technological, social, political, defensive
militarization
 More “autocratic*”
 19th century reforms: administrative – gave rulers
and religion more power
 Education: Students became more familiar with
intellectual ideas of European Enlightenment – a
“pro West” thinking develops
 Military: Europeans use Ottomans for protection
against Russia and Iran
 Offered more opportunities for women
 Legal Reforms: Influenced by Western Law –
moves away from religious texts
Bifurcation develops: In other words, new and old ideas
live side by side.
 Citizenship: Impact of growing European context
(new Constitution is developed in 1876)

9. The Young Turk Revolution
(1908)
 Admiration of French Revolution
 Young Turks came to power on basis of civilian
and military coup
 Well coordinated
 The Young Turks admired revolution as a mark of
“modernity”
 The Young Turks admired Japan (the Japanese
victory in 1905 over Russia (Russia at the time
was viewed as a European state) confirmed their
ability to overcome European grasp. Side note:
many Turkish mothers named their kids Japanese
names to celebrate the triumph.
 1905 was a lesson, they feared violence but
appreciated the constitutional outcome.
 By 1906, the Iranian Revolution confirmed that the
revolutionary upheaval could occur in the region
with the vocabulary of Islam.

10. Committee of Union and
Progress
What is the C.U.P (Committee of
Union and Progress?)
 Revolution of 1908: Centralist
movement (CUP) with organized
revolts in Macedonia
 They wanted a constitution and
this event in 1908 is referred to
as the “revolutionist” phase
 It had broad and diverse
leadership including Jewish and
Armenian
 Emphasized intellectual diversity
Problems with the CUP:
 Issues of diversity caused problems
 Long war period: from the POV of
soldiers and common people, this
was period of just prolonged conflict
going from one war to the next
 The CUP lost popularity after the
election of 1912. Newly formed
Balkan states took advantage of
Ottoman occupation and they
attacked Ottomans in the West. This
forced peace with Italians and the
Ottomans then had to rally against
the Balkans to defend their empire

11. Where to next?
The Great War Period
 CUP lost power within Ottomans
 Ottomanism was meant to be
inclusive but this became less urgent
after the loss of vast Christian
territories
 **There were more WWI fronts in the
Ottoman empire than any other
state/nation
 The Ottomans lost the most people
compared to the number of
combatants that they fielded
 Genocide, internal revolt and lost of
territory devastated the Ottomans
Kemalism
 He rises to leadership after the war in
1919 (He was a war general)
 His focus was on new organization
and preserving as much as the state
as they could; they lost a lot of
territory during the Great War period.
 Six Day Speech: (1926) Kemal
recounts the events of the past seven
years and he offers systematic and
tactical moves one-by-one
 After the treat of 1926, a new nation
is forged

12. • Impact of autocratic rulers
• Impact of “revolutionary” atmosphere. (Meiji Restoration vs Iranian and Russian
Revolution)
• Collapse of imperial systems (Europe)
• Secular vs religious cultural divides
• Defacto “colonization:” China and the Ottoman empire served as “semi colonies”
with “informal” empires.
• Challenges to modernity: Both China and the Ottomans faced industrial challenge
and were “indebted” to Europeans
• Both China and the Ottomans experienced a rise of nationalism that had
significance in the future
Ottoman and Chinese
Comparisons

13. Slide Show Tips
 To present in true widescreen, you’ll
need a computer and, optionally, a
projector or flat panel that can output
widescreen resolutions.
 Common computer widescreen
resolutions are 1280 x 800 and 1440 x
900. (These are 16:10 aspect ratio, but
will work well with 16:9 projectors and
screens.)
 Standard high definition televisions
resolutions are1280 x 720 and 1920 x
1080.
 Use the Test Pattern on the next slide
to verify your slide show settings.

14. Widescreen Test Pattern (16:9)
Aspect Ratio
Test
(Should appear
circular)
16x9
4x3