An Outline of Turkish History from its
Inception to 1923
Throughout history the Turks have established numerous states in
different geographical areas on the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.
Therefore, they encountered different cultures, they influenced these
cultures and were influenced by them.
The Chinese records reported that the first appearance of the Turks in
history was in the Kö¤men Mountains, where the most ancient remains were
found. The culture referred to as Tagar, featuring remains found on the
Tagar Island at the Yenisei River on the northern foot of the Köðmen
Mountains and dating back to the seventh century B.C., is attributed to
the ancient Turks. The Tagar Culture, however, originated from another
ancient culture called the Karasuk which flourished on the same shores,
which dates back to two thousand B.C.
Portrait head of Kul Tegin, Göktürk Khan,
Museum at Ulaanbaatur, capital of
Mongolia
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It is accepted that Turkish political history in
Asia starts with the Huns. The Hun State , which first appeared in
the third century B.C., became a significant and powerful state
during the reign of its founder, Mete Khan, and passed through
fundamental changes, economically and socially, due to her relations
with China. Having a defined and certain strategy, Mete first of all
defeated the Mongolians and then the Yuechis, and thereafter, having
taken the western gates and trade routes of China under his control,
he gained significant economic power. This systematic expansion
policy resulted in the seizure of Eastern Turkestan, the wheat and
provisions granary, by the Huns.
After the collapse of the Asian Hun State, a new state called the
Göktürk was founded by the Turkish tribes who adopted the traditions
and administrative experiences of the Huns. The Göktürk State
(552-740) is the second great state established by the Turks. Unlike
the Huns, the Göktürks attached particular importance to
urbanization, realized agricultural reforms and seed improvement and
"sagacity" was the foremost concept.
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Bilge Khan and Kultegin took their place in history as the wisest and
most heroic figures among Turkish statesmen. They asserted that the state
could not be ruled only by fighting and bravery and the Khanate should
also require wisdom. It was because of this that both the Khans and
Tonyukuk, another Göktürk Khan, immortalized their accomplishments with
inscriptions. These inscriptions are the first written texts of the
Turkish language.
The Göktürk State collapsed after struggles with the Chinese, on the
one hand, and with the Turkish tribes within the state, such as the Dokuz
O¤uzlar, Karluks and Basm›ls, on the other hand. The Uigur Turks, who were
the native tribes of the Orhun and Selenge valleys, founded the third
great Turkish state. The Uigur State (741-840) attached importance to
trade and continued the traditions and customs of the Göktürks. The trade
developed and the Manichean temples were turned into bazaar temples in
time due to the influence of Manicheism, the official religion.
The warlike aspects of the Uigurs gradually grew weaker in time as they
developed culturally and commercially. The Kyrgyz Turks living to the
northwest, took advantage of this situation and planned a surprise
attack on the Uigur capital city, which resulted in a war and at the end
the Uigur state collapsed.
The Western Turks. A group of Huns who migrated towards the West first
settled in a region to the north of the Black Sea extending to the Danube
River. First the Huns made raids on Iran and Anatolia via the Caucasia,
and then they attacked the territories of the Eastern and Western Roman
Empires. They fought with the Franks in 428, and two years later, reached
the areas which are presently the Netherlands and Denmark. The Western
Huns, who were known as the first Turkish state founded in Europe, became
a great state with territories extending from the banks of the Rhine to
the Volga River, under the leadership of Attila the Hun. This state played
an important role in transmitting Eastern civilization to the West,
and organized campaigns to Italy, the Balkans and Gaul in the reign of
Attila. The Western Hun State collapsed a short time after Attila passed
away (470).
During the collapse of the Hun Empire in Europe, a new wave of tribal
migrations started in Central Asia. The north of the Black Sea was
confronted with a new wave of Turkish migration. The first tribes to
arrive were the Sabirs, Sarogurs and Onogurs. These Ogur tribes, who
settled to the north of the Caucasus, raided the Byzantine territories
from Macedonia to Thessaly. It is known that the Bulgarian Turks also came
to this region along side the Ogur Turks. Byzantine sources refer to the
name "Bulgarian" for the first time in 482. In fact, the Avars, with the
Bulgarian Turks under their sovereignty, sieged the Byzantine capital at
the beginning of the seventh century. The Avars , who left their homeland
in Central Asia and who escaped towards the West when the Göktürk State
was founded in 552, had an important place in the history of Europe. They
first came to Caucasia and the north of the Black Sea, made an agreement
with the Byzantines and fought against, and defeated, Turkish tribes such
as the Sabirs and Onogurs on behalf of the Byzantines. They expanded to
the banks of the Danube River, over the lands of the Ants, a Slavic tribe.
From time to time, they made raids throughout the Balkans and even as far
as the Peloponnese in Greece. They sieged Istanbul in 626 together with
the Bulgarian Turks. The borders of the Avar Empire extended from the
Dnieper to the Elbe River and from the North Sea to the Adriatic Sea
during the reign of their famous ruler Bayan Khan. The Avar Empire
collapsed between 776-803 due to the concurrent attacks of Kurum Khan, the
leader of the Bulgarian Turks and Charlemagne (Charles the Great). Present
excavations and research in Hungary and Central Europe reveal that the
Avars had an exemplary organization within the state and the army and
attained a high level of civilization.
During the period of disintegration of the Sabir State in the east of
Europe, a new Turkish state called the Khazars came into existence. The
Khazars, who were considered to be the continuation of the Western
Göktürks, took over their military and civilian organizations. This state,
which ruled for over 300 years bears the name of "Turk" in Arabian,
Syrian and Byzantine sources. The Khazars acted as an allied force of the
Byzantines in the war between Byzantium and Iran. It is observed that the
Arabs who occupied Azerbaijan around the beginning of the eighth century,
also raided Khazar territories and occupied their capital city Belencer
(in Dagestan).
The war between the Khazars and the Caliphate continued for almost 25
years. The Khazar armies once again went to the south of the Caucasus from
762 AD and occupied all of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and Ras Tarhan, the
Khazar commander advanced up to Georgia. The Khazars were threatened
afterwards by other Turkish tribes, and especially by the Russians. Their
state collapsed towards the end of the tenth century due to their long
lasting wars against the Pechenegs.
Another Turkish tribe living in Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the
Balkans was the Pechenegs. The Pechenegs, an Oghuz tribe, whose initial
settlement around Balkhash Lake moved on to the nearby Aral Sea during the
fight between the Göktürks and Uigurs. Then they moved further towards the
West and fought against the Khazars. They occupied the Cuman plains and
expelled the Hungarians ruling the lands between the Don and Dnieper
Rivers towards the West. Giving assistance to the Russians in their fights
with the Khazars, they played a role in the founding of this state. The
Pechenegs, who ruled a territory extending from the Don River to the
Danube River in the tenth century, made raids on Byzantine territories
from the middle of the eleventh century. However, they were decisively
defeated by the joint forces of the Cumans and Byzantines beside the Lower
Maritsa River in 1091. Some of the separate Pecheneg groups who could not
represent a political existence after this defeat were settled in the
territories of the Byzantine Empire. Those who stayed in the Balkans and
Hungary settled there and were assimilated. Turkish History in the Islamic
Period. After the decline of the Uigur State, the Karahanid State was
founded in 840 by the Turkish tribes such as the Karluks, Çiğils and
Arguls. The reign of the Karahanids is considered to be a turning point in
Turkish history, because Islam was accepted as the official religion
during the reign of Satuk Buðra Khan, the Karahanid leader. Being the
first Muslim Turkish state established in Central Asia, they laid the
foundations of an historical development called Turkish-Islamic culture and civilization.
The Karahanids, whose first city of governance was Kashgar and second
was Balasagun to the north, was divided between two brothers in 1042: the
Eastern Karahanids and the Western Karahanids. The Eastern Karahanid State
survived until 1211 and then accepted the sovereignty of the Great Seljuk
State. Islamic-Turkish literature was developed during the rule of the
Karahanid State which was customarily governed by just, religious, and
culture loving Khans and Kashgar and Balasagun became important cultural
centers.
At the time of the rule of the Karahanids, there was another Turkish
state of which the capital city was Ghazna in Afghanistan. The most
powerful period of the Ghaznavid State (936-1187) was the reign of Mahmud
of Ghazna who used the title of "Sultan" for the first time. Sultan
Mahmud, who organized many campaigns to India, took these places under
Turkish rule, Islamized them and laid the foundation for today's State of
Pakistan. The rulers succeeding Sultan Mahmud could not maintain this
brilliant period. The Ghaznavids had to retreat to India after the
Dandanakan War with the Seljuks in 1040 and finally came under the
sovereignty of the Seljuks.
Another great Turkish state was the Seljuk State (1040-1157) founded by
the Seljuk Bey who was a member of the Kınık tribe of the Oghuz Turks. The
borders of the state covered an area from the Marmara Sea to the Balkhash
Lake in Central Asia and from the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and the Aral
Sea to the borders of India and Yemen. Therefore, it was named the Great
Seljuk State. At the time of Seljuk rule, there were also two other great
and strong Turkish states, namely the Karahanids and Ghaznavids. The
Seljuks entered into a struggle of hegemony with these two Turkish states
and were successful in establishing Turkish unity. Togrul Bey, the Sultan
of the Seljuks, entered Baghdad, the Abbasid Caliphate capital and ended
the domination of the Buwayhids, a Persian Shiite dynasty, in 1055.
Therefore, the Caliph bestowed on Togrul Bey the title of "Ruler of the
World". During the reign of Sultan Alp Arslan, the successor of Togrul
Bey, the territories of the country expanded significantly.
The most significant events of this period were the clashes with
the Byzantine Empire. Sultan Alp Arslan inflicted a crushing defeat
on the Byzantine army under the leadership of Romanus Diogenes at
Manzikert (Malazgirt) in 1071. This victory firmly established
Turkish rule in Anatolia.
During the reign of Sultan Malik Shah, one of the most powerful
rulers of the Seljuks, the Seljuk State experienced her most
successful period in the fields of military, science, politics and
literature. Madrasahs (theological schools) were opened all over the
country. The most important of these was the Nizamiye Madrasah
constructed by the Vizier Nizam al-Mülk which was the foundation for
the architecture of the Western universities.
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Madrasah with Slim Minarets, one of the unique
examples of the Seljuk Period, Konya
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After Sultan Malik Shah died, the country was divided into small
states. The Syrian Seljuks (1092-1117), Iraq and Khorasan Seljuks
(1092-1194), Kirman Seljuks (1092-1187) and the Anatolian Seljuks
(1092-1194) were among the small states. During the disintegration period
of the Great Seljuk State many small beylics and atabeylics were also
established on the Anatolian territories of the state. These beylics
played an important role in making Anatolia Turkish through the Turkish
population they brought and also the architectural works they made. These
beylics had a significant affect in the strengthening of the Anatolian
Seljuk State which was established later in Anatolia.
Moreover, the Khorezm Shah State (1097-1231) was established by
Mohammed Khorezm Shah, the son of Anushtegin, the palace servant of Sultan
Malik Shah, on the territories of the Great Seljuk State. The Khorezm Shah
State made significant progress in science and politics.
The most
important state established in the place of the Great Seljuk State is
definitely the Anatolian Seljuk State. Suleiman ibn Qutulmish who
established himself at Nicaea (İznik) in 1078 tried to expand Turkish rule
in Anatolia and he managed to spread his rule all over Anatolia in a short
period of time. During the reign of his son, Kılıç Arslan I, the First
Crusade began, İznik was seized by the Crusaders and given to the
Byzantines. Kılıç Arslan I then established himself in the city of Konya
and started a war of attrition against the invaders. However, he could not
stop the Crusaders who were heading towards Syria. The efforts to unify
Anatolia under Turkish rule were also continued during the reign of his
successor, Sultan Mesud I. He repelled the Byzantine army headed for Konya
and defeated the Crusaders near the Ceyhan River. Sultan Kılıç Arslan II,
the successor of Mesud I, made the Byzantine intrigues against the Turks
ineffective and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Byzantine army under the
leadership of the Emperor Manuel Comnenus I, at Myriokephalon near Denizli
(1176). Following this victory, the influence of the Byzantine Empire over
Anatolia was completely lost. Thereafter, trade flourished and
construction activities accelerated. Caravanserais were built on the roads
and shipyards were constructed in Sinop and the Mediterranean, the
madrasahs were opened and important developments were made in science. The
most brilliant period of Turkish history was experienced during the reign
of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I. However, the death of the Sultan by
poisoning created chaos in the country. The religio-political rebellion of
the Babais was followed by the Mongolian invasion and Anatolia was
occupied by the Mongolians after the Kösedağ War between the Seljuks and
Mongolians in 1243. Along with the weakening of the Mongolian rule towards
the end of the thirteenth century, the Turkoman groups who were settled at
the frontiers during the Seljuk period, founded many beylics
(principalities) of varying sizes in Anatolia. The Karaman, Germiyan,
Eşref, Hamid, Menteşe, Candar, Pervane, Sahib Ata, Karesi, Saruhan, Aydın,
İnanç and Osmanoğulları were among the Turkoman beylics founded in
Anatolia in this period. In this period, which is called the Beylics
Period, all of Anatolia came under Turkish rule and a new period of
welfare began in the country which had been previously exposed to a great
extent to Mongolian destruction. As a matter of fact, the Ottoman state
was founded on these solid foundations.
In Egypt, the army commander İzzeddin Aybeg was declared the Sultan,
after the death of es-Salih Necmeddin, the last Ayyubid ruler and thus the
Turkish Kölemen (Mameluke) State (1250-1382) was founded. The Mameluke
State has an important place in Turkish history, because during the reign
of Sultan Aybeg, the Mansure Victory was won which made the Seventh
Crusade ineffective. During the reign of Seyfeddin Kotuz, the
Mongolian-Armenian-Crusaders alliance which tried to invade Egypt suffered
a heavy defeat and the Mongolians were not able to enter Syria. During the
period of the later Sultans, the Christian hegemony in Syria would end and
the territories extending to Kayseri in Anatolia would be taken under the
rule of the Mameluke Sultanate. In addition, trade between the east and
the west developed during this period. The Mameluke Sultans were bestowed
the title of "Hadımü'l-Harameyn" (the Servant of Mecca and Medina), due to
their services to Islam, and acquired a justified fame in the Islamic
World. The Mameluke State was wiped out by the Ottoman State.
One of the most important states of the fourteenth century was the
Tamerlane State (1370-1507). It was founded by Tamerlane, who was a
provincial governor in one of the Çağatay khanates. The borders of the
state extended from the Volga River to the Ganges River in India, and from
the Tanrı Mountains to İzmir and Damascus. Tamerlane, who had a violent
character, caused great damage during his military expeditions. The state
became an empire in a period of 35 years. It disintegrated just as rapidly
as it was established after the death of Tamerlane. Muhammed, his
grandson, founded a state in Samarkand. Pir Muhammed and Iskender, his
other grandsons, founded a state in Iran. Miranshah, his son, founded
states in Baghdad and Azerbaijan. Shahruh, his younger son, founded a
state in Khorasan. During the period of Shahruh, who tried to establish
unity by enlarging the borders of his state, a brilliant cultural life was
started. His son Ulug Bey ascended the
throne as a well-known astronomer. Only Hüseyin Baykara from the
Tamerlane dynasty could manage to hold out in Khorasan. Herat, the capital
city, became one of the most significant cultural centers of Turkish
history. Ali ½ir Nevai, the Turkish poet and statesman, was educated here.
Herat was seized by the Uzbeks after the reign of Baykara and the
Tamerlane dynasty disappeared.
When the Tamerlane State was
established, the Turkoman group of the Karakoyunlu, which settled between
Irbil and Nakhichevan, founded a state, the center of which was Tabriz.
This state formed by the Yıva, Yazır, Döğer and Avşar tribes of the Oghuz
Turks was called the Karakoyunlu State (1380-1469). The Karakoyunlu State
fought with Tamerlane. Kara Yusuf, the ruler of the Karakoyunlu State, had
to take refuge in the Ottoman state during the reign of Yıldırım Beyazid
as a result of pressure by Tamerlane. This strained relations between the
Ottomans and the Tamerlanes and was considered to be a reason for the
Ankara War of 1402. Kara Yusuf, who managed to recover after this war,
reestablished his state after 1406 and captured Mardin, Erzincan, Baghdad,
Azerbaijan, Tabriz, Kazvin, and Sultaniye. After his death, the country
was dragged into chaos. Although Cihan-shah managed to reunify the state,
he was defeated by Akkoyunlu Uzun Hasan at Mardin and the country entered
under the hegemony of the Akkoyunlu State.
The Akkoyunlu State (1350-1502) was founded by Turkoman tribes who
settled around Diyarbakır. It emerged as a union under the leadership of
Tur Ali Bey. The Akkoyunlu State fought against the Trabzon Greek Empire
to the north in this period. The real founder of the state is known to be
Kara Yülük Osman Bey. The most powerful period of the Akkoyunlu State was
the reign of Uzun Hasan. During his reign the borders of the state
extended from the Caspian Sea to Syria, and from Azerbaijan to Baghdad.
For this reason, Uzun Hasan saw himself as the person who could establish
the union of the Turks and identified himself with Tamerlane and made
plans to abolish the Ottoman State and the Egyptian Sultanate. He
established political relations with the European states, namely the
Christian world, to obtain firearms to realize his goal. However, his
defeat in the Otlukbeli Battle in 1473 by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet I was
a heavy blow for Uzun Hasan. This defeat helped the collapse of the
Akkoyunlu State and paved the way for the founding of the Safavid State
(1501-1736) by Shah İsmail who managed to get the Turkoman groups of
Ustaçlı, Rumlu, Musullu, Tekeli, Bayburtlu, Karadağlı, Dulkadırlı,
Karamanlı, Varsak and Avşar on his side. At the time when Shah İsmail
established the Turkish political union in Iran, a great part of the
Indian subcontinent was also united under Turkish rule. Meanwhile, the
Ottoman State took almost all of Anatolia under its rule and also started
to expand its Eastern and Western borders.
Shah İsmail, who founded a political union in Iran, expanded his
territories. In his conquests the religious fervor of the Shiite sect
played a role. However, his activities in Anatolia, and also his attempts
to annex Anatolia, provoked the reaction of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I
(Selim the Grim). Shah İsmail's army was seriously defeated at the Battle
of Çaldıran in 1514. Still, all his successors, especially Shah Tahmasp
continued fighting against the Ottomans. However, they were defeated in
almost all the battles they fought. When Nadir Shah of the Avşar tribe
established his own dynasty following the reign of Abbas III, the Safavid
period came to an end.
The reign of the Safavids had an important place
in history. Shah İsmail and the other members of the dynasty were known
for their love of art. In this period, literature, architecture and
handicrafts such as tilemaking, pottery and textiles developed and great
advances were made in bookbinding, decoration and
calligraphy.
Zahiruddin Babür, a member of the Tamerlane dynasty,
entered India and founded the Turkish-Indian (Babür) Empire (1526-1858).
He became famous for his work written in Turkish called Vekayi Babürname.
After his death, in the reigns of his sons, Humayun and Ekber, this state
developed even more and a large portion of the Indian subcontinent was
united under a single rule. The period of Hürrem, who had assumed the name
of Shah-cihan (Shah of the World) upon ascending the throne, was the most
brilliant period of the empire in politics and art. The Taj Mahal at Agra,
which is considered to be one of the most beautiful architectural
monuments in the world, was constructed during his reign. Architects were
also sent from the Ottoman State for the construction of the monument.
These good relations with the Ottoman State also continued during the
reign of his son, Alemgir I. Hegave asylum to the Ottoman governors of
Basra who were fighting against the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and the
Persian Gulf. The internal turmoil which began after the death of Alemgir
I continued until the reign of Shah Bahadır II. The British who suppressed
a revolt in the country in 1857 annexed India to Britain and Queen
Victoria was officially declared the Empress of India.
The Ottoman State (1299-1923). Following the weakening of the
Anatolian Seljuk State, several beylics from various Turkish tribes
emerged in Anatolia. One of these beylics was the Ottoman Beylic, a member
of the Kayı tribe of Oghuz Turks from the Söğüt-Yenişehir-Bilecik region.
The Ottoman Beylic succeeded in establishing the union of the beylics in
Anatolia in a short period of time. The Ottomans who fought against the
neighboring Byzantine State, first crossed into Rumelia and then captured
Constantinople in 1453 during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481),
putting an end to the Byzantine Empire and thus, to the Middle Ages. In
the reign of Sultan Mehmed II, who assumed the title of "the Conqueror",
the Ottoman State entered into an era of rapid development which would
last until the end of the sixteenth century.
The Ottomans fought with the Serbs, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Venetians,
the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Britain, the Vatican, Spain and also France
and Russia from time to time in the West; and in the East and the South,
the Akkoyunlus, Tamerlanes, Mamelukes, Safavids and the Karamanids, which
were all Turkish states. During the reign of Sultan Selim I (1512-1520),
Egypt was conquered and the "Caliphate" passed from the Abbasids to the
Ottoman dynasty. During the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566),
the Ottoman State had a developed state organization, a powerful army and
finances. The borders of the Empire extended from the Crimea in the North
to Yemen and Sudan in the South, and from Iran and the Caspian Sea in the
East to Vienna in the Northwest and Spain in the Southwest.
However,
the Ottoman Empire lost its economic and military superiority vis-a-vis
Europe, which had developed rapidly with the Renaissance and the
geographical discoveries starting with the sixteenth century and failed to
adapt to the new developments.
Sultan Mehmet the Conqoueror
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Sultan Selim I (Selim the Grim)
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Thus, the balance of power developed in favor of the European States
starting in the same century. The nationalist movements that started in
the nineteenth century and the rebellions of the Balkan nations organized
and supported by the European States and Russia brought about the
emergence of independent states within the Ottoman territories in the
Balkans. The military defeats which exacerbated the process of dissolution
of the Empire forced the Ottoman administration to take steps to modernize
the country. Thus, reform efforts were made constantly in the Empire
throughout the nineteenth century. The most significant characteristic of
the First Constitutional Period in 1876, which coincided with the reign of
Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876-1909), was that it provided a constitution in
the Western model for the first time. The constitution, which had been
prepared by a group of intellectuals called the "Young Turks" forced
Sultan Abdülhamid to accept this constitution and the Ottoman state was
transformed into a constitutional state. However, Sultan Abdülhamid
disbanded the Parliament in 1877 and terminated constitutional rule, using
the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1879 as a pretext. The Committee of Union
and Progress which started activities as an opposition organization
founded by the Young Turks, first forced the Sultan to repromulgate the
Constitution in 1908 and later seized power. However, the liberalization
which started after
![](../MFA_files/An_Outline_files/OSMANLI2by.gif)
Abdülhamid with the Second Constitution did not last long. The Tripoli
War (1911-1912) against the Italians and the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) which
erupted in the wake of these political developments weakened the new
administration and the environment of freedom that started with the Second
Constitution transformed the democratic environment into a single-party
autocracy. The territories of the Ottoman State, which had allied with
Germany in the First World War (1914-1918), were occupied by Britain,
France, Russia and Greece following the Moudhros Armistice signed in 1918,
after the Central Powers were defeated. The occupation of the homeland and
the helplessness of the İstanbul government left no other choice but
resistance for the Turkish people in Anatolia and Thrace. The Greek
occupation accelerated the establishment of small defense fronts and the
formation of regional resistance organizations.
The Ottoman Empire had a state identity which provided the most
tolerant administration of its age throughout the Middle Ages and the New
Age. In fact, throughout the six hundred years of its administration it
was able to hold together people of different religions, languages and
races and undertook an important role in the protection of cultures and
languages of these nations by providing freedom of religion and
conscience. Furthermore, it contributed significantly to the history of
civilization with both scientific and cultural masterpieces due to its
cultural, scientific, artistic and state administrative experience and
acquisitions of the previous Turkish states.
![](../MFA_files/An_Outline_files/c5.jpg)
Topkapı Palace, Throne of the Sultan
(16th century)
The Ottoman Empire created rare masterpieces with its unique
architecture, stone and wood carving, the art of tile-making,
ornamentation, the art of miniature painting, calligraphy and bookbinding.
Above all, it was influencial for hundreds of years in world
politics.
The National War of Independence (1919-1923). The
National War of Independence was an effort to create a new state from the
ruins of an Empire which had completed its life. These efforts lasted for
four years because the imperialist states wanted to bring to life a new
order suitable for their own political aims and interests from the ruins
of this empire.
The Turkish resistance movements were transformed into a complete war
of independence when Mustafa Kemal landed at Samsun as the Inspector of
the 9th Army on 19 May 1919. It achieved success against the armies
supported by the large countries of the world and under very difficult
conditions.
Mustafa Kemal, who joined the Ottoman Army as a captain on 11 January
1905, proved his military talents on almost every front during the First
World War. When the Ottoman Empire was considered to be defeated following
the First World War, he was appointed Commander of the Lightning Armies.
However, when this army was abolished, he returned to İstanbul. Mustafa
Kemal, who understood that a political result could not be reached against
the occupying powers which were oppressing the İstanbul Government,
decided to go to Anatolia and carry on his struggle from there. He
immediately started to organize national resistance and got in touch with
all the army units and resistance organizations in Anatolia. He made the
first call for a national movement with the circular he issued in Amasya
on 22 June 1919. He organized this national struggle with the Erzurum and
Sivas Congresses, giving it an official status. According to the National
Pact program which took its final shape at the Sivas Congress, the
territories where the Turks lived could not be partitioned in any form and
limitations such as capitulations which would prevent the political, legal
and financial development of the country would definitely not be
accepted.
When the Entente Powers officially occupied İstanbul and disbanded the
Parliament on 16 March, Mustafa Kemal declared that the overeignty and life of the Ottoman
Empire, which had lasted for six centuries, was ended.
![](../MFA_files/An_Outline_files/c7.jpg)
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk together with the congress members
during the Sivas Congress
He announced that the Grand National Assembly would gather in Ankara,
the headquarters of the national movement, on 23 April 1920 and the
authority to represent the nation would only belong to this parliament as
of this date. In fact, the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA), which
undertook the duties of saving and administrating the country and
obtaining complete independence for the country, started activities on 23
April 1920 with extraordinary authority. Mustafa Kemal was elected as the
President.
The last connections between Ankara and İstanbul ended with the signing
of the Treaty of Sevrès on 12 August 1920. The agreement included very
oppressive conditions for the Turks. According to the agreement, the Turks
could be sovereign on only a small part of Anatolia and their state would
be under the financial and military control of the foreign states.
The
efforts to set up an Armenian state in Eastern Anatolia, by using the
Treaty of Sevrès were made ineffective by the forces of the Army Commander
Kazım Karabekir in this region. After the armistice was signed on 18
November 1920, peace was obtained on the Eastern front by the Gümrü
Agreement which was signed on 2 December 1920. This was the first
international agreement which was signed by the TGNA.
On the Western front, the Greek Army which occupied İzmir on 15 May
1919 and started to spread throughout the Aegean region, was stopped by
the First and Second İnönü Battles between January-April 1921. The Greek
Army suffered a heavy defeat during the Sakarya Battles between
August-September 1921. The Sakarya Battle victory provided significant
diplomatic successes and France withdrew from Adana and the surroundings
with the Ankara Agreement signed by Turkey and France in October 1921.
Thus, another front was eliminated. After that, all the forces and
resources of the country were gathered for a great attack to be made on
the Western front. In fact, the Greek forces were defeated heavily during
the Great Attack and Commander in Chief Battle between August-September
1922. İzmir was liberated on 9 September 1922. This military success would
accelerate the founding of the Republic of Turkey. The Mudanya Armistice
was signed between the Ankara Government and the Entente States on 11
October 1922 and it was decided to hold a conference in Lausanne one month
later to discuss the conditions for a permanent peace treaty. However,
when the Entente States also invited the İstanbul Government to send its
delegation to this conference along with the Ankara Government, the TGNA
declared that the Caliphate was separated from the Sultanate and that the
sultanate was abolished. Mehmed IV (Vahideddin), the last Ottoman Sultan,
secretly fled aboard a British ship on 17 November 1922.
The Lausanne
peace treaty negotiations, at which the Ankara Government participated as
the sole representative, started on 21 November 1922. The negotiations, at
which İsmet İnönü presided over the Turkish delegation, were suspended in
February 1923 due to disagreements especially on the future of
capitulations. The negotiations, which restarted in April 1923, resulted
in the signing of the Lausanne Treaty on 24 July 1923. The treaty
recognized the creation of a Turkish State with virtually the same borders
as those of the National Pact of 1920 and guaranteed her complete
independence. Thus, it marked the successful culmination of the National
War of Independence.
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