PDP3 - A Turkish Republic for the Civilized World
Author Bio: The author, Ghazi Mustapha Kemal, was the president of the Turkish Republic and he was very pro modernization. In 1923, Kemal established the Turkish Republic and became the first president, and by doing this he ended the Ottoman Empire. Kemal had many modern ideas for the Turkish Republic, and wanted to modernize the republic, so he is biased for modernization.
Date/Context: This document comes at a time when the Ottoman Empire and World War I had just ended, and some civilization was needed to replace the Ottoman Empire. The solution to this problem is the Turkish Republic/present-day Turkey. This document contains a speech that Kemal gave when a tribal sheik rebelled because they did not agree with Kemal's modernizing ideas. Overall, this document contains information on post-Ottoman Empire in the Turkish Republic.
Summary: Musafa Kemal had a goal for the Turkish Republic, he wanted it to be modernized and completely independent. Kemal was born in 1881, and joined the Young Turk revolution of 1908. During World War I, Kemal commanded the Ottoman forces with success, but was then ordered to disband the Ottoman army. Instead, Kemal resigned and fought for Turkish independence, and was victorious in 1923. Due to this, Kemal established the Turkish Republic, thus ending the Ottoman Empire. The first few years of the empire caused much turmoil, and Kemal tried to modernize Turkey into a better place. Although, in 1924, a tribal sheik led a rebellion, and in 1926, a plot to assassinate Kemal was uncovered. In response to this, Kemal gave a thirty-six hour speech. The speech described the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and how the people were left exhausted and empoverished. Kemal had a plan to save the Empire including, demanding protection from England, accept the U.S. as a Power, and deliver the country. The Turkish nation needed to be free, wealthy, and independent, or the nation would fall to slavery. Kemal also declared that the Caliph is abolished. New laws were created to make sure the nation was prosperous. Kemal had a goal to make sure that Turkey was modernized and independent.
Key Quotation: "...we applied [the law for Restoration of Order and the Courts of Independence] to restore peace and quietness in the country. We made use of them to insure the existence and independence of the country. We made use of them with the object of contributing to the social development of the nation."
Keegan's analysis "A Turkish Republic for the Civilized World" was very good. He used details from the introduction and the whole piece. I found it very important that he touch on the president's reform policy which he did. Keegan was also able to describe the presidents thoughts on slavery concisely and his writing proves to be well analyzed. One of the things that Keegan did not touch on was Kemal's opinion of religion in politics that made up a somewhat significant portion of page 6. In addition, Keegan did not mention that Kemal was against violence and fought to find a peaceful approach to reconstructing the government. Overall, I believe that Keegan did an excellent job at summarizing and I believe that his key quote does truly sum up the article at hand.
ReplyDeleteThis document actually consists of segments of three important speeches by Kemal.
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