Twilight in the Ottoman Empire GH2/Napp

Do Now:

“After Mustafa Kemal took over Turkey in 1923, he was called ‘Atatürk,’ meaning ‘father of the Turks.’ Although Atatürk called himself the president of Turkey and proclaimed it a republic, he was actually a dictator. He set up a one-party system and made reforms without putting them to the vote. He refused to allow such ethnic minorities as the Kurds and the Armenians to set up their own states.

Nonetheless, Atatürk established a solid framework for a future democratic-style government. He achieved this by separating religion and the state. This meant that the legal system was based on European rather than on Islamic law. The state took over the schools and allowed them to teach the same subjects that were taught in modern European schools. Women no longer had to stay in the seclusion imposed on them by Islamic law. They could now vote. European civil law rather than the Islamic code governed marriage. Men could have only one wife. Women could sue for divorce.”

What are the significant facts in the passage about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk?

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Notes:

  1. The Ottomans built the largest Muslim empire of the modern period
  1. Reached height under Suleiman the Magnificent in 1500s
  2. Declined in 1900s

1-Europeans competed for Ottoman land (Age of European imperialism)

  1. The Young Turks
  1. Coalition of various reform groups
  2. Led a revolutionary movement against the authoritarian sultan, Abdulhamid II
  3. Established a constitutional government
  4. Led Armenian genocide

1-Armenians were Christians

2-Massacred hundreds of thousands of Armenians

3-Viewed Armenians as an obstacle to Turkish unity

  1. Mustafa Kemal or Atatürk
  1. Nationalist

1- Founder of modern Turkey

2-First President (1923 – 1938)

  1. Modernization and Westernization

1-Modernized laws and education

2-Abolished wearing fez (traditional hat)

3-Encouraged secularism

4-Allowed universal suffrage (vote)

Questions:

1-State three facts about the Ottoman Empire.

2-Why did the Ottoman Empire begin to decline in the 1900s?

3-Who were the Young Turks?

4-Define genocide.

5-State three facts about the Armenian Genocide.

6-Who was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk?

7-How did Atatürk change Turkey?

Critical Thinking Questions:

1-Why are minority groups sometimes the victims of hate crimes or even genocide?

2-How did the collapse of the Ottoman Empire benefit some and hurt others?

3-Did Atatürk change Turkey for the better or worse? Defend your answer.

Why Am I So Important? [Holt Publishing]

Kemal Atatürk founded the Republic of Turkey and was the country’sfirst president. Atatürk began a series of social, legal, political, economic, and cultural reformsthat dramatically improved Turkey. He also was a peacemaker, and he dreamed that the world’speople would someday be united in freedom. As you read the profile below, consider howAtatürk’s commitment to freedom and responsibility developed.

Kemal Atatürk was given the name Mustafa at his birth in 1881. He lived in the Ottomancity of Salonica. His father died when he was a boy, and his mother raised him. An excellentstudent and leader, Atatürk was accepted to a high-ranking military academy. There, his mathteacher said his surname should be “Kemal,” which means “perfect.” For many years, theyoung man was known as Mustafa Kemal.

Kemal lived in the Ottoman Empire, which was ruled by a dynasty of sultans. The sultanswere lazy, greedy, and cruel. Most citizens wanted their rule to end. Kemal agreed, as hebelieved people should have a say in their government and its leaders.

After graduating from military school, Kemal was an Ottoman soldier in the Second BalkanWar and World War I. By then, he was famous as a magnetic and gifted leader. The currentSultan felt threatened by Kemal’s power. Nervously, the Sultan ordered Kemal to serve far away,in Eastern Anatolia. He hoped that Kemal would not have much influence there.

He was wrong. Shortly after Kemal arrived in Anatolia in 1919, he created an army andformed the Turkish Nationalist party. The Sultan outlawed both. Kemal then founded a rivalgovernment in Ankara. With Soviet encouragement, Kemal took back a region of Armenia andremoved the Greeks from Anatolia. In 1922 the Sultan ran away taking refuge on a British warship. Just one year later, the Treaty of Lausanne recognized Turkey as an independent nation.

Kemal was elected president of the new republic that same year. Kemal wanted to bring Turkey into the twentieth century. “I stand for the nation’s dreams,”he said, “and my life’s work is to make them come true.” With tremendous energy, he beganreforms and programs that westernized Turkey. Kemal established a new legal and political system. He gave women equal rights and ordered that education and the government be separate. He modernized agriculture and industry and advanced the arts and sciences. He even created anew alphabet.

Kemal knew that peaceful relationships with other countries were critical to Turkey’s success,freedom, and independence. He later became friendly with the United States, WesternEurope, and all countries bordering Turkey, especially the Soviet Union. “I look to the worldwith an open heart full of pure feelings and friendship,” he said.

Kemal was reelected year after year. In 1934 he asked all citizens of Turkey to take a surname. He then adopted the surname “Atatürk,” which means “father of the Turks.” The namewas well deserved, for he had not only founded, but also transformed a nation. He died in1938, after a brief illness.

Identify the main points of the passage: