AP World History POD #17 – Sick Old Man of Europe Young Turks

Class Discussion Notes Bulliet – “Origins of the Crisis in Europe and the Middle East”, pp Bulliet – “The New Middle East”, pp

Dawn of the 20 th Century  “When the twentieth century opened, the world seemed firmly under the control of the great powers. The first decade of the twentieth century was a period of relative peace and economic growth in most of the world. Several new technologies - airplanes, automobiles, radio and cinema – aroused much excitement. The great powers consolidated their colonial conquests of the previous decades, and their alliances were evenly matched. The only international war of the period, the Russo- Japanese War ( ), ended quickly with a decisive Japanese victory.” (Bulliet, p. 765)

Destabilizing Forces in Europe  Germany’s rising power and influence as a result of its industrial and military might  Ottoman Empire grew weaker as a result of rising nationalism  It would be the Balkans that would eventually explode drawing all of the Great Powers into war

Sick Old Man of Europe  By the end of the 19 th century the Ottoman Empire had fallen dramatically behind the rest of Europe economically, technologically and militarily  Lost Provinces – Macedonia in , Bosnia in 1908, Crete in 1909, Albania in 1910  Italy took Libya (the last Ottoman land in Africa) in 1912  Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece chased the Turks out of Europe except for a small pocket around Istanbul

Assigning Blame  The Turks began to respond to these rebellious minorities and meddling foreigners  The military officers (also the most Europeanized members of Turkish society blamed Sultan Abdul Hamid II for the crisis and decline of the empire

Young Turks  Plotted to force a constitution on the sultan  Alienated other anti-Ottoman groups by advocating centralized rule and the Turkification of ethnic minorities  1909 – a Parliament dominated by the Young Turks overthrew Sultan Abdul Hamid II

Young Turk Reforms  Instituted reforms to the police, governmental bureaucracy and the educational system  Cracked down on Greek and Armenian minorities (eventually over 1 million Armenians would perish in an attempted genocide)  Hired a German general to modernize the military as a reaction to their defeat in the Balkan Wars  A dangerous mixture of modern armies and nationalism created a “powder keg” ready to explode

Post War Punishment  “At the end of the war, as the Ottoman Empire teetered on the brink of collapse, France, Britain, and Italy saw an opportunity to expand their empires, and Greece eyed those parts of Anatolia inhabited by Greeks. In 1919 French, British, Italian and Greek forces occupied Constantinople and parts of Anatolia. By the Treaty of Sevres (1920) the Allies mad the sultan give up most of his lands.” (p. 781)

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk  formed a nationalistic government in central Anatolia with the support of the army officers  reconquered Anatolia and the areas around Constantinople with a short war against the invading Greeks  Forced hundreds of thousands of Greeks from their ancestoral homes in Anatolia (as retaliation the Greeks expelled all Muslims from Greece)

Modernization & Secularism  Modernization - Ataturk imposed dramatic change on the nation in an effort to bring Turkey closer to Europe as quickly as possible  Abolished the sultanate and established a secular republic  Broke with Islamic tradition and shar’ia establishing European style laws  Replaced Arabic alphabets with the Latin alphabet  Suppressed Muslim courts, schools and religious orders

Westernization  Attempted to westernize the traditional Turkish family  Women received civil equality  Women gained the right to vote and could be elected to the national assembly  Forbade polygamy, instituted civil marriage and divorce  Discouraged women from wearing the burqa and veil  Replaced the traditional fez with the European brimmed hat  Ordered all to take a family name – he took the name Ataturk (“father of the Turks”)  Reforms were embraced in the urban areas but in rural areas Islamic traditions remained strong and resisted for as long as possible