CHAPTER 3 HISTORICAL SETTING Modern Turkey arose during the final disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, following World War I, as the heir to a rich and diversified historical tradition. The Turks have drawn upon the various elements in this tradition, including the Turkish, Ottoman, Islamic, and Western influences, in the creation of a nation largely in the Anatolian peninsula. The Western influence is the most recently added element in the Turkish tradition; the origins of the other three can be traced to the appearance of the Turkish tribes in Anatolia. Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) brought Western influence to a significant level after an impressive military victory over Greece in 1922 softened the impact of defeat incurred by Turkey in World War I. Using this victory to rally the country to the cause of nationalism and independence, Atatürk pressed for wide political, social, and economic reforms. The victory against the Greeks had the effect of reversing the status of Turkey from that of a defeated state in the Treaty of Sèvres to that of a nation whose independence and territorial integrity were recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne. Atatürk dominated the new Republic in its formative years as his programs, aimed at Westernization and modernization, penetrated every part of Turkish life. The impact of these changes was felt more deeply in the cities than in the rural areas. Although some basic reforms were subsequently modified, such as the retreat from secularization that took place after World War II. In the main Kemalist principles persisted without being widely questioned. Democratic principles, as understood in Western Europe and the United States, began to take root. A one-party system gave way to a multiparty structure, and the short-lived period of military rule after the coup of 1960 gave way to a quick return to democratic procedures. ANCIENT HISTORY Asia Minor was the scene of many of the events of ancient history, a period in which Greek and Middle Eastern influences predominated. Various peoples, notably the Hittites and the Phrygians, settled parts of Anatolia in antiquity. They were followed by Greeks, Persians, Romans, Arabs, and others who inhabited the successive empires that rose and fell in the region. The renewal of interest in these ancient peoples after the establishment of the Turkish nation in 1923 has focused attention upon the cultural continuity linking Turkey to its most remote past. By 1600 B.C. the Hittites, who had seized control of Anatolia about 2000 B.C., had emerged as the strongest power in the ancient world and had established their capital at Bogazköy (Boğazkale). Traces of Hittite influence persist; for example, their wheelsolid rather than spoked-is still used in the Turkish countryside. The next great civilization, the Phrygian, began in the 12th century and lasted until approximately 700 B.C. The Phrygian city Troy was immortalized in Homer's Iliad. Medes, Assyrians, and Persians followed but left no lasting imprint on Anatolian culture. Alexander the Great crossed and conquered Asia Minor in his brief career, thereby initiating the Hellenistic period. During this time there was an intermingling of Greek and oriental cultures. Finally, the Romans acquired all of Asia Minor by the end of the first century B.C. In A.D. 330, Constantine the Great rebuilt the city of Byzantium as his capital. Renamed Constantinople, it became the center of the eastern section of the declining Roman Empire, which finally split into two empires in A.D. 395. The official language of the Byzantine Empire was Greek, but the culture was rooted in the Hellenistic blend of Greek and Middle Eastern elements. Christianity was the religion of Byzantium. In time the Christian realm split as the Roman Empire had done previously; the break between Byzantine Christianity and the Roman Papacy was complete by 1054. Throughout its thousand-year history, the Byzantine Empire was subjected to constant attack, first by nomadic barbarians and then by Moslem Arabs. The latter attempted to seize Constantinople in 669 and 674 but failed. The state, headed by an autocratic emperor, was subjected to the continued financial pressure of costly defense needs. There was also a history of competition between Byzantine and Western Christians. Commerce was one sphere of conflict, with Italian-chiefly Venetian-and Byzantine traders seeking the advantage in trade. Moreover, from the Fourth Crusade in 1204 until 1261, Constantinople was ruled by non-Byzantine Europeans. For nearly three centuries, the Byzantine Empire enjoyed a precarious existence at best. Christian Armenia fell to the Seljuk Turks in 1064. There ensued a continual loss of territory to the Ottoman Turks. The final destruction of the Byzantine Empire came with the fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453. THE COMING OF THE TURKS Little is known of the early history of the Turkic-speaking tribes that began moving into Anatolia about A.D. 1050. The Altai Mountains on the western edge of the Mongolian plateau are thought to be their original home. The Turks, whose conversion to Islam dates from about A.D. 970, soon gained renown for their fighting prowess. As mercenaries, thousands of them served the Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad. Seljuk, a Turk of the Oghuz tribe, gave his name to the first of these tribes to gain historical prominence. In 1055 the Seljuks took Baghdad; by 1070 they were moving through the area of Syria and Palestine. Anatolia fell to the Seljuks following the battle of Malazgirt (Manzikert) in 1071 in which Alp Arslan, Seljuk's grandson, captured the Byzantine emperor. Shortly thereafter, the Seljuks established the Sultanate of Rum (derived from Rome) with its capital at Konya. After a gradual decline, the Sultanate finally submitted to the Ottoman Turks in the late 14th century. The origins of the Ottoman Turks and of the Empire that bore their name are still somewhat unclear. Turkish tradition mentions a clan of the Oghuz Turks, whose leader Süleyman was killed near Aleppo (Syria). His son Ertugrul held a fief at Sögüt as a Seljuk vassal. In 1229 Ertugrul was succeeded by his son Osman, who established the dynasty known as Osmanli or Ottoman. The Ottoman holdings were extended by Orhan, the son of Osman, who made Bursa (Brusa) his capital after seizing it. By 1331 when Iznik (Nicaea) fell, the Ottomans had virtually ousted the Byzantines from Asia Minor. The Ottoman Turks saw themselves as ghazis, the champions of Islam, defending and extending the frontiers of the faith. Once Asia Minor was secured, the conflict was extended into the Balkans. Gelibolu (Gallipoli) was seized by Orhan in 1354. His son Murad I made further European conquests, taking Edirne (Adrianople, which served as the Ottoman capital until 1453), Sofia, and Macedonia (including Salonika). Murad died in the 1389 battle of Kossovo, in which his son Bayezid gained a decisive victory over the Serbs. The process of Ottoman expansion was interrupted by the Mongol invasion of Anatolia led by Tamerlane in 1402. Tamerlane, who restored the Seljuks, was eventually forced to withdraw by events elsewhere. Mehmed I restored Ottoman power and resumed the offensive in the Balkan campaign. In 1453 Mehmed II captured Constantinople, an event usually considered to mark the beginning of the Ottoman Empire. Certain of the institutions that characterized the Empire emerged during the period of the early Ottoman Empire. One was the system of devşirme, the incorporation of Christians into the service of the Empire. Others were a feudal system and the Kanun (religious law applicable to secular affairs), both of which became features of the state organization. GRANDEUR AND THE ONSET OF DECLINE: THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE TO THE 19TH CENTURY After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, three great Sultans, Mehmed II, the Conqueror, Selim I and Süleyman I, guided the Ottoman Empire to its zenith. Constantinople, renamed Istanbul, became the Ottoman capital. The successors of these Sultans were unable to equal their achievements, and the Empire began to show signs of decline. While weaknesses in the Ottoman Empire were appearing, the power of the states in Western Europe was growing. Mehmed II, having conquered Constantinople, extended the Ottoman domain in the Balkans. His successor, Bayezid II, was forced from the throne in 1512 by his son, Selim the Grim. Selim, who added Egypt and the Arabian holy cities of Mecca and Medina to the Empire, was the first Ottoman Sultan to use the title Caliph (successor to Mohammed). Selim's son, Süleyman the Lawgiver (or Süleyman the Magnificent, as he was called in the West) succeeded him in 1520. During his rule the Ottoman Empire reached its peak of power and wealth. At its height, the Empire encompassed the Balkan Peninsula, the Crimean area, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, western Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. Süleyman was unable, however, to penetrate into Europe beyond Vienna, which resisted a siege in 1529. The Empire was then a world crossroads of commerce, but Portuguese and other European seafarers were pioneering the sea lanes, which were to leave the Turks on a byway of international trade (see fig. 7). Süleyman the Magnificent inherited an efficient absolutist government, which showed signs of deterioration by his death. The bulwark of the nascent Empire had been the sipahi (cavalrymen) who were granted timars (feudal landholdings). As the Empire expanded, the need of infantry grew accordingly, which led to the increased reliance on the devşirme system. In time the Janissaries (yeniçeri or new troops) became the basis of Ottoman military power. To meet the need for increased revenues to finance |