Kemal’s Revolution
Middle East Study Group
Grand Lake Neighborhood Center
May 27, 2006
Notes on Mustafa Kemal’s Revolution
Oct. 30, 1918—Surrender of Ottoman Empire. Treaty of Mudros signed by the captive sultan, Mehved II, in Constantinople, now occupied by British & French forces. The Young Turk triumvirate that took power in 1908-- Enver, Talaat & Jemal-- have fled on a German warship.
May 1919—Mustafa Kemal sent by the Sultan to restore order at port of Samsun on Black Sea, where Greek villages were attacked by Turkish Muslims. Kemal’s actual goal is to rally forces throughout Turkey & resist Allied peace terms. He joins ex-Ottoman troops in central Turkey and they establish a National Pact, resolving to organize a military resistance that can rescue Turkey as a nation.
Feb. 1920 Kemal’s forces defeat small French force in so. Anatolia. Kemal’s revolt spreads across Turkey. The Greeks, with hopes to take Smyrna and other territory in western Anatolia, are encouraged by the British to fight the new Kemalist movement and enforce Allied peace terms.
June 1920 Greek invasion of Anatolia, backed by British, forces Kemal to shift to defensive strategy.
August 1920 Ottoman govt. is forced to sign the Treaty of Sevres, which creates new states of Armenia & Kurdistan and cedes Smyrna and Thrace to Greece. Allies would assume control of the Straits and policy decisions re Constantinople.
Oct. 1921 Angora Accord ends war between France and Turkey, after a series of French defeats by Kemal’s army. France and Italy renounce all claims to territory in Anatolia. The British see the separate peace as a betrayal. It frees the Turks to concentrate on the Greek forces that are fighting as British clients.
June 1922 New Greek offensive forces Kemal’s army into a strategic retreat, ceding western Anatolia. Kemal redeploys forces near Angora (Ankara) in preparation for a defensive battle.
August 1922 Greek army is lured into the fortifications surrounding Ankara and is defeated, forcing into a long retreat that ends their military effectiveness.
Fall 1923- Treaty of Lausanne enables Turks to gain all their objectives except control of Mosul, which is awarded to Iraq.
Oct. 29, 1923 Turkey becomes first republic in the Middle East.
1924 After letting the caliphate continue for two years after abolishing the sultanate. Kemal abolishes the caliphate as well, angering the Muslim world. He forges ahead with a broad-ranging policy of secularization in Turkey, known as “Kemalism.”
Grand Lake Neighborhood Center
May 27, 2006
Notes on Mustafa Kemal’s Revolution
Oct. 30, 1918—Surrender of Ottoman Empire. Treaty of Mudros signed by the captive sultan, Mehved II, in Constantinople, now occupied by British & French forces. The Young Turk triumvirate that took power in 1908-- Enver, Talaat & Jemal-- have fled on a German warship.
May 1919—Mustafa Kemal sent by the Sultan to restore order at port of Samsun on Black Sea, where Greek villages were attacked by Turkish Muslims. Kemal’s actual goal is to rally forces throughout Turkey & resist Allied peace terms. He joins ex-Ottoman troops in central Turkey and they establish a National Pact, resolving to organize a military resistance that can rescue Turkey as a nation.
Feb. 1920 Kemal’s forces defeat small French force in so. Anatolia. Kemal’s revolt spreads across Turkey. The Greeks, with hopes to take Smyrna and other territory in western Anatolia, are encouraged by the British to fight the new Kemalist movement and enforce Allied peace terms.
June 1920 Greek invasion of Anatolia, backed by British, forces Kemal to shift to defensive strategy.
August 1920 Ottoman govt. is forced to sign the Treaty of Sevres, which creates new states of Armenia & Kurdistan and cedes Smyrna and Thrace to Greece. Allies would assume control of the Straits and policy decisions re Constantinople.
Oct. 1921 Angora Accord ends war between France and Turkey, after a series of French defeats by Kemal’s army. France and Italy renounce all claims to territory in Anatolia. The British see the separate peace as a betrayal. It frees the Turks to concentrate on the Greek forces that are fighting as British clients.
June 1922 New Greek offensive forces Kemal’s army into a strategic retreat, ceding western Anatolia. Kemal redeploys forces near Angora (Ankara) in preparation for a defensive battle.
August 1922 Greek army is lured into the fortifications surrounding Ankara and is defeated, forcing into a long retreat that ends their military effectiveness.
Fall 1923- Treaty of Lausanne enables Turks to gain all their objectives except control of Mosul, which is awarded to Iraq.
Oct. 29, 1923 Turkey becomes first republic in the Middle East.
1924 After letting the caliphate continue for two years after abolishing the sultanate. Kemal abolishes the caliphate as well, angering the Muslim world. He forges ahead with a broad-ranging policy of secularization in Turkey, known as “Kemalism.”
