Looking for a timeline of events for the Turkish war of independence? Want to know about the causes, effects & battles of the war? Our guide to the Turkish war of independence gives you the facts & information you want to know.
The Turkish war of independence can be said to have begun with the landing of Mustafa Kemal in Samsun on the 19th of May 1919. These were difficult times as the conditions around him were very intense but he instigated a national struggle against the foreign oppression in Anatolia. The charismatic individual that he was, Mustafa Kemal soon became the leader of the National struggle movement which was fast gaining both size and momentum. In the summer of 1919 two congresses were held in Erzurum and Sivas in which the declaration of the objectives of this mission were made.
National Leader Turkish War of Independence
Concurrent to the foreign occupation of Istanbul on 23rd April Mustafa Kemal set up the Turkish Grand National Assembly. He also set up a new provisional government with its center at Ankara. It was this day that saw Mustafa Kemal become President of the Grand National Assembly. It was not long before the Greeks started to advance towards Bursa and Eskisehir but the Turkish forces managed to crush the opposition under the leader ship of Colonel Ismet. Six months later the Greeks attacked from the front with a stronger military force in Sakarya. The battle of Sakarya lasted from 23rd of August till the 13th of September with Greece losing in the end. It was after this war that Mustafa Kemal was given the title of Ghazi by his assembly. Determined to put an end to foreign occupation he launched a full fledged attack on the 26th of August 1922. The end result was that the enemy forces were captured and killed and forced to flee away with the eventual victory coming in the city of Izmer.
Republic of Turkey
The new state of Turkey got international recognition with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24th 1923. Mustafa Kemal declared the new Turkish state as a republic on the 29th of October 1923 after which he was elected as the republic’s first President. For the vast majority of the Turkish public who were tired of the stagnant Ottoman Empire as well as the foreign occupation of the enemies Mustafa Kemal is looked upon as the liberator of the Turks.
It must be admitted that it was the unique polished skills of Mustafa Kemal and his crew that managed to win over Turkish independence by driving out the allied powers. This was a seemingly impossible task but he and his men managed to plan effective strategies and execute them to perfection in order to gain the much needed independence of the Turkish nation. Under his rule the Turkish people managed to unite and confront the problems that faced their country.
History of Turkish War of Independence
Although Ataturk was a courageous leader the opinions about him are divided. Whereas the general Turkish public love and admire him even till today, those influenced by the years of Islamic rule have an opinion quite the contrary. To them the man made laws that were enforced by Ataturk are inferior to the law of God that was once prevalent in Turkey. A point to be noted here is that it was the inability of the Ottomans to maintain a strict adherence to sharia law which led to the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of modern Turkey. During the earlier half of the Ottoman rule there was much more progress and satisfaction and that was solely due to the fact that the Muslims of that time lived their lives according to the principles of their religion. None the less modern Turkey is void of the influence of the Ottoman Empire in principle and has adopted the principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
