Blog #13

The six principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a very successful ruler in Turkey post World War I for many reasons. In this blog, I would like to focus on his six principles; reformism, republicanism, secularism, nationalism, populism and etatism. that he made during his rule. Kemal was determined to mold the new Turkey in the image of the Western Societies. In order to do this, as discussed before, Kemal had to break from the Ottoman past. His first action was to move the nations capital from Istanbul to Ankara in 1923. "This move of the government from the cosmopolitan capital of the former empire to the heartland of Anatolia symbolized the Turkishness of the new state." (Cleveland, 179) This was a clear example of reform and nationalism. Next, Kemal was determined to pass a new constitution. He did so in the next year, passing his constitution which reaffirmed his principles of republicanism and popular soverignty. This new constitution gave all males, eighteen and over, the right to vote. It also gave women the right to vote. Kemal served as the head of the Republican People's Party (RPP) which enabled him to acquire a great amount of power. Secularism was also a very important part of Mustafa Kemal's platform. The policy of secularism was inaugurated in March of 1924 with the removal of Caliph Abdul Mejid. This allowed Kemal to, "in effect sweeping aside thirteen centuries of accumulated Islamic tradition." (Cleveland, 181) Populism established a combination of adult education centers, sports clubs, and political indoctrination units. This helped Kemal's effort to take the revolution to the masses. Etatism was a development of the 1930s. Etatism rose during the worldwide depression of the 1930s. It began with the announcement of a five year plan in 1933. This ordered the construction and establishment of industrial infrastructures.