Ottoman Empire and Leadership

Ataturk's Influence On The New Turkish Republic And Village Institutes Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, or "Father Turk," is credited with being the father of the modern nation of Turkey. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Turkey did not exist as we know it today. Its territory was part of the Ottoman Empire, a conglomeration of different ethnicities and religions of various tribal affiliations. Under Ataturk's vision and leadership, a new nation emerged. He was spurred on by the growing nationalist movements sweeping across Europe.

Ataturk was fundamentally a modernist, which can be seen in his efforts during World War I, his personal philosophy and lifestyle, and also the secular reforms which he implemented during his reign, including those in education. Even before World War I, the Ottoman Empire was known as the Sick Man of Europe. It was corrupt and weak. While studying at the war college of the Empire as a young man, Ataturk's nationalist ambitions were fostered as he became more fully acquainted with the incompetency of the Ottoman regime.

The young Ataturk along with his other military students was forced to pray to the Sultan as well as God. He was also prohibited from drinking and engaging in other Western practices that conflicted with the literal teachings of Islam. These early experiences likely fostered his resistance to institutionalized religious compulsion, particularly by the state, although his mother had hoped that her young son would follow a religious vocation.

Eventually, Ataturk was exiled to Damascus as a result of his perceived insubordination, which only strengthened his resolve to resist backward ideas. Ataturk continued to be in conflict with the ruling powers of his nation in his opposition to Germany; despite this fact, he was forced to fight for Germany and against Russia during the war. Still, Ataturk had a major influence in the stunning defeat of the British Navy by the Sick Man of Europe. He distinguished himself repeatedly in his military leadership.

Despite the fact that he fought for the Ottoman Empire, Ataturk's ideas about what constituted an ideal new nation-state remained unwaveringly secularist and influenced by his belief that the religious constructs which governed the Ottoman Empire were misguided. Later, Ataturk, after he ascended to leadership of the new nation of Turkey would say: "Religion is an issue of conscience. Everyone is free to conform to the commands of their conscience.

We show respect for religion...We are only trying not to mix religious affairs with the affairs of the nation and the state" (Ataturk - Republic of Turkiye (Part 2), 2007). Thus from the beginnings of his career in the military and later as a revolutionary supporter of resistance and independence, Ataturk was a secularist. When he assumed leadership of the new nation, he promoted equal education, modern dress, and established secular institutions of leadership.

All of these efforts were opposed by religious leaders although Ataturk was not opposed to religion, merely theocracy. As quoted in Part 9 of the British documentary Ataturk - Republic of Turkiye,, Ataturk stated that he did not see religious cohesion as necessary or desirable in founding the new nation: "It is claimed that religious unity is also a factor in the formation of nations...we see the contrary in the Turkish nation.

Turks were a great nation even before they adopted Islam." Ataturk also expressed the belief that "Mohammedanism [Islam] was based on Arab nationalism above all nationalities," again reflecting the nationalist so characteristic of the post-World War I era, which saw the proliferation of new nation-states based upon the Wilsonian principles of self-determination (Ataturk - Republic of Turkiye (Part 9), 2007).

Ataturk did not mandate a secularist lifestyle from his citizens; he did not, for example, mandate that women adopt Westernized dress but he did view religion as an issue of personal conscience, not one which should be managed by agents of the state as they had been under the Ottoman Empire.

The ambitions of Ataturk to create a modern society founded upon ideals which transcended religion drew attention from many Western observers, including the educational reformer John Dewey (1983), who wrote that Turkish schools should foster "proper political habits and ideas" including those which fostered national unity (p.1). Because Turkey, despite the fact that it was largely Islamic in character, was made up of a diverse range of peoples expressing allegiances to local caliphs and mosques, for Ataturk, education was a way to create a more cohesive republic.

Both boys and girls were to be part of this new vision, to "fit men and women for self-government, economic self-support and industrial progress; namely, initiative and inventiveness, independence of judgment, ability to think scientifically and to cooperate for common purposes socially" (Dewey, 1983, p.2). A critical component of these new educational reforms was the idea of the need to teach the teachers as manifested.