283 Wose From thi tine onvord consort cece eee guestion ofthe lao and te bounanes Sates ee oe ‘Speci aswel the quetion of how, and by which coe fo could be hep apts, Ineed hey could be epee aa The Reactions against the Reaction ‘THE HAMIDIAN PERIOD jn its great days looked still on the surface, bur its depths were boiling with the signs of a coming revolt. Between the conflicting pressures of conservatism and the ‘Westen penetration, the lines of thinking on cultural matters began to clarify and differentiace. ‘When the intelleccuals of the post-Tanzimat era had reflected ‘upon the problems of culeural change after 1870, their opinions ‘were confused by questions of political reform. Cultural issues had been viewed in terms of an amalgam of the traditionalist, reformist, and Western outlooks. The incllecruals had been able .9 see that there were aspects of Turkish cultural life thac were incompatible with moder civilization and, hence, needed to be reformed; yet, when the struggles for political reform began, they had forgotten this and begua to think instead that a constitutional reform would be the panacea. Matters of economic behaviour and mentality, aspects of education, etc., had all been subordinated to the problem of political reform. Many of the existing institutions had begun to be defended while the model (the West) had begun, to be attacked. One of the consequences of Hamid’s suppression of political preoccupations was to force che intellectuals to focus upon non politica, cultural questions that had been lose sight of during che constitutional controversies. By severing the cultural questions from che political-religious questions, the Hmidian regime un- knowingly encouraged focusing upon cultural matters as such, This focusing was sharpened by factors stemming from the West- fern impact that the Hamidian suppression failed ro prevent. 289 chapter 10290 {THE REACTIONS AGAINST THE REACTION The Revolt Against Religion ‘The Hamiian regime did ot forece e supprenion would breed a geoeaton neni, ints chotcteresandteocl wo oe domian fester eink ideology. Under the noses of he edourmenof clan oes even of ater seg ip. Thr new af ewer Semen with he mow cnet ean a te mel ot By eablthing the omnipotence of his deve ( oo Hamid inpenied the di (gion), The core Can he sleavagein the minds of the ntelecwals overran ee forth the Hamidian din ses’ inlet He was en of biley of maeriage benven the toys Pha at today cennoe understand how the esos dae ae 20 atustve ideal to many Musi He sn recedes oe pathy fr sch an deat the leguy ofthe Hendin ed Once discussion of pote guescons nas panda inde were frei of politcal entngleners Goce ae began to presen temscies more lealy sag eae ae demarenon OF these, the Wexen tate tegen ee the stongest as Westem infloencefonied al eee eee ae tnd empled by the Hamdan pres, ‘The etkom howe ofthe Hanlon eg were wide pen to the mater civilization of Europes ven te oe aoe ea themselves to hisand ied era far lanes prea ee ee hands the aleme were unesevely protects ge te, the non-nte” ciaon of the Wese They poe ie premium onthe homemade “not-mstenn” cies Sacha Matra Ered, went the een of chstag tar a ould be exported profitably as doug foe she civilization. ” eee te Bat n rear, «drama agg , smuggling operation was taking place on the borders of the Eat and West nse of al the coerce dangerous thooghts: Abi Hamid ree eee oon en agar the comtabund de cured tough oe Peer a offices, which the Grea Powers hed mange vo ameter of thee exertional igs, One ges theimpecnoa eg ng Feminiscences that the youth obtaining such contraband did mot at a policy of political seemed a nightmare tothe sincere The Revolt Ageinst Religion have to wor too hard to get i. They obtained French papers nd imagenes rgslaly from one aot, papers whose origin they Gi noc even bot to gueaiont ‘The leading writers ater go all recall how they were arated to the French lseatore and how lite by the homemade "none materia” commodities, HUseyin Cake (Yalgn) relates in his "Ler Reinsenes" that he i i tos eo ea i ther favourite book, the Funds of lim alArai. But as, in vain! ‘This book conveyed simply noting ro him. Furthermore, ey, “None of ws bouered any longer to improve our knowiedge of Arabic and Persian, We simpy didnot read the books sien in thee language” Tie wae noe beau laming French was ener tnd amaterof couse, These write and Fara lie, describe tow pusioncly and eager, yet wih the pain of looking p tach word inthe detonary hey laboured ro master French, Sl ts Fauna Alive sys, "Aftersome tine it becme exit to read and Understand the French books than the Otioman-Turkih books because the lawer required, i anything, more recoune vo the thetonsy thn the French? Hasgyin Cae ys ‘What were the forces that had delivered my mind from the swamps of scholasticism, che forces that opened new horizons before my eyes, the forces that freed my soul from bondage? I find today that ie was the French language and culture above all things which ‘was responsible for my avakening.* Another prominent writer of che following decades, Huseyin Rahmi, speaks even more passionately of the role of European literature in the intelectual awakening of his generation. ‘Wercern civilization has been a torch light for our swakeaing ‘The Hamidian tyranny ... suppressed all the poblcstions that are the moral food of a nation... One thing, however, could not be eliminated. Despite the severe inspections of the customs 2nd tsucational officers, foreign books could reach the shelves of the intellectuals... used e9 aotice one thing: while the stores selling “Turkish works censored and approved by the government were without customers, despite their colourful window displays, the stores selling foreign books thrived, The vacuum created by the 1 Hseyin Cahie Yagi Edebt Het # ids pp. 7-8 2 Ahmed Midhar, Fanaa Aliye Ham, Yalu Bir Mubariresi Osmani- seni Netert (cabal, 1895), 88. + Yalgi, Edebi Hatralr, pe 28 291 7 samba, 938), Bobankruptcy of the traditional culture was filled by the foreign culture European thinkers, historians, poets, and writers became known as if they were our own. The good effects of foreign literature, however, were felt only by a small lite among the youth’ -. as the The Revolt Against Religion is sucocracy ha created is unique type of revolutionary, Specie rere yer eyes [nd no bewe em than the word der, the word thas bd come tobe ned asa bel for tote who were Bleed tobe materi 292 igh of our minds were on the verge of being extogutied coely, or atheists, but that, in eeality, meant nothing but the Western the sparks ying here from Eucopesn culture rekindled therm. If thers ‘word secularist. They were denounced because of the common 222 today (1908) men who can think, can write, and can defend thread ranning through them all—the denial of tradicon. They eadom, they are chose whose mings were enlightened by these wove from rationalism, materialism, evolutionism and navuralism ses hs uk ad cht da ot Edy on us an aciade rejecting beliefs and practices as absurd, superstitious, were those intelectual creauces of the West. We leamed the ove ing that was seen to bean enforced for thinking, the love for freedom, from those treasures. All of =e ae Everythi ig tha ce the recent developments in our ways af thinking, se wll asia our lief was rejected as irrational. -che-maeraie try and verse are the products ofthe winds bowing from ehe In ‘spite of all the approved refutacion-of-the-material Were io a ere ron the aor sr, led a pilvopia conviction. The best representative of this viewpoint was Begir Ac no time has the West been so idealized as by the inhibited Foad (18552-83), 2 young friend of Ahmed Michac?® Beqir was, Te oats Hamidian peviod. In the eyes ofthe intelectual, the like his predecessor Hoca Tahsin, one of the radical Turkish West was the world of freedom, cemfore, individual dignity, of imtelecculs who was unlucky in life and quickly forgoten in season, of decency, and of beauty and art. There was absolurely desch He wes an archerype of Afgheats devon owgh he we nothing in the old disipated, rotten home environment and past estructive only to himelE. According to Midhat, Besir was {0 be liked, from which co derive inspiration, o love, wich whch amazingly encyclopedic, had sound scientific knowledge, knew to identity. The young generation fel disgust for its eavironment the major European langueges and vheir Terstares, wos very ined Past: youth fel the existence o” its Uropia in the “lands of patriotic, nd a good friend. But he was, Midhat grieved, 2 con lights"—Enrope. ‘vinced materialise and although he was “against those wretched paki wetngs of the period cortincefereness roan impres- characters who were disturbing the peace of the world in sive array of nineteenth-century European celebrities A sampling Europe.” ie, the socialins, he was 4 hopeless atheist, Midhat Pages mentioned in the writings of the period shows who attributed Begir's faults to is ignorance of Arabic and Persian; he Sad seplaced the French clasiciss, and Rousseau, or Moncesquiew could read the Kue'an only in its French translation; his knowl Schopenhauer, Haeckel, Bichner, Dirwin, Draper, Reman, tine, ‘edge of hadith, tfsr, kalém, and tarewrcuf was non-existent. "One Herbert Spencer, Gustav Le Bon, Foincaré, Th. Ribot, Charles can imagine the grave consequences of such deficiencies in a Meanet Flamation, John Stuart Mill Faubere, Balzac, Zola, and Muslim and Ottoman,” Midhat deplored. Bee's life and suicide, os noe char eaeane esonages, This list ie should be noted, so can Midhat’s thesis, was a good leson in the fate of materialist, cloes not include the names of European writers who appeared in ic Fuad was essentially'a literary ertie? His criticism was Turkish writings immediately after the i908 Revolthen, These Pea veeey ‘would lengthen the list several times. The suppresed generation : hoe, Beir Fuad Clan, 1885) fead European literature indisriminately, like hungry children sara eee No doubs. there were many upset stomachs, but atthe sae time "Dialers adtu aby ern enews cbc. (het a) ‘he ground was being prepared for rebellion, eat forthe ating of eth pn and rg,» ‘The reblliousness ofthe new generation had no politcal impli- fon of one of Zoli novels, and» number of other novels rari om French, English, and’ Germany al ot the fie two of which cations. The ineellectuals were not constitutionalses or liberal, were onalshie'to ths ter alg Efe Hlasee vat Socialists or anarchists. Yet, they had the taint of all these. Just a5 trenton Bent ads eraasion of Bochner Matter snd Exe. sn pean Boe have been unable to fod ths. Foran aay of Boe uss reed high we dened ama os ielletval conteibation see Gizin Publication by the Hamidi enor Gh il in her Tensinetten Somes 2ppescel for the Fr ineinvgts Edebiyares Gergebpige Dora (Ankars, 959).294 directed against che idealism and romanticism of Namile Kemal ‘While Namike Kemal took inspiration from Rousseau, Besir Fuad got his from Diderot, D'Holbach, and D'Alembert as the founders ‘of modern realism and naturalism based on science (physiology and psychology), and given literary expression in the works of Balzac, Stendhal, and Zola. He was the first Turkish ineellectual able to perceive scientific realism asthe esential difference between, ‘Western philosophical thinking and the medieval and Oriental philosophies. In che past, Turkish intellectuals had been one and sometimes {wo centuries behind the developments in European thought. On the eve of the French Revolution, and after it, the Turkish intellect was practically untouched by classicism and romanticism. With Sinast and Namuk Kemal the influence of both of these literary ‘movements was manifest. When European thought was under the sway of scientific realism, roughly after 1860 (Darwin's Origin of Species appeared in 1859), the Turkish incelleetvals were still reading Fenélon's Télémaque or, at best, the works of Moligre and Racine. Namik Kemal’s literary understanding was, in terms of Torkish intellectual standart, a grest effort to encompass Euro- Pean classicism and romanticism in one stride. However, with the advent of the Hamidian regime, all lierary and quss-philosophical developments toward understanding European thought were stopped. Tewas Besir who brought a fresh bree West. We find a new understanding of contemporary European Scientific and literary thought in his writings. At a ime when even Utopian socialism was largely unheard of and ridiculed by the influcotial writers such as Ahmed Mitha, Bes Fuad was the only tan who knew of the birth of a scence called sociology in the West. He wasaware of the new experimental approach in scientific thinking. His main interest within the literary feld was Zola and the naturalists, and he regarded the modem novel as a branch of sociology, Besir Fuad was nor an artist. His infuence a a literary evtie and translator was limited, The new drive eo understand contemporary European thought ended with his suicide in 1887. Yee, he exercised a refreshing influence upon the younger generation. Hiseyin Cahie speaks of him as “liberating the youth from the shackles of the Alton and leading the minds co wider horizons.” 2e from the contemporary * alg, Edebt Hanirator, p36 The Revolt Against Religion Turkish readers were not yee ready to comprehend the late sinetest-century European movemen’s of tought such rea isn, natural, wopian socialism, evolutionism, or scenic socaam. Under che overpowering athony of Abned Mia, allthese were anathemaied To speak of eatralim,epecily 8 represented by Zola meant in those days ariving aan itll positon equal vo anarchism or nih, The Turkish inlecrals Produced nether + genuine materialism in philosophy realism or ecrlsm in iterate, nor soci n pole. When these nine teethvcencry European rays of thoughts posed through the rental prim cut by Abdil-flami, they produced an ideology for Which heer utopian individualom the mos appropriate Utopian individualism was the Meaogy of the emergent lerary school that came to be known 2s Bdeviyatt Cede (the New Titeracire) and was formed by the literary ers, poets and nals who, in 1096, gathered around che cary review Sere Fruit was th cology of the décadensagsnse whom Ahmed Midhaefough tothe cod Tei ute unecandable why che aesthees of the New Liter ature could not ideniy thet literary mision with European naturalism, eas, oscil, The works ofthe French reli tr naturals woul dispel the utopian picture of Exropeanscity ‘hac had become exalted and beau inthe minds of the new lirateur, The aipred forthe feof the Eoropean indidea iwhch tra confor, ene pogo onde they eeigned™no fora society erties for ts chs nents, imcrines tnd pros, a gendy money nolan end exploted proletariat. Hence, they dropped tht enlier incr in the tay Ji (nots) nd the tabi (natu) and tured to the Inferior French novels whoer works are cost forgoten bese thse of Stendhal, Flaubert, Bae, an Zola None ofthe oustanding figures ofthe school, Tew Fikret, Hale Zips and Huseyin Cahit were els nthe Buopean sense beesute shir own Condens enade them utopian Indvidolaa Asauch, they could neither andestand Western realism nor apply the eechnigiee of the els eo the study of thet oa enviton tment And ye, thelr Weary produce remain 25 reveling doce tens of rely 3s seen through the eyes of utopian individ and oftheir ideas and sspiracons as refered In thi rejection of rely, Foremost among ter ideas was new undestanding of the Guestlon of Wesernfation-which contd a taring point in the arco coward the War 295296 {HE REACTIONS AGAINST THE REACTION Turning to the West According to the previously prevailing view of Westernization the Turks should continue to belong to the Islamic, or Oriental civilization. The taking over of things from Westera civilization ‘would be confined to the material or utilitarian elements. Many of these, the Hamidian view added, were originally the property of the Muslims. In this understanding of Westernization the problem appeared to be quite simple. However, some began to perceive that the material inroads of the Western civilization were being fol- Jowed or accompanied by certain moral elements as the contro versy over polygamy illustrated, The question of East versus West began to be discussed in the fields of language and literature by tke contemporaries of Ahmed Midhat. One of them, Semseddin Simi, pue forth an idea that sig- nalled an entirely new point of view. He sai: So far those who didnot know the language andthe clare of the European nations admited the saperonigy ofthe Westra sms in hr mal Ciaon bt mre Sly conned chat in clear, especially iterate sd in poetry, in history, ad inthe phllogical sciences they were far blow ate shel rele that all para of clte are ceely meereed A civitation cannocexise with only some branches of know ledge, the West were defcene in clr t cud not devel i seer civnasion, «'. Those who know Encopean languages snd Tceraoces wil realize tha our own lngage and ernie ae deficient and underdeveloped. A Tarksk pot sequaned ik he European necaure cannot sng any longer af tise ugh Secs, Turning to the West bad. As the proverb goes, “One who loved the rose would alo tolerate the thom’” The new Wass found vss self-evident that they rarely Bothered to see orto rouble themselves with the thd The more che suppresion and obscurantim of the Hamiian period intensiied, andthe more ic degenerating in vences perme ated society and i moral, the more Europeen civilization was seen aa bed of thornles roses. Why fas about the bad aspecs of European civilization? Was Islamic, on, asthe new Westerns preferred to ell it, Oriental civiliation any better? How could One be so stupid as to depze civilization of enlightenment and prosperity amids so much ignorance, so much ugliness, so mich bypoersy so much marl, injustice, and resultane misery? Flow Could one beso choosy as diadin something ont of the wonde's of the Western eiviization shen his own begparly existence Wes nothing bot a shadow soon co perish anyhows “The Weserniss saw Oriental civlation sinking, sinking not because af the predatory, or immorsh, or hostile nature of Euro. pean civilization, bue because Oriental civilization itself Wa ine herently bad and backward and they ssw Westen civilization 5 inherently good and superior, not a cilization taken ove from the Arabs, bue one based upon ently new foundations, Which were neither Christian nor Muslim, The foundadons? That wasn't Quite clear yee-the majorigy of thee new Westerists were as chetes and iterary men who knew lil history no economics, and 2 bare smatering of selene The Westerns admits for the Wesem civizaton was similar tothe love of 2 sensitive youth for a beaucful nlknown woman. They did noc ey for the pre servation of the ast there ova nothing worthvtfe init hey ae longed only for if filled with beaury. piré mughéns, Rharibi', ec... We t30 ought to have in our ‘The fist announcement of the new Westerism, i i interesting literature the verse, che story, che drama, and the novel of the to note, was made 25 declaration of wat agninst the fashionable type of Westem literature... The testy generation previous ¢o : furs pur the Westin an oriental garb. The present-day generation has approached the West more closely and by doing s0 has come closer to contemporary civilization? A new conception of civilization thus emerged. According to it, Western civilization was a whole, inclding within itself the good as well s the bad. The good could not be separated easily from the ‘Arabism, The man who fred the frsteannon was, 3s his subsequent politcal career showed, an unruly young man named Hiseyin Cahie [Valera (1875-1957) Cahic opened a new era in Turkish thought cen years before the restoration of the Constitutional regime with an article that ap- peared only ater having been emasculated by the censor. Herel us im his “Literary Reminiscences" how the censor hacked away at his text and relates his own amazement that ie was pasied even 297 * Semseddin Simi, “Lise ve Edebiyatim." Tercemens Hatiter ve in crippled form. The article was written to attack the series of Manewver Farin (special sve tabu, 1897), Boe articles referred to above which was intended to prove that the298 Escopen sciences andi a Arab Lear ace in Cats own words how he cane ee ‘was it the result of the sincere conviction of the writers of those ot cae ge books and lear from the Arabs. These notions created feelings boastful demagoguery without reckoning ourselves and ous the sciences of the Arabs s and om all occasions in order vo anaesttize the vation, order to prevent it from joining the stream of life of the West passing us near by. In adiion to the thick and black shoud of ignssnce In che Turkey of 1935, when the above li 1 when the above lines were pened Hiseyin Cait found his artile commonplace and begged hi readers to remember the conditions of 1898 Ths warning shold be kepe in mind in reading the uotadons from that article made oe the panaloons we went ee fom Europe oe hee cnghecocone fem dee We a ae See am amy td prea he Pane 1 Valpin, Edebt Hatialer, pp. 6-87 Turing to the West Khaldin's philosophy of history belongs to the infantile age of the science of history. Since then, the child has grown; he became 4 boy in Germany; he even grew co old age; nay, the poor fellow is dead! The modetn science of history is to come from Europe, ‘not From the Arabs. The histories of the Arabs may reach us one 299 thing coday—the then-existing state of historical knowledge [Arteles about the teachings of Arab science have taught me only one thing; T finally learned that we have been liberated from Arab civilization forever! If our gratitude to Arab civilization is due to those Arab sciences, we can declare our good riddance of it without hesitation. Compared with the modera astronomical devices, the ‘machines, military methods and techniques, geographical discoveries, tnd developments in the medical science, those pitiable sciences. Of the Arabs are nothing but childsplay. .. . If we want to be ‘worthy of the fourteenth century of Islam, lec ws leave those Arab books and embrace passionately the modesn books which can fill ‘out brains with the sciences and techniques of our time, Sucely, ‘ve shal ind these not among the Arabs, but in the West ‘This article and the discussions on the questions it raised, caused the Islamists to rally around the battle standard as the opponents of the Westemists, Mustafa Sabri (who came to be, several years later, Seyhul-Islam) warned the décadents to beware lest they lose their heads! He was particularly indignant over the assertion chat “swe” were liberated from Arab civilization. “Who is this ‘we'?” he asked. ‘What do we count compared to the Arabs? Islam, which enjoins respect and attachment to the Arabs, is nor a matter of utilitarian ties like Ottoman unity. Islam is so deep in our souls thar we cannot conceive our teligion without the Arab sciences. The Arab Sciences, chose siences of helm, ual, literature, and, above all, that beloved science of fiql have never been ridiculed by anyone +0 boldly. ‘Among the new Westernists we also find a new understanding of the nature of the Turkish transformation. We find: this stated by the same Hliseyin Cahit.!2 According to him, the Tanzimae 1M The article ented “Acaban Inifade Edecegimia Ulu,” ap peated. in Tarsh, No, 450 (1898); eprinced in Fiseyia Cab Prsiginy Kovgoleran {Istanbul 1910) + Momafa Sibr, "Cit Die Dekadan” Aliana (Istanbul, 18) 1 Hiiseyin Cahie (Valen, "Edebiyaes Cedide—Menge ve Esa Feregatorn stanbule rove, pp. 9108 for where the following guinea qooration have been eaten: the article was partly = primed in Fbseyin Cab Falpm, ed, Sone Hiztcs (Ista 1957). Pesorst.300 signified a fundamental change, and prepared the foundations for the rise of a new form of society. A nation that belonged to an Asiatic civilization had begun to Europeanize. Minds had begun to realize thatthe new world was not the kind of world known pre. ously, and that they ought to form thei own type of society fing the contemporary world by takng over ides from Europe if they wanted to survive. Then came a reaction; wrapped ins thick cover of bigotry, it aimed at incuicating hatred for the Wese Quowardly, it continued to accept the necesity of borrowing from the West but ie constantly emphasized that only the good sides of Western civilization should be borrowed. This was nothe ing bue a disguised form of anti-Westernisin. Then in 1896 came ‘the movement of tuming to the West (the school of New Liter. ature). But Cahit pointed out that this never meant direct imication ‘of European institutions, We should borrow from the West all humanity and that would be used ar otr guiding principles for the creation of our own national achievements fn secoedance with our own place, time, and capacities those principles that apply co The now Westerns point of view was cated further and a ‘mote comprehensive level by another man, te ader of ena etary movement and ainot he ides type of new Weoeran Tevfik Fikret (869-1915). “eve Fikret’ literary cereer began under the Hamin reign bor dnt end with its downtalk Te contnned ate te ee Revolaon unt his death, The ideloge impct of hs pang aly wil, therefore, be brought up agin in ner enor ea most sting trait apperene sone dee inl soe Weeeean was something that wil ppenc quite pesdoveak The nak wet 2 preocepation with moral quedny From Afghani to Ahmed Midhae, the debr (and Fire was an exe example) was poreayed a3 mn dev of ny meen or 34 an who was the enemy of malty as well ela leoicly the lading Westerns tell sly mo a 4 moras, This was parley te of Fats le uri teach ane orale, bac notin the fashion of the ligne Sees ist, ‘The morality he sought to teach Wass Sessa nosy te which unlined freedom swold be recgnaed te the select forthe inception of rligiows tlc Filze’s masterful combination ofthe echniquts of trdionl prosody and fee verse as in isl, erator: Dec haat Turning to the West vations did not rest cher. In his hands, Turkish poetry was com- pletely secularized both in form and in content, even when the poem was a hymn (dua). Most of his poems written before 1908 ‘were denunciations of tradition and obscurantism. One of his long poems, Sis (“The Fog”, symbolizing the Hamidian regime) was ‘the boldest in condemning the traditional morality. A sil longer poem, Taribei Kadime (“Old History"), written in tgos, has not been surpassed by anything in Turkish in che severity of its moral condemnation of all the insications ofthe past, chief among them being Religion. There has never been a poem that has so influenced Turkey, or has been so attacked, “Old History” is a description of the degradation of human beings through tyranny, injustice, hypocrisy, and slavery. Despite his anguish over the past, the poet believes that the long night wil end with brighe new day. Bue who is going to bring about the Revolution? Mose people expected this as « miracle from God. But isicmot in His name that ll these sufferings have been perpetrated? Ist not thos lite gods, those shadows of Him on earth, who are isomers Cold he delerer beat Go who the eo totype of the tyrants—those tyrants who have in theie earthly Iingdons ser own ropes sed mesenger the own hl nd paradise, their own creatures and torturer? Nay, that God does rot seem to have a reality. A tyrant God can not exist; only the God who loves and gives mercy to mankind can exist. That other God, che one described and preached by the fathers of religion, i 4 fabrication to enslave the people and enchain their minds. Doube is now challenging Him. It is Reason that is in pursuit of Light (ruth or Hak.) With all His majesty and grandeur, He is con- qquered by Reason, No one except the hypocrite and ignoramus ‘mourns for Him, for that which Was nothing but a lie! Fikret sex his new ideals against belief in such a deity in a poem ‘written a his son's “Creda” (Ament). They were: belief in tran's dignity, che brotherhood of men, man's capacity for perfection, Jove and peace, individual liberty, and the infnice capacity of Reason to transform the world. The youth no longer resorted to the verses of the Kuan in their moral thinking. Verses from Fikret’ poetry, especialy from “Credo,” began to sppeat as the slogans of new ideals, The verses, were shocking, yee, before 1908 and in the early post-i908 period, the youth read them subversively as sacred truths. Ii an age when everything sang the glories of the past and the ‘wonders of the auspicious reign of the Shadow of God, in an age 301302 1 See Haran i Hayat VI No, Tevpi Filet oe Ab vwnon apologetics denunciatory of che West wece in fll bloom, Fikret poetry was boc revoliionary and constructive, Te con, strvetive ape ay in arse expresion of new vale thee vere giv tothe youth nether inthe apse ofthe tana cateciss nor as foreign importatons, Wheres ce poss se plays through which Naruk Kem introduced s new Coney ot civic morality, in the form of patie vires, appealed te the tars, Fikret’ humanistic morality drove direc o the heme Keras ideals were verses; they were al anscendenea Flet’ideas were not ingpproschable loud, becute thar cones was man himself hat thing so far denied, espa and Jesmed ‘00 unworthy evento be considered, Withou making the youth feel thac what he was preaching smacked of amythiig focgn let brought o them the seclar morality of indvidaion od liberal. We find in Fikret’ morality 3 new undertanding ofthe West {hat is connected withthe utpianndviuaiom of ihe Westen ist Probably because of Abd Hamid’ ant Brita poleen te Younger generation began to ie the Anglo Sons nsted of the French, who had previously provided the inage of Europese civliation, eve Fikret apzed to "the humanist eeellnce sod soils in the Anglo-Saton oltre based onthe spt of inv dal liberty, of enterprise om the ese of india suborty sad responsibility on the individual's dignity and Integy" Hse one ofthe leading proponents of te new concepaon of he Wane whose foundation was Anglo-Amrriean educsdan and hors values ere those of individualism, liberalism, pragmatn,sol Puitanism, Tevfik ikre’s poetry before s wel ater igo was, the bible of this ethic, pany ° We may sien to another witer ofthe time for anothee man fexation of the emergence ofthe new understanding of West iation This writer was the nove tseyin Ratt (186y-t40), There reno better examples ofthe rol ofthe newborn Trek novels. itor ofthe various spect ofthe Turksh tensors, tion than the novels of Hiseyin asi, ‘Ths prolife writer wa reals novelist. He didnot aim at inclating 4 moral pte, Yeu i (Wiel) "Fikzevin Fikie Hayatmvadaki Tesi 137 (Amara, Aug 15.1919), 154 and Fed Kapri (an, 198, pp 36g: for 2 hse of Turning to the West alls work shout his awarenes ofthe pre-ninence of the mor estion underlying the socal probs he deseibed. “Rahm novels oer» panorama of Tecksh ache society ina sate of acite moral ean" They give spectacle of 2 people those wadoal values had been challenged or who fad been torn loot from the tadional values without having founds foot hold in new moral values ‘There were wo types of men and two value systems in every instance, The ol andthe nev repeatedly Clahed agit each ther. Hiseyin Rahm photographed, 30 to say, the sate we may cal social momie in the procs of ts. formation from one form of civieaton to another. By his con- sane prescupaton withthe dintgraon ofthe old isons and values aad with the coma and tagal acs of individuals Caught within dhe contaditons ofa fallen sytem, Rahimi wat tble to see thatthe proces taking place in Turkey wes not merely One in which new methods techniqes, and objects were taken Over Tro te West nd asnated nee ofan negated se tem of vais ews proces in which oe only the rains order crumbled but ao every Innovatio had repercussions acel erating the diinteration ofthe traditional nsons. Moreover, his were descriptions of « proces in which the men within the lopsided framewor ofthe traiioal order and the men lecking 2 frunework within which to opera, constantly confronted exch other in ways that made both appear riiclous and malasted. More import sill was Ratna ndertnding of she men ho thought thuelves to be modern ot Euopesnze, Hseyin Rehmis contribution to Turkih Werscue was his portrayal nt only ofthe lan whom be characterized supetbly Shc ao of the alfrmge whom he was the Fist to disec. jst 3 Cervantes’ hero was a wsionary ho made himself absurd by be: faving Jn ces ofthe values ofa bygone and tel society, 30 Rahms eafenge Don Qsotes di the most ridivlous things nab though thinking that they were in a Europenined "Turlshsociey which did nee cay ev. But whl his predecs- sors sich ss Ahmed Midhat, ad crteed only the dang in order to morale in favour ofthe trains elere, Rak lef to dou cat che tradonal order, mentale, and morality were tho in una and were bound to dppese. Boh the alata and 30. ‘he printed eons of his poem, set Kena Aye Tete Pitt (Ankara 17) pp. sion oe Tee El | © S.N. Kerames, % For a fuller dicusion of Huseyin Rahs novels as sociologeal documents, see Nijstt Berkes, "Huseyin Rahman Soya Goriy- ‘ lexi Ankara Universite! Dil ve Terib-Cofratya Fakulter Dera, Fikretin Hayat ve Exeri(Ianbul 1988), 80 ML No, 3 (o94s), 317.304 the emancipated alafranga, man or woman, were living ina moral vacuum, Hence, their behaviour lacked rationality and they en- gaged in all sorts of eccentric, dishonest, degenerate, or other anti- social behaviour, Rahmi’s observations of the alafranga led him to discuss the nature of Westernization and to distirguish between the spurious and the genuine Westernization. He was under the influence of the ideology of uropian individualism when he made this distine- don and, like the new Westernises of that persuasion, believed that rue Westernization would involve the development of a secular ‘morality in which individual freedom, rationalism in science, and humanistic ideals would be the basic ingredients. Hiiseyin Rahs search for a new secular morality after his disillusionment with the Young Turk Revolution led him to further awareness of the deep- ening moral crisis. Following World War I, he arrived at the brine (of nihilism, Altogether his works served to stimulate the awareness that what was going on in society was a transformation made inevitable by the clash between the traditional order and the im- pact of Western civilization and that tia clash implied, above all, 2 crisis in values The Young Turk Movement Leaving the non-political trends rep-esenting the psychological and intellectual reactions against traditionalism, we tum to con- sider the men who opened a polities! struggie againse Abdil- Hamid, the so-called Young Turks." Theie aim was the restoration, Cf constitutional rule and of the Parliment which had been sus pended and prorogued since 1878, "Tey nowy fh Yoong Turk as enol nd cin Tak and her languages, anda gree deal of personal volvement sod ioucnastic cence har ened inte the aecouns, The pi ent account in Engi iE. E- Ramsaur, The Poung Turks (inate 1997): in Turkish, De. Tbeahim ‘Tema lithe we Terseey Sot yetinin Tesebtad (Mecidiye, Romania, tosods ACB. Keren, Inkilip Tarbinis ve Ieibad ve Teratlt (senbel roa) AB, Kutan,Inbiip Tibia ve “Jon Titer” (ian spay) A. Karan, Unbuldp Herekeers xe. Mill’ Mucadele (tanta YH, Bayury Turk Inkl Tarts (Ankara, 998, Mh Poo pecially pp sei nt. 7, T. 2 Tonays, Tirbiyeds SigasFerer (tana ie) eaen The Young Turk Movement = ‘The use of the name Young Turks (or Jeunes Turcs, in French) confused them with the Young Ortomans who were also called by that name in Europe. They are also conceived as constituting 2 single party or group. This European name is totally misleading for several reasons. Ie lumps together persons, associations, and parties which actually used other and different names in Turkish, and which represented often opposite views. Whenever the term ‘was used by the Turks, ic was in imitation of the European termi- nology and usually in the French spelling, or rather in the cor- rupted form of the latter used by the common people. The popular pronunciation may best be reproduced in English as John, and probably many people believed that it really meant John the Englishman—in other words, the foreigner, and the most disliked European in the Hamidian period. Once the name Jeune Ture became John Turk, it gradually came to mean an atheist, a free- ‘mason, a radical or, at east, a dangerous and immoral rebel. As it hhad a derogatory meaning, no Turk, young or old, would style himself by such a name. The most misieading aspect of this Euro- pean name, however, was its inclusion of the word “Turk”, and its Conveyance of the impression that it was 2 Turkish nationalist party. None of the factions grouped under the name ever used that word. All styled themselves Ottomans and this was an im= portant poine for them, ‘Three types of organization had come into existence as reactions against the Hamidian regime: the secret societies that originated in the institutions of higher learning (but included non-students); the factional cliques formed by those who escaped to centres such a5 Paris, Geneva, and Cairo; and, perhaps the least known but most importanc in influencing the coming events, the secret committees resembling masonic lodges, made up largely of army officers. The ‘most important of the last was che Orcoman Society of Union and Progress. ‘We shall use the term Young Turks only co denote those who ‘opposed the Hamidian regime politically, often with opposed ideologies, as this opposition was the only element common to ‘hem. We ean best discuss the ideological and political problems reflected in the struggles of the Young Turks, with the outside and among themselves, by considering three persons, Ahmed Riza, Mehmed Murad, and Prince Stbahaddin, Aimed Rrza (1859-1930) was struck by the plight of the Turk- ish peasantry during a trip to the country while he was a student "Since I failed to understand the causes of this impoverishment! 305306 he says, “I thought I had found the remedy in reforming the agri- ccultural methods."#¥ Hence, he decided to go to France to study agriculture. On his return as a graduate of the agriculeural school, the government appointed him to the Ministry of Agriculture, one ‘of those Hamidian ministries which like the Minisery of Educa tion, would have fele the greatest oleasure were there no farmers in Turkey at all. During his service, Ruza realized that his depart- ment was only a feeding station for bureaucrats and that it had nothing whatsoever to do with Turkish cural improvement. Upon arriving at the conclusicn that “the ignorance of the peasantry was an obstacle to their understanding the need for the application of modern agriculrursl methods,” he shifted to the ‘Ministry of Education because, “education was the best way to enlighten people's minds.” It was while he was a director of educa- tion that Rvza resigned in disgust and went to Paris (on the pre- text of visiting the Paris Exhibition of 1889) where he stayed for six years before entering into political activities Ashe later informed Abdil-Harrid, Riza spent his time studying the causes of the progress of nations, especially of “those which were, like us, in dangerous conditions.” He came to “the convie~ tion that there is no means of saving the country and the nati from che danger other than education and the positive sciences Riza did nor tell Abdil-Hamid, but he had also become a con- vinced Positivis. In seven memoranda, which he finally published in London in 1894, Aluned Riza invited Abdil-Famid to change his policies and sought to direct him in the way of reason in order to obviate revolution. The people, he said, wanted neither constitution, nor republic, nor the right to strike. What they needed was nothing bbut an administration that would “nor sacrifice theie public rights fon matters of life and death to greed, and would not wasce their existence according co arbitrary whi.” The restoration of the constitutional regime would assure such an administration and Provide the basis for an educational program “ranging from The Young Turk Movement primary education tthe university.” which Ruz submited tothe Filer in elaborate deta ta yng to explain chat there was noting bad about + const- cuconl rege, Ahmed Ria seed the old technigo of the Young Orromans, showing thatthe Seriat enjoined mejeeret. He supe ported his thesis with examples from Muhanad, from Alb Bake tnd Omar, and alo from the Oroman Pai, ‘The second prominent gure among the. Young Tak wat Mehmed Marad (1833-1913) bor in-Tath, Dagan, Cuca ‘ee the suppresion ofthe revolts fed by the fame Shak Siam after the Crimean War, Daghston had been reconciled to Rosin le and Murad war edsated ina Rusan gyrnaiom st Stvtopole, Thee he read books such as Rouseaus Socal Con. tract, Montsquew's Spine of Laws, and the Hutoticll works of Guiot an Draper. When he wasnt in 18730 Moscow to attend the aniversity, he escaped to Turkey. Ie wat only few yats after his arival in Turkey cache winesed the cost onal struggles and shir end in the esablsiment of ABUL Haid’s rule Morad became prominent writer and profesor of bistoy in his adopted county. He ied vo inst ibera spin nto his tudes while emphasing the sacredness and ively of the insuton ofthe fbf: He maintained that the swakesing of the Masins could be relzed by cllying around the Khalifa and through the application of the Serie in consironal regime. Gradually, the Homidan ele shed Mehmed Mura's pan Ibm idea. He approached the Padi co advise him on dees sa teform snd the Ra, submited memoranda ota fect Realizing the fstty of hs acemprsheezaped to Eorope a sto, Murad ound hs sine in exile hus eo defend Turkey befor European public opiion to explain thar ic was the Pash nd tot the people who was responsible for misgovernment force the Paiah (by propaganda) co change his ples, eo advise the 307 Ahmed Ries became the leader of che Itbad ve Tersehi (Union and Progress) faction of the Young Turks Like others he did not play an importane role in the poliiesl and inlet currents fee the r9o8 Revolution, whieh was achieved, not by the Voung ‘Turks, bus by revolutionary secret socetien, The following quot, sions are rom his memoranda, Liytblarom,ltographed Sn Li an {1806} and Geneva (57), aesedandvene so Abdi Han % Mehmed Murad was the suthor of evo works in several volumes fon general and Turkish hatory and s mumber of polemeal werk in defence of his ideas is mone iteteting work however, ws 2 forel Turjanda mu Yokse Turf (Usabul,gp) which might be freely transated as Pioneers or Degeneres? The eas tnd srugges of + new generation. whom Mur describes 2s ast ideal, ese prsiced aga the Tancinae Ovomarim and ‘ecolaizm, Muted was one of the victmg of the party toggles following the Revoloton of 1go8 tnd died inet Ser FA Tans 1950559167 Tari Derg tl, Nosy Ciara,308 appeal neither to European statesmen nor to public opinion, Te was [he says, “ere bea au fonds le fanatnme nee pes one ce naturelle. de Tistum," Mourad-Bey, La force el Fate det Toraie (nd eds Park i). Cometing ‘upon Ra's setement to Le Patrie (uly 4 197 “Religion is n0¢ mar of concrem tothe ste bus ely a inatter of pao ner” hae “hl regan & + fondant cd oficial concern ofthe sate To thnk oherwite Mes gerne of the mon elemenaty tris sbout nam Futheore te dh Gonston specfcaly desired tht ts w the oes region fhe sate Misa Nosy Gul 5.97, The Young Turk Movement In his opposition to the Young Turks of Riza's persuasion ‘Murad’s al of a new program, which he claimed would be taken seriously by European statesmen, played the decisive role. What was this new program that he said he had explained to Abdil- Hamid? We know only its general outlines, as Murad never elabor- ated upon it in his writings. The central point was, to institute a Board of Supervisors that would have the power to repel the encroachment of the government over the existing laws, to compel the government to enforce the obligations undertaken by he Tanzimat Charter and the Reform Edict ... and, thus, *o ensure equality and fraternity between the nationaltis.® This Board, the composition of which is given as from thirty to forty in Murad’s various writings, was to be accompanied by a sll more controversial body—a Supreme Body of Seriae, com- posed of spiritual representatives from the Muslim countries of Asia and Africa, under the presidency of the Seyinul-lslim, for the enforcement of the constitution according to the Seriat and the «execution of the spiritual leadership of the Abilifat over the Mus- lims of the world No agreement was reached between the Riza and Murad factions of the Young Turks. The first ridiculed Murad’s pan-lslamism and kkhilifatism, while Murad accused Riza of atheism and a lack of religious attachment to Islam, ‘The thitd figure, Prince Sabahaddin (1877-1948), appeared among the Young Turks in 1899. He was one of two sons of Abdil-Hamic'’s sister. His flight to France encouraged the Young ‘Turks, but his entry into the movement brought new schisms. As happened earlier with Murad, Sabahaddin carried the majority aguinst Riza and, yet, his program failed both before and after the * Mehmed Murad, Mucehade-Miliye (Istanbul, 18), 309 pase. 1 Mehmed Mussd, Tath Emeller Act Hatikatler Cleanbol, 1914), ‘9. Great Detain, France, and Holland would nominate £6 he Boat members fom st colones: This would ear gh spinal organ of lm somewhat analogous co te Colle dials of the. Vat Shmila international supreme count of Kesler (Surs-ys Hila seems co have been once condone tion in 1g20 during che Allied occupation of tsanbul: see Mists Kemal tAtaickl Nuruk (Ankara, 1937), ps oa; English. tre Speech (Leipzig. 1939) p. 339310 ‘WHE REACTIONS AGAINST THE REACTION 1908 Revolution. Like Murad, he barely saved his life in the fierce political struggle following 1908 ‘While Ahmed Riza became the follower of Auguste Comte, Sabahaddin became the disciple of a rival school of saciology in France composed of the followers of Frédéric Le Play. He was influenced by one of Le Play's disciples, Edmond Demolins (1852- 1907), whom he knew personally. Following Le Play's admiration for the English administrative system based upon local self-govern- ‘ment Demolins had published a provocative book entitled A quoi tient la seperiorité des anglo-szon?? According to Demolins, societies belonged to one of two major social types—one based on formation commamautaire, the othet on formation particuleriste. “The first is the type of society characterized by 2 tendency to ey, not on self, but on the community, on the grovp, family tribe, clan, public powers, etc ‘The population of the East are the most striking representatives of this type. Societies of a particularstc Formation are characterized by a tendency to rely, not on the community, not on the group, bor on self... Anglo-Saxons ate che most striking represencatives ‘of this eype.2* Sabahaddin used some of his own concepts in deriving from this thesis certain formulae for Turkey. Following his split with Ahmed Riza, he founded a society called Teyebbii-i Sahst ve Ademi Merkeziyee Cemiyeti in Turkish and Ligue de décenerali- sation adiminiserative et initiative privée in French. He founded a paper Terakki (Progress) as its organ and expounded in it between igor and i906 a program of action for Turkish reforms. ‘Sabahaddin's program contained a view that was new co che Turkish scene. His was the first attempt to make a social diagnosis of che troubles lying behind the facade that had cheretofore been ‘he main target of the reformers. He also offered a social reform program, again for the first time He escaped to Europe and, after an abortive arempr ro ceappeae| in'Turiss police n apd he reed to Switerind whee he ded hiry Years Inter. About his writings ar well x sraieg Of his life and tdess, see G. O. Totengil Pret Ssbaboin Clstanbul 1950) Edmond Demolng, Anglo-Sesom Superiority: To What tt ie Due seam LB Lame (London 8) po Seba ped the ame appro che dain of efor of te Ws ization Onmienl which he published from ry in Pars and Gis. See porvculrly Nos. yore (Cato, Jan. so-Fe. 0 109. The Young Turk Movement ) According to Sabahaddin, the Hamidian tyranny was not the cause of Turkish grievances, but the product of certain features in the society. The real need was not to change the ruler but to change society itself. The real problem of Turkey was to trans- form sociery froma collectivistic formation to an individualistic ‘order. It was no longer possible to find panaceas for the ills of a country by arbitrary convictions which were not based on soci logical laws derived from the scientific observation of social facts. ‘The institutions of the Ottoman Empire, its administration, its system of property ownership, its intellectual culture, ete, all conformed to the collectivistic type of society. All historical and sociological dara showed that the peoples having the collectivisie form of social organization were not capable of progress. These societies, whether headed by a monarch or by an oligarchy, were bound to be ruled by tyranny. The history of reform efforts showed constant failure’ because every effort was designed to perpetuace this collectivistic aspect of the society. Abdi Hamid’s tyranny was nothing bur a natural product of that history. We are repeating the same mistake, Sabahaddin sai, in our attempt at Westernization. The Tanzimat reforms did not aim at introducing the institutions of the individualistic society. Even though the Tanzimat achieved progress in the general condi- ons of society, it failed to produce'a social organization capable of steady, narural, and genuine progress and development. This would be possible only by educating individuals to rely upon themselves. These should have initiative and enterprise and should hot use society as crutch. Failing to create individuals eapable of standing alone, the nation has been doomed to remain under tyranny and arbitrary rule whether under absolutism, of a consti- ‘tional monarchy. What, then, should be done? Sabahaddin proposed a public or political program and a private or educational program. A new form of government and a new edueation—these were the keys (0 progress. The most important reform in his political program was to be the institution of a decentralized patcern of government and administration. Ie is necessary, he said, to extend the local govern- ‘ment administration as far as the villages. The various parts of the Empire should have their own local governments in administrative, ‘municipal and judicial affairs. Finance and public works should also be handled locally. Englishmen experienced in the administra- tion of India and Egypt should be employed as experts in super vising the boards and the policies in general, 311312 THE REACTIONS AGAINST THE REACTION Sabahaddin outlined his proposed reforms for what he called private life as the second part of his program. It was first of all necessary to create and multiply the groups based on the principle of individualistic formation, especially entrepreneurial professional groups. A transformation from collectivistic property ownership to private ownership was required. But the most important medium ‘of transformation would be provided by an entirely new system ‘of education. Education would be based on the Anglo-Saxon system, This, Sabahaddin said following Demolins, was based on the idea of training youth with the spirit of initistive and enter- prise. The entire problem was to exploit che country's resources and improve it by the enterprise of individuals on the bases of private ownership and initiative, ‘These were the leading ideas of the chree major factions of the Young Turks in exile. As the three exponents exemplified, they differed not only in their views but also in their immediate pro- .gram of action. By which means would freedom and a constitution be restored? No one believed that :he people were conscious of their rights or had the means to assere them. Neither Riza nor any other Young Turk possessed the power to enforce the traditional Islamic method of deposing a Khalifa; that was the prerogative of the ulema who would not side wth che debris to depose the Khalifa of che Islamic State. Two possibilities remained: to con- vince Abdil-Hlamid that he should restore the constitution, or to Jaunch a propaganda campaign with the purpose of enlightening the people as to the great calamity spproaching. All the Young Turks rejected a proposed third means: the use of revolutionary, conspiratorial methods 2s well as pressure from the European powers. It is not difficult to see the reasons for the Young Turks’ rejection of revolutionary aims and methods. To accept these would mean to accept Russian allegations about Turk- ish rule, to accept the European belief thar che Muslims and the Turks were not worthy of existence among the civilized nations, and, finally, to endorse Armenian aationalist aims and anarchist tactics. Doing these things would be tantamount to becoming Iabelled the greatest of traitors in the eyes of the people who were ‘more influenced by the Hamidian than by the Young Turk ideo- logy. ‘The ineffectiveness of their propiganda devices, the rising tide in Europe of religious and political animosities against the Turks, Old or Young, inevitably caused frostration, arguments and ani- ‘mosities among the Young Turk leaders, especially when they The Young Turk Movement ‘yee confronted withthe proposals ofthe non Turkish revel onary parc. Too convenuons were aranged, one into and the other in toy. Delegates ofthe Ria and Sabshacdin Pion, ad Arab, Albanians, Kards, Circassians, Great, Armenian, and Jews atended both These was unanimity forthe deposi of Abdil-Hamid and the retrstin of the Consioson Bat tere ‘wasmo agreement over te questions ofthe wnty or confederaon of the Otoman mils ove thei especve dees of tuoramy, and over the question ofthe secetace ofa sot of ttechp the European powers forthe preservavon ofthe Empie. he conferences served only to clay the fra bate lines, because the dlegats had no power to enforce any resolutions Also. wie out a element of the question of nationals, no seeement of the quesions of government and religion, of edvetion and ceonomy coud be worked out Within the country, the seret soci, or “commits” were developing. tc vas one af there revolusonary groups know st she Sotity of Union and Peogeas tha nt only forced Abd Hani o capitate on uly sy go but ao emerges the mse importa poll power rere Glimmerings of Turkish Nationalism The challenge of the non-Turkish nationalist movements during the Young Turk congresses did not move the Young Turks in nationalistic direction but did cause a few of them to think of the Possibility for the firse time. Ic is often assumed that movements like nationalism resule from ideas imported from Western coun- tries. The Turkish case is a good example of the fact that ideas ‘themselves are not suficient to arouse a nationalist movement, even, when they have been imporced, and that the ideas begin to mean something only when certain sociological conditions come into existence; even then, the imported idess serve only as raw material for a nationalistic doctrine. Before the events which brought about the awakening of a Torkish nationalism, there were certain developments outside of Turkey which might have stimulated nationalistic ideas. Among these were the rise of political interest in the Turkish-speaking peoples outside of che Ottoman Empire and the beginnings of Scientific researches into the history and philology of the Turks in 313314 pre-Islamic times. Numerous worls in these fields were published by European publicists, travellers, historians, and philologists of the nineteenth century. Indeed, the works of three men (all of whom happened to be Europeans of Jewish origin) were quite influential in the forma- tion of Turkish nationalism, bue net during the Tanzimat, or dur- ing the Constitutionalise years, or even during the Hamidian era despite the fact that the three authors were closely connected in fone way or another with Turkish life and two of them were known in all cheee periods. The firse of these was Arthur Lamley Davids (1811-32) whose Grammar of the Turkish Language contained a lengthy “Pre- liminary Discourse” in which the history of the Turkish language and of the Turks from ancient times ¢0 the reign of Mahmud TL were outlined for the first time. Davids eriticized the European writers (and the Turks) for theit use of the term “Tartar” to cover the peoples speaking che Turkish language; the correct term, hhesaid, would be “Turk.” (He likened the erroneous use of Tartar to che Turks’ use of Frenk to caver all European nations.) He portrayed the Turks as 3 part of the Caucasian race, distinguished from the Mongols, and as constituting one great ractal family chat had performed great works at various periods, and in various places, and under various names, Davids’ book was undoubtedly known to men such as Sinasi, Ahmed Vefike (Pasa), Ali Susvi, Suleyman (Paja), and Ziys (Pasa), who became interested during the Tanzimat in the non- Ottoman Turkish language and sistory. It was translated into French by Davids’ mother, after the young author's death, and was dedicated and presenced to Mahmnd II The second person was Arminies Vambéry (48}3-1915)°" who hhad travelled to Turkey from Hungary as a young man, become tutor or secretary in the homes of various Tanzimat statesmen (one of whom was involved in the Kileli incident), travelled as far as Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand, and published works on his Central Asian travels and studies of the Turkish language and. history. Vimbéry was alo interesed in the constitutional move- ment in Turkey and knew the Young Otcomans in exile. His Glimmerings of Turkish Nationslion writings about the Turkish-speaking peoples outside of the Otto- ‘man Empice evoked interest not only in Europe but also in Turkey. The third was Léon Cahun (184i-1900).*" He wrote novels, Lt Barmiére blewe (1876), Hasan le Janissare (1893), and La Tueuse (about the Mongol invasion of Hungary; 1893), and published in 1896 his Introduction a Phistoire de Asie in which he dealt with ‘he historical role of che Turks in 3 much more colourful fashion than Davids, He portrayed the Turk as a world conqueror and Jengiz Khan as a Turk (to the shock of many Young Otcomans including Narmk Kemal) and the greatest empire builder in all history. In his lesser known writings, Cahun forwarded a theory according to which a Turanian, ot what he called "Finno-Japone” race inhabited Europe and brought civilization to it before che Celts, Germans, and Latins. Like Vimbéry, Cahn was a passionate liberal. He was interested in che Young Ottomans and had close relations with Namik Kemal Incerest in the Turkish-speaking peoples of Asia was also stimu laced by Anglo-Russian rivalry following the Russian advance into Central Asia after 1860. During these years, some Turkish intllec- tuals showed interest in similar topics. Ahmed Velik Pasa (1823-91), the grandson of a Greek con: vert to Islam and the holder of several ofthe highest postions, was fone of those interested in Turkish studies. He was educated in France and knew French and English literature well. He became a champion of the old Turkish customs and mode of life. He ‘opposed Westernization and the constitutional regime, ushered in ‘he use of plain, current Turkish (he adapted practically all of Moliére's plays to simple Turkish), and wrote the Lehce-i Onmant which was the first Turkish-Ottoman dictionary. In the intro- duction to the second edition of this dictionary, he stressed the idea thac che Turkish language was one containing several dialects (of which Ottoman Turkish was only one) spoken over an area extending far beyond the regions of the Oreoman Turks and that all chose speaking the same language comprised one and the same people. He also translated the Eusal-i Secere.i Tiirki of Abulgazi Bahadur Khan from the Cagatay dialect. This book deale with the genealogical history of che Turks, and its translation became the fest of its kind in Ottoman Turkish. 31s London, 18}; ts French traslation Grawonsie Turgut (London, 1836) includes 3 shoge account ofthe life ofthe author See Zadoe Kahn, “David Léon Cahun,”Jewit Encyclopedia (New ‘York and Condon, 191940) Ilha. t 4% Leeesi Onan! (2 vols: Istanbul, 1856). Intodetion to the | second edition (xtanbul 888), | Aboot his lfe and works, see Franz Babinget, "Armin Vimbéey" Eneyclogedia of the Social Seiencer (New York, 1935. XV. 2.THE REACTIONS AGAINST THE REACTION Another exponent of 2 novel view of the Turks during the “Tancimat was Mustafa Celiledcin Pap, a Polish convere to islam (1816-76). Mostafa Celaleddin svrote a book in French in 1869 tnttled Les Tures, ancient et modernes3” There he discussed 2 316 umber of things relating tothe modern and ancient Turks In the firs chaprr, entitled "Les anciens Tares,” and in che supplements, ented "L'Europe et le Touro-Aryanisne” and "Gruss et Ro- mains," Celileddin forwarded a theory, quite sinila to that of Caivan, abour the origins and the racial sffnities of the Turks. Uslizing French, German, Pols and Russian sources, he ad vanced the thesis tht the Turks belonged to proto-acz, which he called la race Touro-Aryenne,that was the orginal race of the European nations. He aso claimed that, contrary eo the universal European belief the Turks had played an imporcan and civiiing role in world history. Having esablshed his Touro-Aryan doc ttine, he found the Westerntaton of Turkey 4 natal conse- Aquence-since Western civilization was a product of the Touro- ‘Aryans. According to him, x parcof the procorace, the Tursnans, separated themselves from the man stock by joining the civil vion of the Semites, and by beccming Muslims. ‘The cum of the “Torks rowards he Wes, he concluded, was nothing but a urning away from Semitic civilization 0 join the civiation of theit co-racal. Celleddin's theory was thus not nationalistic but rather ‘Three men among the Young Ottomans seem to have had nationalistic ideas. One was Nam Kemals closes associate, Ziya Paps (1825-80). In his famous say, written in 870 a5 an intto- duction to his translation of Rouseau's Emile, Ziya discussed the evolution of Ottoman poetry ané sud 2 Mostafa Celileldin o¢ Konstanty Borzecki was born ia Poland, re- Ccived 2 elascal and teligious edacation there, ang jomed the 155 Ressoion, Upon the fair of che. Reval he co refuge in Torkey in hyp together wich oser Posh ami Hngartan Fefugees He entered the Turkish army. and became stall cer tnd general. He becars 3 Muslim upon Rosian presure for the ‘apatrition of the refugees Celleddin weore to Courter Orient Su enret; se Al Itonbulda Yoram Anelik:Vekayls Moone (Greanbut, ost), pp. 4s. He wit lilled im action in Vontenegeo. See Adam Lewak Dusje emigre politi wy Ture Garey, toss): and Adan Lewak, “Konsaney Borzecky” ia Pls loco Brogrohesny (Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow, 19}. I Glimmerings of Turkish Nationalism None of these represent the true Ostoman {meaning Turkish} Poetry. .. «Is there noc a language and 4 poetry of the nation to ‘which we belong; and is i not possible to rehabilcace i? He concluded, Our genuine language and poetry ace the ones living among the people. Our nacutal poetry and verse are sill alive among the commen folk ‘The second was Ali Suai (183878) who became in his writ ings published in Paris, the only apologise among the Your Oromans to ose nadondlie arguments Conraty to Name Kemal estes the recognized pare played by the Tasks in lami eivilation, His views, however, wele acibuted by hs ascites to his eccentricity, oe petnty. Th third ofthese writer was the Sileyman Pap (83-92) of the cosiutonalit movement? He was the fst Turkish wer af the modern period to include the ‘Turks ina history of the word (the fe volume of which was polished in 1096) There the Turks were conesved asthe pre-samie forefathers of the Otsomans inhaing and ruling tse ares in Asi However Sileyman appears, trom an ideological point of view, a nothing buc an Islamist eonsitionalist, despite Afghani lion to hig a debe None ofthe exe Young Otsmans withthe exception of Al Savi sens fo have enterined any ners in the colli rings of Vimby or Can, Cahn eereed an iatoence goer Namie Kensal not by his turkological ies, but by his libeaons In ceaity, Kemal hldhitricalvews completly opposite’ to those advocated by Cahun, To accept Cahn’ views weld make 2 Turk ridiculous in those days, Young Otomn patrousn wes Isami, or pun-Ottomani an ieology based onthe Turk who was believed to be ether peasant, ot Kestbay (heretic), or 9 heathen Mongol, ofa despised Tarar—would crest not eeea 3 tipple among the inligensn, To Nami Kemal the mos ns nl mind of the period wh the European caled Toke were 317 As 4 Young Oxtomsn Ali Suavis career and idess cavsed com rorya coctingepinion, Peta theo anced fvaluston i made by anpnat. RIK. Ate Turk Bdebiyen Tari ond eb fan, 1938), rea. aor 5 See shove, Chap. & Pass, 1870. See especially pp. 139-96 319-62 For the folowing discussion (On his life and work see E. J. W. Gibb, A History of Ottomen Poetry (London, 190)), Vs gots318 nothing but the “Osmaniy.” Even tht was a pole concept Ina eur see, there weve ony Malina ot move corey the "Sone Hanef Musi speaking the Oxon languages Daring the te pre ofthe Hunan eegn comes nner of smanfettons that were closer to 4 Turkeh eadonanm. Thea some ofthe European works mentioned above began t fd ex "The rise of a Turkish nudism wes Googngene upon fe conulions the disintegration ofthe Orman mile system, and ides of te en one of te Wie dv de he begimings and development of havonalisn were condone bythe gre to which he conepn af miler sl oonet were seeulreed “The ansforation ofthe Greek, Serbian, Blgaian, and Row cena eri cra npn si Signed the scularication of the malts We find from eis ne ews he sppearnee of the tem mile asa designation fo the Busts in poral withthe nowAusi miles The teem only Inet began fo mean nation, however, During the Haman ert the Tank was vot yet differentiated from the Mos The male Of Moslis, now lieved tobe the sovereign mile ofthe Oto. man Empire, sll meant « celigious communigy, which Is the Correct mening ofthe tem, “The Balkan fationlsns did oe originally have the effec of sirdng up Tustsh naval ‘The atoaton changed. hen tational mavemens appeared among the noe-Maling I ee- ve i con ot be ded fem te Ere wi yt the Turkish population, Mos infantil was the es of an Armen ian natioealse Inthe ronan yom, the Armenians coetered 2 ier tat dd aot havea terra bas en was theretor, Capable of being ansormed ino a notion state. Testo, the Sehismate struggles since 1847 smong the Gregorian, Cathole, and Protestant churches not only akatered the Armenian mile, bat aio severed irom ks tradionl state inthe Otome ser “The dete ofthe Armenian national to establish an independent Armenia was fraud hopelesly by the conlcts among the churches, the geographical sd oecuptionl drbuton of the Armenians within the Ottoman Empire, and abo the aes berveen Rusia and Great Briain, who aeraely supported and dropped the Armenian ational pireSons Pic cero and sabvenive sees ofthe Armeizn naion- Glimmerings of Turkish Nationalism Europe and America, helped Abdil-Hamid to divert the revolu- tionary activities of the Young Turks, The terrorist ezctics of some factions among the Armenian nationalists, on the one hand, and the anti-Turk crusade enflamed by Abdil-Hamid's response to these, on the other, dealt severe blows to the Young Turk move. ‘ment while providing Abdil-Hamid with a fine opportunity to retaliate aguinst Western insolence and to show the people the ‘menace of revolution, the need co stick to the traditional mstitu. ‘dons, and the importance of uniting as a mallet around the Khalifa, All this helped the coming ofa second stage in the developmene of a nationalistic consciousness among the Turks. This was simul. faneous with a focusing of the religious and political animosity in the West againse the Turks. Ac this stage, however, Turkish tationalism was not yer a secular one; like the erusade invoking i i had a religions colouring. ‘The decisive factor in converting this religious nationalism ineo 8 secular form was the rise of nationalist movements among the ‘non-Tarkish Muslim peoples. The Arab and, to a lesser extent, Albanian, and Kurdish, political movements were not yet genu. incly nationalistic; they entailed only demands for autonomy, or Political separation. ‘Their ideologies were sil in infancy and confused. However, the process of transformation in the tradi- Uional self-concept of the a\rabs and Albanians in particular played 8 significant, if indirect, role in the secularization of the Turkish nationalism Unlike the Turks who, like the present-day Muslims of India and Pakistan, were devoid of a racial, ethnic, and genealogical sense, the Arabs and Albanians retained their racial “ertbiyya {0 some extent. Arabs always distinguished themselves fzom the Turks whereas the Turks, especially the common people, identified themselves only as Muslims. In the past, all Muslims recognized the ‘Arabs asa Chosen People, but in the late nineteenth century, afew Turks began to question the religious validity of this recognition, ‘They began to see that through theit cenunciation of national tes "pon becoming members of the universal brotherhood of Islam, they had become a people without a sense of nationality. The Turks’ gradual sense of differentiation from their co-religionists ‘may be illustrated in connection with the language question which became a much discussed topic around 1896-98. 319 alise societies, formed in 1885 ané 1figa in Europe and backed and % Seq Wills Langer, The Diplomacy of Inperiaion stgoegee encouraged by a wide variety of political and religious cireles in {New York and Lenton tos). 148.6% ov cris oe whe Foe ion and actives ofthe Armenian secre mises320 ) So many changes had taken place in Otoman ‘Turkish fom aboot 1860 chat even a conserve like Ahmed Midhat wis come strained to say, "The Ottoman language i such aroten stricture that whichever par is touched falls down... We have to give up making repaite. Ie is becter wo pull t down ad build upon few foundations” Following this trend of thoughe, the language aqvestion began to assume an ant-tradtional nature Ie Blossmed asa revoleagnnet Arabi, which had come tobe viewed assynony- ‘moos with scholacism and obscuransm, The revel, i fealty, Was not against Arabs, but agains the medrese system “The fis nsructivesnalysisof the language question was made by Semeeddin Simi (1850-1900) who was an Ottoman writer (¢he author of «numberof Tush dats) and an Albania nationalist. In addition to achieving fame for bis knowledge of “Turkish dialects, he Is knows as the founder of the meter Albanian alphabet derived from the Latin scripe In spite of hit see tte eof modem Alan nto, he coned yr Turkish nationalists 28 one who pecformed a grest service to the revival of Turkish as national language Ducing s controversy in 1896-98 over the simplification of Ottoman Turkish, Simi e- planed tac the deapdon of edhe! Oroman wall the food. From the disintegration of the Oxcoman language would aise a modern Turkish; the process of change would continue tun written Turkish was fred from the yoke of unasiilated ‘Arabic and Persian rules The natu ofthe trend dating from Sina sme was explained coherently fr the fst sme by Simi Sami pointed ove in satan that the eransformation in the Turkish language was reflection of the transformation occurring in the vocabulary and mentliey ofthe people and in literature. The simplification of Turkish ws inevitable because, above all, the tational Oxtomaa itersize was dead and a new ler, inspired by the Wese was inthe proces of becoming. New ways of thinking could be expresed no longer within the framework of Ottoman. The new Parksh rnacion was arising and it needed its own national language > “The secularization of Turkish thinking on nationality was = flected thus, nt inthe politi ld, but rather in the trary and edducaional eld. The language question arose, noe a8 a maton- Ahmed Midhae, “Munakagai Lisniye,” Tart, No, 4614 (Now. 18, % Seveddin Simi “Sic ve Ehebiyaki Teed Adlinie” Saba (Istanlul, Nov. 19, 1898). eee Glimmerings of Turkish Nationalism alistic question, bur 25 an aspect of the trend of enlightenment. In this way, it was not by accident concommitant with the revolt against Arabism exemplified by Huseyin Cahit. That is why secular Turkish nationalism came by way of aliterary drive rather than asa political movement. Such manifestations asthe translation cof Cahun’s works into Turkish, the use of the Turkish syllabic poetry as against the Arab prosody, etc. were of this nature. While the imperialistic rivalries as well asthe sociological impact of the Western penetration were gradually transforming the Otro- ‘man territories into an amphitheatre for a struggle between nation- alites, the ideas of a Turkish nationalism did nct invite the interest of the Turkish intellectuals. Neither did such ideas stimulate the Young Turks. The three factions of the Young Turks all advo- cated Ortomanism, opposed the nationalisms of the non-Muslim and non-Turkish groups, and entertained no ideology of a Turkish rationalism, If Ahmed Riza appeared to be concerned with the defence of the Turkish element, it was not because of any belief in Turkish nationalism; he was 2 frm believer in the assimilation of the nationalities within the framework of the Ottoman citizenry. ‘There was, however, a young man among the Young Turks watching their factional struggles wich critical eyes. He agreed with no faction, but did not dare say outright that they were wasting their ime, What he had in mind for the Turks’ future would be incomprehensible and ridiculous co Riza, Murad, and Sabahaddin and many of their followers alike. ‘This man was Yusuf Akgura (1876-1933)." With his blonde goatee, he looked like a Russian revolutionary. He was, in fact, from Russia, born in che same cown as Lenin six years later (Sim= bitsk, now Ulyanowsk, on the Volgs). Akgura (in its Russified form, Akgurin) came to Turkey as a boy with his mother when his father, a manufacturer, died. Before be graduated 28 a staff officer he was banished by Abdil-Hiamid’s court to Fezzan. He escaped to France and scudied political science and history under ‘such men as Albert Sorel and Emile Boutmy. Like Sabahaddin he ‘came co the belief that the real problem was che need for a social transformation. But for him the trouble lay in the morbid nature of the Ottoman Empite as a conglomeration of nationalities. The ‘Young Turks were under a delusion. What was imminent was not a union of the nationalities, but a fierce struggle among them. 17 About his life ae ¥. Akgura edy Tirk Yolk o928 Isanbaly 1938), pp soeata, Me. Togay, Puraf Abgura CUstanbul, 1944.0 ESERRSOONS SGMNST THE REACTION, Ina lengchy arscle entitled "Three Policies™* and published in ‘904 in Cairo, Akgura surveyed :he ideologies of Ottomenism and Islemism and the policies of pan-Ottomanism and 322 problems facing the Young Turks, he asked ") Comparing the Islamic, Ottoman, and Turkish components of the e the interests of these three components common and identical?” The interests of the three major elements in the Ottoman Empire-the Tucks now Turkish Muslims, and non-Muslms—did not altogether coincide, Ir was inevitable to recognize the national aspirations of the nom, Turks and non-Muslims. Hence there was only one thing left for the Turks: to recognize theit own nacional aspirations, to forget about being Oxtomans, and to be content with being Turks.” Would this mean the pursuarce of a policy of pan-Turkigm (coubid-i erat) as there were more Tuckish-speaking peoples out- Side the Ortoman Empire than inside ie? Akgura found: pane Turkism as fraught with dificuces as the other two policies There was yee no national consciousness among the Turks, He concluded his article with « quesion: was ie not likely to appeal Co the Turkish people when the other «wo policies collapvedt Before the 1908 Revolution and even for a few years thereafter, ‘no Turk, Young or Old, took Akgura’s question seriously. Turkish nationalism was to be enflamed only by further shocks from the West, by nationalisms within the Empire, and by Turkist nation alise developments in Russia, % Reprinted as Up Tora Siyaee (Ustanbul, igs) 2% Alcor believed tha ic was nevienble cat these nationals woukd ‘3a nacional independence unlews they ‘were given sane aa ‘the Ottoman Empire conituted ss 1 Fedcroie enion