HIS102 HISTORY OF TURKISH REVOLUTION AND

ATATURK’S PRINCIPLES II
Week 1: KEMALIZM, TURKISH REVOLUTİON AND INTRODUCTION TO
ATATURK'S PRINCIPLES (Revolutionism)

On Ataturk's Principles
In the post-World War I period, the Ottoman Empire, which was now a constitutional monarchy, was
replaced by a republic as the governing regime. The Republican regime formed the basis of the new
state, hence Kemalism. From the very beginning, radical reforms were needed for the new state to
survive and develop and to ensure the happiness of the nation. So, Ataturk's Principles, which express
the basic characteristics of the Republic of Turkey, were designed to meet the expectations of that
period. These have been included in the Constitution since February 5, 1937: Republicanism,
Nationalism, Populism, Secularism, Statism and Revolutionism. These are the basic principles that
constitute the Kemalist Ideology and the Turkish Revolution. These principles constitute the
intellectual power and basis of the Turkish revolution. These are the means to achieve the goal of
raising the Turkish nation above the level of contemporary civilization.
The intellectual power of the Turkish Revolution, which emerged as a result of historical
developments, and the principles on which it is based are called Ataturk's Principles. Ataturk's
principles are directly related to the social, cultural, and economic structure of the society. Although
each of them has different characteristics, they contain common values that complement each other.
National sovereignty, democracy, full independence, modernization, rationality and scientificity are
the common features of all principles.
Kemalism
Kemalism is a set of ideas and thoughts regarding the state, social and economic life, and the basic
institutions of the state. The fundamental characteristics of the Kemalist ideology are that the Turkish
Nation maintains its full independence, the state is based on national sovereignty, and the leadership of
reason and science.
When we say Kemalism, we mean that Ataturk took his source and power from the Turkish Nation,
its historical background and culture; developed in accordance with the conditions of the day, reason,
logic, society's needs, desires and the requirements of contemporary science and technology; All of the
thoughts and opinions that the society puts forward to manage its behaviors and activities in line with
national and social goals come to mind. It was designed to respond to the needs of today as well as the
future in the light of reason and logic, symbolizes a contemporary view that always regenerate itself.
The biggest feature of Kemalism is that it has a character completely unique to Turkish nation. It
aimed to strengthen and modernize Turkish people and Turkish society. However, with the ideas it
puts forward about the universe-world-human-society, especially with the ideas of National
Sovereignty and Full Independence, it reaches completely universal dimensions by going beyond the
framework of Turkish society. This understanding, which is against all kinds of restrictions and
obstacles that would hinder the development of people and societies, considers freedom of thought and
conscience as the fundamental basis of mind, science and modernization.
Kemalism has three main foundations. These are history, culture and law. The Constitution of the
Republic of Turkey was built on the foundation of "Ataturk's Principles, Ataturk's Revolutions and
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Ataturkist Thought System". It targets the individual and observes the rule of law, assuming that
everyone is equal before the law.
Following the proclamation of the republic, the economic, social, political, cultural, military and
legal structure reached international standards of prestige, peace, trust, prosperity and happiness. The
creation of the Republic of Turkey from the Ottoman Empire, which was on the point of extinction, is
one of the most important and exemplary turning points in Turkish history. In order to better
understand and evaluate this, the developments in the history of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the
last periods, and the history of the War of Independence and the founding period of the Republic of
Turkey, which were shaped by the National Pact, which constituted the basic idea of the new state,
should be learned very well.
Characteristics and Goals of the Turkish Revolution
Ataturk expressed the meaning of the phrase "revolution" in terms of Turkish history as "destroying
the institutions that have left the Turkish Nation behind in the last centuries and replacing them with
new institutions that will ensure the progress of the nation in accordance with the highest civil
requirements."
The Turkish revolution is an action that includes the struggle for national sovereignty, independence
and modernization; It is a movement of enlightenment and renewal. After the successful conclusion of
the struggles for independence and national sovereignty, the struggle for modernization began.
The Turkish Revolution shows integrity with its cultural, social, and economic aspects. It is essential
to preserve the structure within this integrity and to integrate innovations within this structure.
Although it was inspired by the French Revolution, nationalism was its main feature. The Turkish
revolution stemmed from the depths of Turkish history and arose from the needs of the Turkish
society. The revolutions were carried out not with the understanding of imitating a new civilization
exactly, but with the effort of returning to the essence.
While starting the War of Independence, Mustafa Kemal made it a priority to mobilize the Anatolian
people together with all segments of society; The act of bringing together the country's local liberation
and defense organizations for the purpose of national liberation was realized by displaying a rational,
conciliatory, and unifying attitude. Ataturk is one of the rare leaders in world history who knew his
society very well, integrated with his people, and adhered to the principle of legitimacy (found right by
the law and public conscience). Based on the fact that the legitimacy of the Turkish Revolution lies
within the Turkish society, on the one hand, while the revolutionary breakthrough was carried out, the
people's views and thoughts on this subject were observed and the nation was accustomed to the
revolutions step by step.
Revolutionism
Ataturk's principles and reforms are a whole. One complements the other, and even if it is possible to
consider and evaluate one separately from the other, it is not correct. The spirit and mentality that
dominates them is constructiveness and creativity. It derives its power from facts, the trio of reason,
science and experiment (technology). It achieves successful results by carrying out thought and action
together. Like this; Science and truth, balanced with thought and action, form the Ataturkist ideology.
These give spirit, shape and direction to a brand new state with its solid foundations.
In the Ataturkist Thought System, revolutionism starts from a nationalist view. The energy power of
the principles as a whole is revolutionism; It gives dynamism. On the one hand, it aims to strengthen

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and protect the state it created. On the other hand, it tries to keep up with the course of the civilized
world.
When we look at revolutionism from the perspective of Ataturk's views, we see this: Revolution
means progressiveness, innovation and modernization in all circumstances and conditions. It is to
eliminate institutions that are outdated. To replace them with advanced and developed institutions.
While making all these innovations, it will be essential to rely on nationalist and civilizational
foundations.
For this reason, Ataturk said: “Revolution means changing existing institutions by force. "It means
destroying the institutions that have left the Turkish nation behind in the last centuries and replacing
them with new institutions that will enable the nation to progress in accordance with the highest civil
requirements."
Revolutionism is based on two major foundations. These are nationalism and civilizationism.
Ataturk accepts nationalism as one of the fundamental pillars of revolutionary thought. As a matter of
fact, he always expressed nationalism, from his conversations to his country trips to his speeches. He
focused carefully on terms such as national spirit, national consciousness, national sovereignty,
national will, national power, national morality, and national economy. He believed that creating a
national spirit was essential for revolutionism. He never deviated from this thought from his birth until
his death. Another fundamental element in revolutionism is civilizationism.
Atatürk said the following about the purpose of the revolutions in his second speech in Kastamonu
on 30.8.1925: “Gentlemen, the aim of the reforms we have made and are making is to make the people
of the Republic of Turkey a completely modern and civilized society in all its meaning and
appearance. This is the real purpose of our revolutions.”
What should be understood from revolutionism is; It is to prevent the Turkish Nation from stopping,
regressing and looking back. The aims of revolutionism can be summarized as follows:
➢ To protect the revolutions made under difficult conditions and prevent their abuse.
➢ Following and implementing innovations
➢ Progress and modernizing
➢ Giving importance to creative thoughts and efforts
➢ Diligence and researching developments that will ensure the progress of society