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 Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs
2017, Volume 1, Number 1, pages 67– 75

The Scale of Public Space:

Taksim Square in Istanbul
Dr. Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri *
Department of Architecture, Girne American University, Turkey

A R T I C L E I N F O:
Article history:
Received 17 January 2017
Accepted 26 March 2017
Available online 26 March
2017
Keywords:
Public spaces;
Taksim Square;
Istanbul;
The national space;
Social changes.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution
NonCommercial - NoDerivs 4.0.
"CC-BY-NC-ND"
ABSTRACT
This article aims at following the traces of the transformation of public sphere in
Turkey through its manifestations on urban public spaces with the case study of Taksim
Square. In this attempt, the article illustrates how Taksim square, as a public space,
has been shaped by struggles between different ideologies, discourses, political
decisions and daily activities taking place at personal, interpersonal, local, national,
supranational and global scales. Through this way this article also aims at
understanding how these contestations at different scales are affecting people,
individually and collectively, from daily life practices to political integration. The
article also discusses that our daily life practices and preferences are political
decisions and our participation in public sphere occurs through those daily actions of
the personal spheres. Therefore, the article suggests that a paradigm shift is needed in
the design and production of the built environments that will facilitate the coexistence
of multiple counter publics.
- JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS (2017) 1(1), 67-75.
https://doi.org/10.25034/1761.1(1)67-75
www.ijcua.com
Copyright © 2017 Journal Of Contemporary Urban Affairs. All rights reserved.

Those images help to create and sustain a

1. Introduction
Today the role of public spaces in the exchange
of ideas and creation of public opinion has
started to be discussed extensively. Public
spaces such as Tahrir Square in Egypt, Sintagma
Square in Greece, the buffer Zone in Cyprus, or
the Azadi Square in Tehran have more than what
they occupy as physical spaces. Images
reflecting those huge urban areas with millions of
people inside are circulating all over the world
through news agencies or social media, as the
messengers of new social orders or new regimes.
feeling of strong resistance and solidarity through
the representation of the materialization of
political ideas with real people and real places
in them. Although it is impossible to deny the
importance of internet and social media in the
formation of public opinion, organization of
protests and demonstrations, and circulation of
*Corresponding Author:
Department of Architecture, Girne American University,
Turkey
E-mail address: senemsadri@gau.edu.tr
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 1(1), 67-75 / 2017
news and information, the need for the
physicality of place (a public space), and the
power of thousands of people interwoven
together occupying that space cannot be
ignored. In the end, all those images shared in
digital media illustrate real people and real
places (Parkinson, 2012).
These political activisms on urban spaces are
becoming visible by the help of internet, and
media at a global scale. They illustrate the
collective resistance of certain people at certain
locations, which might have global impacts at
other localities. Although they do not represent
the “ideal speech condition” that Habermas
suggests as the rule of public sphere they are
probably the utmost reflections of public opinion
(Habermas, Lenox, & Lenox, 1974). And again, in
contrast with Habermasian ideal of public
sphere, which is related with public opinion and
manifested in language, these activisms are
highly visible through their existence on urban
spaces (Parkinson, 2012).
As much as the spatiality of public spaces, the
scale issue is also important because the physical
public space is being shaped as a result of
struggles between different ideologies,
discourses, political decisions and daily activities
taking place at personal, interpersonal, local,
national, supranational and global scales.
Therefore, these contestations at different scales
are blurring established definitions of normative
public sphere, and defining new and alternative
spheres of public expression in several forms,
ranging from performing daily life activities to
participating in political life in passive and active
ways. These alternative spheres of public
expression, formed at the intersections of
different scalar relations of public life create
what Nancy Fraser calls “subaltern
counterpublic” (Fraser, 1990).
Having the idea that public spaces constitute an
indispensable part of public life, and play an
important role in the formation of public opinion,
this article aims at following the traces of the
transformation of public sphere in Turkey through
its manifestations on urban public spaces with
the case study of Taksim Square in Istanbul. In this
attempt, the article tries to understand the
changing meanings attached to the square as a
major public space, not only at urban scale but
also at personal, interpersonal, national and
global scales. Therefore, the article looks at the
ways how the square has been formed, used,
transformed and appropriated by different
ideologies, discourses, political decisions and
daily life activities of different groups. It also looks
at the ways how political and ideological
pressures are materialized at urban spaces and
how these materializations are being contested
through different forms of public expressions
ranging from collective protests to daily life
activities and preferences in the use of urban
space. The article aims to understand whether or
not these contestations open the way for new
forms of public spheres, which might be called as
multiple counter-publics with reference to Nancy
Fraser, and whether or not the physicality of the
urban space in terms of inscription of meanings
and transformation of those meanings through
appropriation of the space, has impacts on this
formation of new types of public spheres.
2. CONSTRUCTING THE NATIONAL SPACE,
DEFINING THE NATIONAL PUBLIC SPHERE IN
TURKEY
2.1 Imagination of a Modern Nation State
The foundation of the Turkish Republic as a new
nation-state in 1923 was a break from the
imperial Ottoman past through a modernization
project. One of the most important aspects of
the nationhood was constructing a Turkish
citizenship within defined boundaries (Secor,
2004). This modernization project was inspired by
the Western norms, and paralleled by
secularization and homogenization of the
country (Kasaba, 1997). The visual
representations of the period in printed
publications such as journals, books and posters
depicting:
“[u]nveiled women working next to
clean-shaven men in educational and
professional settings, healthy children
Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri 68
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 1(1), 67-75 / 2017
and young people in school uniforms, the
modern architecture of public buildings
in republican Ankara and other major
cities, the spectacular performances of
the national theater, symphony
orchestra, opera, and ballet, and proud
scenes of agriculture, railroads, factories,
and dams…” (Bozdoğan & Kasaba, 1999;
p:5)
provides an understanding of how the
modernist-nationalist project was determined to
create a homogenous, national identity which is
reflected in a variety of fields ranging from the
outfit of citizens, to the newly emerging cultural
practices, from women participating in the
economic production to the modernist
architecture and urban design of the nation
state (Bozdoğan, 2001; Bozdoğan & Kasaba,
1999).
2.2 Constructing National Identity through
Architecture
As for Alev Çınar, one of the most important
priorities of the ruling elite of the new nation state
was to define a national territory, in order to
materialize the power and dominance of the
new regime and its national ideology and create
a feeling of a “unified national territory” (Çınar,
2005; p: 101). She states that “nationhood is not
only about the collective imagination of a
national community, but also about the
imagination of national space” (Çınar, 2005; p:
99). Therefore, architecture and urban design
became an important tool to convey those
ideals on the physical space. One of the most
important decisions implemented on the
national space was the relocation of the capital
from the former imperial capital Istanbul, to a
small town in central Anatolia, Ankara. This move
was the spatial reflection of the intention of a
break with the Ottoman and Islamic heritage of
the past (Bozdoğan, 2001). In order to
institutionalize the reforms and make them
effective in the level of everyday life, the state
searched for a model that would replace
Istanbul’s urban and cultural heterogeneity with
a modern and homogeneous urban
environment (Şengül, 2001).
Urban planning and construction works initially
started in Ankara, and then spread to other
Anatolian cities. New governmental buildings,
schools, factories and housing complexes were
built in accordance with modernist architectural
style; new urban open spaces such as
boulevards, parks, promenades and squares
were opened and the reflections of the new
regime were inscribed in them by erection of
monuments and statues (Bozdoğan, 2001; Çınar,
2005). In the following years, all these urban
interventions became institutionalized through
the enforcement of laws and regulations such as
Municipality Law (Belediye Kanunu), General
Sanitation Law (Umumi Hıfzısıhha) and
Construction and Roads Laws (Yapı ve Yollar
Kanunu) all over the country (Tekeli, 1999).
2.3 Urban Interventions in Taksim
According to Çınar, through these interventions
on the urban space, the new regime was not
only constructing its power and authority in front
of its constituency, but also representing itself in
front of the “global gaze”, so as to gain approval
and validity at global scale. (Çınar, 2005).
Although Ankara was the centre of
modernization efforts of the young republic
through urbanization and construction works,
there was a need for inscribing the symbols of the
new republic in Istanbul as well, since Istanbul
remained its position as being focal point of the
“global gaze” with its historical, cultural and
economic prominence (Çınar, 2005).
Nevertheless, Istanbul was full of buildings and
monuments representing the Ottoman heritage
in its every corner. Sultanahmet Square was the
center of the imperial Istanbul, with Hagia-
Sophia, Sultanahmet Mosque, and Topkapı
Palace in its close vicinity, which are all
representatives of the Ottoman power.
Therefore, transforming Istanbul’s image from the
capital of Ottoman empire into a modernist city
was not an easy task to accomplish (Çınar, 2005).
In order to emphasize its break with this Ottoman
Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri 69
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 1(1), 67-75 / 2017
past, the new republic decided to create a new
center in the city, Taksim Square, far from the
existing historical center and which did not carry
any symbols of the Ottoman power and Islamic
traditions (Baykal, 2000; Çınar, 2005). The idea
was to erect a monument in this new central
location, which would symbolize the power and
authority of the new regime, and the national
identity.
Taksim square constituted an appropriate
location for the erection of this monument due
to its geographical distance from Sultanahmet
Square, the former Ottoman center and its
proximity to non-Muslim neighborhoods of the
city. Geographically, Taksim square is located on
a hilltop on the European side of Istanbul, and on
the northern part of historical peninsula, where
the Sultanahmet Square lies. Haliç estuary (the
Golden Horn) seperates these two land parts
from each other. The northern part, Beyoğlu (also
called Pera) was mostly populated by non-
Muslims during the Ottoman period. Starting from
the 16th century, the Grand Rue de Pera
(today’s Istiklal Street) started to emerge with the
establishment of consulates of different Europen
countries and the settlement of their officers and
wealthy non-Muslim populations of Istanbul
around this street (Kuruyazıcı, 1998).
During the 18th century, the settlement enlarged
towards the plane which was used as
graveyards and where today’s Taksim square is
located (Polvan & Yönet, 2010). The Maksem
building, a water reservoir and one of the most
important structures marking the square, was
constructed in 1732 in order to distribute water to
the neighborhoods in the close vicinity. This area
started to be named as Taksim (which means
division in Arabic) after the construction of this
building (Kuruyazıcı, 1998). Another prominent
building, Taksim Artillary Barracks was built in
1780, on the north of reservoir building; and other
military buildings, Mecidiye Barracks, and Military
Band Barracks, started to surround Taksim square
during the 19th century.
19th century was a period when the Ottoman
Empire underwent reform movements in its
institutional system and this was also reflected on
the urban pattern of the capital city, Istanbul
(Baykal, 2000). Pera, with a concentration of
non-Muslim population was a model for the
urban renovation projects. Therefore, it
developed with a more modern face and with
western living style. The barracks buildings were
also representative of the modernization efforts
of the military system. Therefore, Pera was
symbolizing modenization attempts of the
empire.
2.4 Taksim Square as the National Symbol of the
Republic
One of the most important steps transforming
Taksim area into a national space was
construction of a monument at its center. The
Taksim Republic Monument, designed by the
Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica, was erected in
1928. The base and the landscaping of the
monument were designed by a Levanten
architect, Guilio Mongeri. The monument depicts
Atatürk and his close surrounding during the
Turkish War of Independence on the one side,
and after the establishment of republic on the
other side. With these figures, it was signifying
both the victory of National independence war
and the foundation of the republic, which marks
a break with the Ottoman past (Kuruyazıcı, 1998).
After its establishment, the monument has been
a central figure for official celebrations of the
republican government, such as victory days
and anniversaries.
An overall planning idea for Istanbul first
emerged during the 1930s. In 1936 the French
planner Henri Prost was invited by the
municipality, and Prost was commisioned to
prepare a master plan for the city of Istanbul.
Between the years 1936-1951, Prost was in
charge of planning the city (Bilsel, 2007). In 1939,
after the approval of Henri Prost’s plan for
Istanbul, the Artillary Barracks building was
demolished. Instead, a huge park (Gezi Park)
“[a] classic-modernist and axial Taksim
Esplanade … propos[ing] a disciplined urbanism
overlapping with the ideology of the era with its
Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri 70
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 1(1), 67-75 / 2017
surrounding buildings and ceremonialism”
replaced the barracks (Yücel & Hatipoğlu, 2008;
319). As a result, the square lost one of the most
important elements that formed its border. In
addition to that, parallel to the increase in
number of streets opening to it, the square
started to loose its function as a square and
started to look more like a crossroad (Yücel &
Hatipoğlu, 2008)
Another important building contributing to the
republican imagination and construction of the
space is the Atatürk Cultural Center. After its first
opening in 1969 with the name Istanbul Culture
Palace, it was destructed by a fire, and
reopened in 1978 with the name Atatürk Cultural
Center (Yücel & Hatipoğlu, 2008). This center also
attributes an ideological significance to the
square, with the western culture that it
represents.
The building’s current situation reflects the results
of year’s long discussions regarding whether the
building should be demolished or renovated. In
2005, the Ministry of Culture proposed to
demolish the building and rebuild another one,
claiming that the existing building cannot meet
the growing needs and requires renovation. The
idea of demolition brought about reactions, and
as a result building was not demolished. In 2008 it
was closed for renovation, and the son of the
architect of the original building was
commissioned to prepare a renovation project
for the building. However, this project was
opposed by the Culture, Arts and Tourism
Worker’s Union, and it was cancelled. In 2009, a
new project was prepared by the same office
according revisions and the renovation works
started in 2012. The opening was planned for the
year 2013; however in that year the renovation
works have ceased (Girit, 2015; Tabanlıoğlu,
2013). As of March 2017, the building still lies in a
derelict condition, and the discussions about its
fate still continue.
3. TAKSIM SQUARE AS THE PLACE OF
REPRESENTATION / CONTESTATION
All these interventions on the urban space, the
establishment of Republican Monument,
demolishing of Artillary Barracks and building of
a public promenade over its location, and
construction of Atatürk Cultural Center, marked
the establishment of the square as a national
public space, spatializing the idea of Turkish
nationalism, which also determined the
boundaries of the public sphere of the early
republican period. As much as it has been a
place for official ceremonies of the state, the
square has also been a place of contestation,
due to high public visibility that it provides for any
political activity. This national establishment of
the public sphere, and its definition of the urban
space, had also affected the daily life and face
to face interactions at this specific urban
location.
3.1 Taksim Square Massacre on International
Worker’s Day
The most grievous occasion which Taksim Square
had witnessed took place on the celebrations of
May 1 in the year 1977. In the protests of workers
and leftist groups 33 people were killed. Five of
them were killed by fire opened from surrounding
buildings. As the panicked protesters were trying
to escape from the area, panzers headed
towards the crowd and another 28 people died
under the panzers. The case has not been solved
yet, since the people in charge of these attacks
have not been determined. However, many
leftist organizations claimed that illegal armed
forces, which had developed against leftist
organizations within NATO countries and which
were in preparation to the military coup d’état in
1980 in Turkey, were in charge of these assaults
(Baykan & Hatuka, 2010).
After that incident, Taksim became a symbol of
struggle for leftist groups and union
organizations, and for a period of more than 30
years, they have fought to gain control over this
square against security forces, which try to
prevent the celebrations of May 1 by using gas
Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri 71
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 1(1), 67-75 / 2017
bombs, batons and probations. Finally, in 2010,
33 years after the Taksim Square Massacre, the
governor of Istanbul allowed May 1 celebrations
to take place in Taksim square (Baykan &
Hatuka, 2010). In 2013, the square was once
more closed to May 1 celebrations due to on-
going construction work of Taksim
Pedestrianization Project (Bianet, 2013), and
from that year on the square is still close to May
1.
3.2 Eternal Intentness for Building a Mosque in
Taksim
The Muslim conservatives, who were excluded
by secular policies of the Republican
government, constitute another group which
gives power struggle for Taksim Square. In their
point of view, Istanbul is a lost city destroyed by
the modernization and westernization attempts
of the secular state. For almost half a century, this
group has carried the desire of building a
mosque in the middle of Taksim square, but they
were averted by the government or secular
groups each time they attempted to build a
mosque (Büyüksaraç, 2005; Şimşek, Polvan, &
Yeşilşerit, 2006). This on-going controversy came
to an end by the decision of administrative court
in 2015, which opens the way for construction of
a mosque in Taksim Square. In January 2017, the
mosque project which proposes a worship space
for around 1000 people, including car parks,
conference and exhibition halls in the empty
area just behind the Maksem building has been
approved by the Istanbul number 2 District
Council of Preservation of Cultural Heritage
(Gökçe, 2017). The construction work has started
on 17 February 2017 with an official ceremony
with the participation of mayors of Istanbul
Greater Municipality and Beyoğlu Municipality
(Bozkurt, 2017).
3.3 Taksim Square Pedestrianization Project and
the Gezi Protests
Since November 2012 there has been a frantic
construction work in Taksim square as a part of
the “pedestrianization project” of the square,
which includes pedestrianization of the square
through directing the traffic towards under the
square with huge tunnels, removing bus stops
from the square and reconstructing Artillary
Barracks building as a shopping mall and hotel
by demolishing Gezi Park.
This project has raised a respectable amount of
public debate, and even facilitated the
establishment of an activist group named
Solidarity for Taksim composed of civil society
organizations, professional chambers and
political organizations and also including a
number of individual academics, architects,
urban planners, students, activists, artists,
journalists and writers. These individuals and
groups objected the project due to its top-down
application process, underlining the
inappropriateness of the car underpasses;
difficulties of reaching the square for pedestrians;
the loss of the identity of the square and
collective memory of the city. Last but not least,
destruction of Gezi Park, one of the few
remaining green areas of Taksim and rebuilding
the Artillery Barracks building for commercial
purposes constituted an important concern
(Mimarist). Despite all these critics, the project
has been approved by Istanbul Greater
Municipality and the pedestrianization of the
square is on its way towards completion (İstanbul
Greater Municipality).
In addition to pedestrianization of the square,
demolition of Gezi Park and reconstruction of
Artillary Barracks building with new functions was
a part of the project. During the construction
works, there were protests and demonstrations
against the project, especially focusing on
protection of Gezi Park from demolition. On 27th
of May 2013, the bulldozers started demolishing
the trees in the park. Around 50 activists
including architects, planners and artists
gathered to stop this demolition and they
camped in the park, however, next morning they
were evacuated by police forces, their tents
were torn down and burnt by the police
(Mimarist). In the following few days, police
attacks by tear gas and water cannons
Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri 72
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 1(1), 67-75 / 2017
continued. Especially with the heavy-handed
police attacks on the dawns of 30th and 31st of
May 2013, the protests had spread to all over
Turkey, including millions of protestors marching
on the streets (Atam, 2013).
As the police attacks continued, the protestors
started to develop tactics to overcome those
attacks. As a result of brutal violence during the
last few days of May, and 1st of June, there were
millions on Taksim Square, and the police was
retreated from the park and the square.
Protestors, including people from different
backgrounds, political groups, workers’ unions,
civil society organizations, football team
members or people who are not attached to
any political ideology or group, started to
establish barricades on the streets opening to
Taksim and Gezi Park area using pavement
stones, police shields, trash cans, burned police
buses, or any available material they could find,
in order to prevent police cars entering the Gezi
Park and Taksim Square area. Meanwhile, Gezi
park started to turn into a big commune with
tents, an infirmary, food and medicine supply
zone, an open library, a children’s area.
Everything was free in this area, and everybody
was working voluntarily for others. All materials
like food, medicine, books, were supplied from
supporters in Istanbul, and all over the world
through internet. Many activities were organized
in Gezi during those days, such as meetings,
yoga classes, dervish swirling, workshops with
children, reading corners and piano recitals. This
was a temporary autonomous zone, which was
short lived physically, but still enduring mentally
(Bulut, 2013; Postvirtual, 2013).
Such kind of big scale urban interventions not
only change the physical appearance and
functioning of the places in which they are being
applied. They also inscribe new meanings to the
urban space, through modifying the existing
uses, social relations, and memories attached to
the place. Any kind of intervention in Taksim
square carries a specific meaning due to the
political, historical and social significance of the
square. It has been a place of representation,
struggle, contestation and spectacle throughout
its history, especially since the beginning of
Turkish republic. It has served as a place for
constructing the national identity; establishing a
spectacle for the global gaze; claiming unheard
and unfulfilled demands and contesting over
new forms of identities and representations.
Those political actions and claims have found
their spatial reflections on the square, creating a
vibrant image of the square changing from a
global spectacle to a national stage of ideology
and power, from an urban transportation node
to a place for becoming political (Akpınar &
Gümüş, 2012; Baykan & Hatuka, 2010;
Büyüksaraç, 2005; Yücel & Hatipoğlu, 2008).
4. CONCLUSION
Those examples illustrate that on the one side,
the city, with its public spaces, is a crucial site for
seeing others and being seen by others, meeting
with new perspectives, voicing claims or
objections and becoming political. Therefore
they are sites through which public sphere, as the
media, institutions, or mind sets of other people,
can be accessed, and manipulated. This
struggle is not only about a claim to represent
different identities but a claim to existence by
representation and redefinition of those
identities.
On the other side, the city can also become a
place of exclusion and segregation with
hegemonic and normative strategies that shape
the physical space. However, those exclusionary
practices are disrupted through several tactics
and manoeuvres of daily life practices. Public
sphere and public space are being challenged,
contested, re-imagined, de-constructed and re-
constructed over and over again. These
activities collectively construct and reveal an
alternative logic of public life. Multiple counter
publics, as suggested by Nancy Fraser suggests
already exist at different scales (Fraser, 1990).
A new language is needed to create a common
ground that allows new modes of
communication and openness to other’s
Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri 73
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 1(1), 67-75 / 2017
perspectives, so that those multiple public
spheres may continue to co-exist. Therefore, the
idea of public sphere should not be limited with
national, international, global or urban scales,
but the creative opportunities of other scales
such as personal spheres, inter-personal spheres,
local spheres, neighborhood spheres need to be
underlined in formulating new logics of public
life. So here, the main question is, what could
spatial disciplines suggest for the cultivation of
such a language and common ground for
communication?
Acknowledgment
This research did not receive any specific grant
from funding agencies in the public,
commercial, or non-for-profit sectors.
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Senem Zeybekoglu Sadri 75

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Cost of maintenance.

See (in this volume)

GERMANY: A. D. 1899 (JUNE).

KIEL:
Opening of the Baltic Canal.

See (in this volume)

GERMANY: A. D. 1895 (JUNE).

KIENNING, Anti-missionary riot at.

See (in this volume)

CHINA: A. D. 1899.

KIMBERLEY, Siege of.

See (in this volume)

SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER); (OCTOBER-DECEMBER);
and 1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

KINGSHIP BY DIVINE RIGHT:

German revival of the doctrine.

See (in this volume)

GERMANY: A. D. 1894-1899.

KIS, The city of.

See (in this volume)

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA: AMERICAN
EXPLORATION.

KITCHENER, Major-General Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord):

Sirdar of the Egyptian army.
 Expedition to Dongola.

See (in this volume)

EGYPT: A. D. 1885-1896.

KITCHENER, Major-General Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord):

Final campaigns against the Dervishes.

See (in this volume)

EGYPT: A. D. 1897-1898.

KITCHENER, Major-General Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord):

Dealing with the French expedition at Fashoda.

See (in this volume)

EGYPT: A. D. 1898 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER).

KITCHENER, Major-General Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord):

In the South African War.

See (in this volume)

SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY), and after.

KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS, The.

"Many years ago gold was known to exist on the Yukon. The
Hudson Bay Company's men tested the bars of the main river,
and found 'the color,' but not in sufficient quantity to
warrant working. The reason is, that, in the disintegration of
the rocks by the smaller streams and the action of frost and
melting snow, the metallic burden of the waters is dropped in
the causeway of the smaller tributaries; only the finest float
gold and the lighter sand and gravel being carried as far as the
Yukon itself. In 1880, after years of fruitless search on the
main stream, a body of prospectors under the protection of
Captain (now Admiral) Beardsley, United States Navy, landed at
 the head of Lynn Canal, crossed the divide, and proceeded to
explore the head-waters. Not much being found at first in
Canadian territory, the prospectors descended the river to the
region near the lower end of the Upper Ramparts. In this
region lies the boundary, formed by the one hundred and
forty-first degree of west longitude from Greenwich. Here the
Yukon receives from the southwest a tributary called
Forty-Mile Creek. A few miles of the lower part of this creek,
including its mouth, are on the Canadian side of the line: the
head-waters—on which the gold is chiefly found—are, for the
most part, on the American side. In this vicinity the first
substantial deposits were discovered, many of which are still
worked. …

"The site of the new diggings—which have produced an

excitement recalling the 'Fraser River rush' of 1857—is on a
stream tributary to the Yukon from the northeast, wholly in
Canadian territory, and entering the main river about fifty
miles eastward from the boundary. Here a mining camp, called
Dawson City,—after the head of the Dominion Geological
Survey,—has been established. … The stream above referred to
has been named the Klondyke,—signifying 'reindeer': on some of
the older maps it is designated Reindeer River. It is said
however that the name should really be Throndak,—a Tinneh term
meaning 'plenty of fish.' The existence of gold on this stream
and its branches appears to have been first made known by
Indians. One of the first prospectors to locate upon it with
success was J. A. Carmich, who staked out his claim in August,
1896, and with two helpers, in a few weeks, washed out over
$14,000."

W. H. Dall,
Alaska and the New Gold-Field
(Forum, September, 1897).

KNIGHTHOOD: Victorian Order.

 See (in this volume)
VICTORIAN ORDER.

KNOSSOS, Archæological excavations at.

See (in this volume)

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: CRETE.

KOKANG: Cession to Great Britain.

See (in this volume)

CHINA: A. D. 1897 (MAY-JUNE).

KOREA: A. D. 1895-1898.
Nominal independence of Korea.
Japanese influence supplanted by Russian.

On the 7th of January, 1893, the independence of Korea (see,

in this volume, CHINA: A. D. 1894-1895) was formally
proclaimed at Seoul. For a time, Japanese influence
prevailed, and the party favorable to it controlled affairs.
But Russian jealousy gave encouragement to the opposing
faction, headed by the queen, and the latter succeeded at
length in thwarting most of the aims of the Japanese. The
result was a revolutionary conspiracy in October, carried out
by a murderous band which broke into the palace and killed
three women, one of whom was supposed to be the queen. The
assassins were dressed in Japanese costume, and were said to
belong to the "soshi," or hireling cutthroats, of that
country; but the Japanese government indignantly repudiated
the crime, recalled and arrested its Minister, who was
suspected of complicity, and forbade its subjects to enter
Korea without special permission. Russian influence,
nevertheless, became dominant soon after; the king yielded to
it completely, and obtained riddance of opposing ministers
with Russian support. In the end, Russia and Japan came to an
agreement, nominally establishing a joint protectorate over
 Korea; but practically the Japanese seemed to be fairly
shouldered out.

{289}

In the later part of 1897, the Russian Minister to Korea

brought about the dismissal of an English official, Mr. Brown,
who had been the financial adviser of the Korean government
and its commissioner of customs, putting a Russian in his
place, and secured a written agreement that none but Russians
or Koreans should fill that important post in future. The
vigorous remonstrance of the British government, however,
caused this action to be reversed.

Russia and Japan came to a new understanding in 1898, more

favorable to the interests of the latter in Korea. This was
embodied in a protocol, signed at Tokyo on the 25th of April,
1898, in terms as follows:

"I. That the Governments of Japan and Russia, recognizing the

sovereignty and complete independence of Korea, shall in no
way directly interfere with the domestic government of that
country.

II. That in order to avoid misunderstandings in the future,

whenever either Japan or Russia is applied to by Korea for
advice or assistance, neither contracting party shall take any
steps toward the appointment of military instructors or
financial advisers without previous consultation with the
other.

III. That Russia, recognizing the great progress made in

commercial and industrial enterprises by Japan in Korea, and
the great number of Japanese subjects residing in the
settlements, will do nothing to injure the development of the
commercial and industrial relations between Japan and Korea."
 United States Consular Reports,
August, 1898, page 591.

A reform party had begun to manifest influence at this time,

even aspiring to representative institutions in the
government. Various progressive measures were undertaken in
1898; the gold monetary standard was adopted; American
engineers were engaged to plan roads, bridges, etc., and new
ports were opened.

KOREA: A. D. 1900.
Strategic importance of Korea to Russia and Japan.
Japanese jealousy of Russian encroachments in
Manchuria and its grounds.

"Considerable as are the material interests which Japan is

building up in Korea, it is still from the strategical point
of view that she is most deeply concerned with the future of
the Korean peninsula, which, in the hands of a great military
Power like Russia, would be a permanent threat to her safety.
And the Japanese appear to be firmly convinced that, when
once Russia is firmly seated in Northern China, she must
inevitably seek to absorb Korea. In any other hands but her
own the Korean peninsula would always be a wedge
inconveniently driven in between her older acquisitions on
the Pacific seaboard and her more recent acquisitions in the
Gulf of Chi-li, nor could she regard her strategical position
in the Far East as thoroughly secured so long as she did not
command one shore of the straits through which lies the
natural waterway between her two naval bases at Vladivostok
and at Port Arthur. … Port Arthur is situated practically on
an inland sea to which the approaches can be dominated not
only by positions already in the hands of other European
Powers, such as Wei-hai-wei and Kiaochau, but by the Korean
peninsula and islands as well as by the Japanese archipelago,
from Tsushima down to Formosa. With Port Arthur as her main
base Russia's position as a naval Power in the Far East would
 be subject to natural limitations not altogether unlike those
which hamper her in the Black Sea and the Baltic.

"Considered in this light the question of Russian

aggrandisement in Northern China is so closely interwoven with
that of the future of Korea that it must necessarily wear a
much more serious aspect for Japan than for any other Power
—so serious, indeed, that not a few Japanese deem the time to
be close at hand when Japan should retort upon Russia in
precisely the same terms which the latter used in 1895 and
demand the evacuation of territories where her presence must
be a permanent threat to the independence of the Chinese
Empire and the peace of the Far East."

London Times,
Tokio Correspondence, December 27, 1900.

KOTZE, Chief-Justice:
Conflict with President Kruger of the Transvaal.

See (in this volume)

SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1897 (JANUARY-
MARCH);
and 1898 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

KROONSTAD:
Temporary seat of Orange Free State government.

See (in this volume)

SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR): A. D. 1900 (MARCH-
MAY).

KRUGER: President Stephanus Johannes Paulus.

See (in this volume)

SOUTH AFRICA (THE TRANSVAAL): A. D. 1885-1890, and after.
KUANG HSU, Emperor of China.

See (in this volume)

CHINA: A. D. 1898 (JUNE-SEPTEMBER), and after.

KUMASSI, or COOMASSIE:
Occupation by the British.
Siege and relief.

See (in this volume)

ASHANTI.

KURAM, The:
Inclusion in a new British Indian province.

See (in this volume)

INDIA: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).

KURRAM VALLEY, British-Indian war with tribes in the.

See (in this volume)

INDIA: A. D. 1897-1898.

KWANGCHOW WAN, Lease of, to France.

See (in this volume)

CHINA: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-AUGUST).

KWANG-SI, Rebellion in.

See (in this volume)

CHINA: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-JULY).

{290}

L.
LABOR COLONIES: In Australia.

See (in this volume)

AUSTRALIA; RECENT EXTENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY.

LABOR CONFLICTS.

See (in this volume)

INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES.

LABOR LEGISLATION:
Compulsory insurance in Germany.

See (in this volume)

GERMANY: A. D. 1897-1900.

LABOR LEGISLATION:
Eight-hours day in Utah.

See (in this volume)

UTAH: A. D. 1895-1896.

LABOR LEGISLATION:
New Zealand Labor Laws.

See (in this volume))

NEW ZEALAND: A. D. 1891-1900.

LABOR LEGISLATION:
Workmen's Compensation Act in Great Britain.

See (in this volume)

ENGLAND: A. D. 1897 (MAY-JULY).

LABOR LEGISLATION:
The United States Industrial Commission.
 See (in this volume)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (JUNE).

LABRADOR, Recent exploration of.

See (in this volume)

POLAR EXPLORATION, 1893-1900, 1896.

LABYRINTH, The Cretan:

Its supposed discovery.

See (in this volume)

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: CRETE.

LADRONE ISLANDS:
Sale by Spain to Germany.

See (in this volume)

CAROLINE AND MARIANNE ISLANDS.

LADYSMITH, Siege of.

See (in this volume)

SOUTH AFRICA (THE FIELD OF WAR):
A. D. 1899 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER);
and 1900 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY).

LAGAS, The ancient city of.

See (in this volume)

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH; BABYLONIA: AMERICAN
EXPLORATION.

LAGOS.

See (in this volume)

NIGERIA: A. D. 1899.
LA GUASIMA, Battle at.

See (in this volume)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (JUNE-JULY).

LAKE SUPERIOR CONSOLIDATED IRON MINES:

In the United States Steel Corporation.

See (in this volume)

TRUSTS: UNITED STATES: THE CLIMAX.

LAND BILL, Irish (1896).

See (in this volume)

IRELAND: A. D. 1896.

LAND SYSTEM, The New Zealand.

See (in this volume)

NEW ZEALAND; A. D. 1891-1900.

LAND TAXATION:
In Australia and New Zealand.

See (in this volume)

AUSTRALIA: RECENT EXTENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY.

LANDLORDS, Irish, New League against.

See (in this volume)

IRELAND: A. D. 1900-1901.

LATTIMER,
Conflict of striking coal miners with sheriffs' deputies at.

See (in this volume)

 INDUSTRIAL DISTURBANCES: A. D. 1897.

LAURIER, Sir Wilfrid:

Prime Minister of Canada.

See (in this volume)

CANADA: A. D. 1890-1896, and after.

LAWS OF WAR.

See (in this volume)

PEACE CONFERENCE.

LAWTON, General Henry W.:

Command at Santiago de Cuba.

See (in this volume)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1898 (JULY-AUGUST:
CUBA).

LAWTON, General Henry W.:

Military operations in the Philippine Islands.

See (in this volume)

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899 (JANUARY-NOVEMBER).

LAWTON, General Henry W.:

Death.

See (in this volume) PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899-1900.

LECHER, Dr.:
Twelve-hours speech.

See (in this volume)

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).
LEE, General Fitzhugh:
U. S. Consul-General at Havana.

See (in this volume)

CUBA: A. D. 1897-1898 (NOVEMBER-FEBRUARY);
and (DECEMBER-MARCH).

LEE, General Fitzhugh:

Command at Havana.
Report.

See (in this volume)

CUBA: A. D. 1898-1899 (DECEMBER-OCTOBER).

LEICHAU PENINSULA, Leases in, to France.

See (in this volume)

CHINA: A. D. 1898 (APRIL-AuGUST).

LEO XIII., Pope,

See PAPACY.

LÈSE MAJESTÉ.

A hurt to Majesty.
Any offense or crime against the sovereign.
For lèse majesté in Germany,

See (in this volume)

GERMANY: A. D. 1898; and 1900 (OCTOBER).

LEX FALKENHAYN, The.

See (in this volume)

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1897 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).
LEX HEINZE, The.

See (in this volume)

GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (MAY).

LEXOW INVESTIGATION, The.

See (in this volume)

NEW YORK CITY; A. D. 1894-1895.

LIAOTUNG PORTS: A. D. 1895.

Russo-Chinese Treaty relating to.

See (in this volume)

CHINA: A. D. 1895.

See, also, references from PORT ARTHUR;

TALIENWAN; and FÊNG-TIEN PENINSULA.

LIBRARIES, The gifts of Mr. Andrew Carnegie to.

Of neither the manifold items nor the stupendous total of the

gifts made by Mr. Andrew Carnegie for the founding or for the
assistance of public libraries in America and Great Britain is
there any authentic account; but a tentative record of them,
compiled mainly from the news columns of the "Library
Journal," and published, on the 17th of March, 1901, in the
"Buffalo Illustrated Express," is probably not far from
correct. It begins in 1881, with the founding of a public
library at Dunfermline, Scotland, the birthplace of Mr.
Carnegie, who then gave for it $40,000. Two years later, he is
said to have given $50,000 to a library at Inverness. In 1885
the New York Free Circulating Libraries were helped by him to
the extent of $5,000. In the following year his benefactions
were raised to their larger scale by his gift of $250,000 to
the Free Public Library of Edinburgh; besides which he gave
$28,000 to the Workmen's Library of the Keystone Bridge Works,
 and smaller donations elsewhere. In 1889 he founded the
Carnegie Library at Braddock, Pennsylvania, at a cost of
$300,000.
{291}
In 1890 he contributed $325,000 to the founding of the
Carnegie Free Public Library at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which
the city undertook to support; he replaced the Cambria
Library, which the great flood at Johnstown had destroyed,
expending $65,000 in that kindly work; gave $40,000 to a
library at Fairfield, Iowa, and $9,000 to another at Augusta,
Maine. Five thousand dollars to a library in Airdrie, $50,000
to one in Ayr, and $2,500 to a third at Jedburgh, all three in
Scotland, are the gifts recorded in 1893 and 1894.

In 1895 Mr. Carnegie seemed to be crowning his munificence by

the creation, at Pittsburg, of the great institution,
combining library, art gallery, and museum, on which, between
that year and 1899 he is said to have expended no less than
$3,860,000. In the same year he founded a small library at
Wick, in Scotland. In 1897 the donations appear to have been
small. In 1898 Dumfries, in Scotland, received for a public
library $50,000 from his open purse, and $250,000 went from it
to the creation of the Carnegie Library at Homestead,
Pennsylvania, the seat of the Carnegie works.

Hitherto the stream of Mr. Carnegie's bounty to public

libraries had been a rivulet: it now, in 1899, began to pour
like the fertilizing flood of the Nile, and that first
twelvemonth of the amazing tide was celebrated by American
librarians, at the annual meeting of their Association, as
"the Carnegie year." In reality, it but opened a series of
"Carnegie years," which have filled the period since, and may
still go on. As compiled by the "Express," supplemented by a
later record in the "Library Journal" for April, 1901, the
list of the library gifts and offers of Mr. Carnegie, from the
beginning of 1899 until March, 1901, includes $5,200,000,
tendered to the city of New York for branches to its Public
 Library (see below); $1,000,000 tendered to St. Louis;
$350,000 to the city of Washington; $260,000 to Syracuse;
$125,000 each to Atlanta and Louisville; $100,000, or $150,000
(there seems to be uncertainty as to the sum) to Seattle;
$100,000 each to Richmond, Conneaut, Grand Rapids, Ottawa,
Ont., and the State College in Pennsylvania; $75,000 each to
Lincoln, Nebraska, Springfield, Illinois, Davenport, Iowa,
Tacoma, Washington, and the Bellevue Medical College, New
York; $50,000 each to San Diego, Oakland, Duluth Sedalia, East
Liverpool, Ohio, Steubenville, Sandusky, Connellsville,
McKeesport, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Tyrone, Pennsylvania,
Clarion, Oil City, Fort Worth, Dallas, Cheyenne, Dubuque,
Ottumwa, Emporia College, East Orange, York, Coal Center and
Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, Chattanooga, Houston, San Antonio,
Vancouver, British Columbia., Aurora, Illinois, Lewiston,
Maine, Niagara Falls, Yonkers, Canton, Ohio, Montgomery,
Alabama, Marion, Indiana, Galesburg, Illinois, Schenectady,
New York, and Hawick, Scotland; besides a great number of
lesser sums, ranging from a few hundred dollars to $40,000.
The total of the library gifts and proffers of Mr. Carnegie,
from the beginning to March, 1900, is thought to exceed
$23,000,000.

To many other educational institutions Mr. Carnegie has been

munificently generous, giving, for example, $500,000 for the
Manual Training School of Cooper Institute, New York; $250,000
to Birmingham University; $50,000 to the engineering
laboratory of Stevens Institute, Hoboken; $50,000 to the
Edinburgh Technical School, and making other gifts of like
kind.

LIBRARY,
New York Public, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
Andrew Carnegie's offered gift.

"The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden

Foundations, was formed by the consolidation, on the 23d of
May, 1895, of the three corporations, 'The Trustees of the
Astor Library,' originally incorporated January 18, 1849, 'The
Trustees of the Lenox Library,' originally incorporated
January 20, 1870, and 'The Tilden Trust,' originally
incorporated March 26, 1887. … In the agreement for
consolidation it was provided that the name of the new
corporation should be 'The New York Public Library, Astor,
Lenox and Tilden Foundations'; that the number of its trustees
should be twenty-one, to be selected from the thirty-three
members of the separate boards; and that 'the said new
corporation shall establish and maintain a free public library
and reading room in the city of New York, with such branches
as may be deemed advisable, and shall continue and promote the
several objects and purposes set forth in the respective acts
of incorporation of 'The Trustees of the Astor Library,' 'The
Trustees of the Lenox Library,' and the 'Tilden Trust.' … In
December, Dr. John Shaw Billings, United States Army
(retired), was chosen Director, but he did not enter fully
upon his duties until June, 1896. …

"At the time of the consolidation the Astor library owned its
site and buildings, had an endowment fund of about $941,000,
producing an annual income of about $47,000, and contained
267,147 volumes. The Lenox library owned its site and
building, had an endowment fund of $505,500, producing an
annual income of $20,500, and contained about 86,000 volumes.
The Tilden Trust possessed Mr. Tilden's private library,
containing about 20,000 volumes, and an endowment fund
estimated at $2,000,000, making the total number of volumes in
the New York Public Library 373,147, and the total endowment
fund about $3,446,500. … The joint libraries now contain about
500,000 volumes and 175,000 pamphlets."

Immediately upon the completion of the consolidation of the

three libraries, the city of New York was asked to provide a
suitable building for the great institution contemplated, and
the ground covered by the old reservoir, on Fifth Avenue,
 between Fortieth and Forty-second Streets, was suggested as an
advantageous site. "The result of this appeal, which met with
cordial public support, was that an act was passed by the
legislature and approved May 19, 1897, giving the necessary
authority to the city to issue bonds for the construction of a
library building, the result of which was that on November 10,
1897, the plans prepared by Messrs. Carrère & Hastings, of New
York City, were selected and approved, and were laid before
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the City of New
York on December 1, 1897. These plans were approved by the
Board of Estimate and on December 8 a contract was entered
into between the City of New York and the New York Public
Library, by which the library building to be erected upon
Bryant Park was leased to the New York Public Library. … The
sketch plans provide for a building about 350 feet in length
and about 250 feet in width from east to west, giving shelving
for about 1,500,000 volumes and seating capacity for about 800
readers in the main reading room. …

{292}

"Plans and specifications for the removal of the Forty-second

Street reservoir and laying the foundations for the new
building having been approved the contract for this work was
awarded to Mr. Eugene Lentilhon, and the work of removing was
begun on June 6th, 1899."

Handbook to the New York Public Library, 1900.

In October, 1900, it was stated in the newspapers of the city

that Mayor Van Wyck, Controller Coler, and the other members
of the Board of Estimate had come to an understanding
regarding the consolidation of all the libraries of the
Greater New York under the New York Public Library. "It was
announced officially that all the smaller libraries would be
allowed about the same amount of money for maintenance this
year as was allowed last year. A practical plan of
 consolidation will be perfected, and when the matter comes up
before the Board of Estimate next year it was agreed that the
libraries would be put under one head. … It is proposed to
spend $5,000,000 on the New York Public Library now in course
of erection in Bryant Park on the site of the old reservoir.
It will be four years before the building can be completed.
Controller Coler's idea is to gradually merge the smaller
libraries so that when the new building is completed New York
will have the largest and best equipped library for sending
out books of any city in the world."

On the 12th of March, 1901, Mr. Andrew Carnegie addressed the

following letter to Dr. Billings, the Director of the New York
Public Library, making a proposal of unparalleled munificence:
"Dear Dr. Billings: Our conferences upon the needs of greater New
York for branch libraries to reach the masses of the people in
every district have convinced me of the wisdom of your plans.
Sixty-five branches strike one at first as a very large order,
but as other cities have found one necessary for every sixty
thousand or seventy thousand of population, the number is not
excessive. You estimate the average cost of these libraries
at, say, $80,000 each, being $5,200,000 for all. If New York
will furnish sites for these branches for the special benefit
of the masses of the people, as it has done for the central
library, and also agree in satisfactory form to provide for
their maintenance as built, I should esteem it a rare
privilege to be permitted to furnish the money as needed for
the buildings, say, $5,200,000. Sixty-five libraries at one
stroke probably breaks the record, but this is the day of big
operations, and New York is soon to be the biggest of cities.
Very truly yours, ANDREW CARNEGIE."

In communicating this extraordinary proposal to the New York

Public Library Board, Dr. Billings made the following
statement of the plan contemplated in the suggestions he had
made:
 "In the conferences referred to by Mr. Carnegie the
suggestions which I have made have related mainly to a free
public library system for the boroughs of Manhattan and The
Bronx. I have stated that such a system should include the
great central reference library in Forty-second street and
Fifth avenue, about forty branch libraries for circulation,
small distributing centres in those public school buildings
which are adapted to such purpose, and a large travelling
library system operated from the central building. Each of the
branch libraries should contain reading rooms for from 50 to 100
adults and for from 75 to 125 children, and in these reading
rooms should be about 500 volumes of encyclopædias,
dictionaries, atlases and large and important reference books.
There should be ample telephone and delivery arrangements between
the branches and the central library.

"To establish this system would require at least five years.

The average cost of the branch libraries I estimated at from
$75,000 to $125,000, including sites and equipment. The cost
of maintaining the system when completed I estimated at
$500,000 a year. The circulation of books for home use alone
in these boroughs should amount to more than 5,000,000 of
volumes a year, and there should be at least 500,000 volumes
in the circulation department, with additions of new books and
to replace worn out books of at least 40,000 a year.

"With regard to the other boroughs of greater New York I have

made no special plans or estimates, but have said that about
twenty-five libraries would be required for them."

LIBRARY, The Temple, of ancient Nippur.

See (in this vol.)

ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH: BABYLONIA: AMERICAN
EXPLORATION.

LIBRARY, The U. S. House of Representatives: