Sultanists, republicans, communists: The Turkish national movement in Istanbul, 1918-1923

• Main Author: Ulker, Erol
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2013
• Subjects: Middle Eastern history; Modern history
• ISBN: 1303634856; 9781303634857

The subject of my dissertation is the formation of the Turkish national movement in the period between the end of World War I and the founding of the Republic of Turkey as a new nation state in October 1923. It focuses on Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, which was under the British, French and Italian occupation during this crucial period. My dissertation analyzes the power struggles between various social and political forces involved in the resistance movement against the Allied occupation. The leading cadres of the Turkish national movement consisted of the Unionists, i.e. the former members of the Committee of Union and Progress, which had ruled the Ottoman Empire in an authoritarian manner during World War I. One of the most important findings of my research is that the Unionists split into two competing factions by the middle of 1922 - one supported the sovereignty of the Ottoman sultanate while the other espoused the establishment of a republican regime. I demonstrate that this division allowed the nascent Turkish communist movement to become a significant political actor by cooperating with the populist and radical elements of the national movement. The de facto coalition of these forces developed in two large confederations that unified the majority of the artisan corporations and worker unions in Istanbul. However, this coalition disintegrated in March 1923 as a result of power struggles between its constitutive elements. Thereafter, the anti-communist wing of the national movement consolidated its authority in Istanbul. By the time the Republic was proclaimed in October 1923, the communist and populist groups had been largely marginalized. This process was accompanied by the rise a widespread campaign for the elimination of Christians from the economy, driven by the labor and merchant confederations. I argue that this movement provided the initial popular base of the Turkification policies that troubled Istanbul's non-Muslim communities during the 1920s and 30s.