Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Republic of Turkey
The History of the Ottoman Empire’s Collapse and the Establishment of a New State
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Narrated by:
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Tim Planiden
About this listen
“In human life, you will find players of religion until the knowledge and proficiency in religion will be cleansed from all superstitions, and will be purified and perfected by the enlightenment of real science.” (Mustafa Kemal Atatürk)
The long agony of the “sick man of Europe”, an expression used by the tsar of Russia to depict the falling Ottoman Empire, could almost blind people to its incredible power and history.
Preserving its mixed heritage - coming from both its geographic position, rising above the ashes of the Byzantine Empire, and the tradition inherited from the Muslim conquests - the Ottoman Empire lasted more than six centuries. Its soldiers fought, died, and conquered lands on three different continents, making it one of the few stable multi-ethnic empires in history, and likely one of the last.
Thus, it’s somewhat inevitable that the history of its decline is at the heart of complex geopolitical disputes, as well as sectarian tensions that are still key to understanding the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans.
Despite it all, the Ottoman Empire would survive for over 200 more years, and in the last century of its life, it strove to reform its military, administration, and economy until it was finally dissolved.
Years before the final collapse of the empire, the Tanzimat (“Reorganization”), a period of swiping reforms, led to significant changes in the country’s military apparatus, among others, which certainly explains the initial success the Ottoman Empire was able to achieve against its rivals.
Similarly, the drafting of a new Constitution (Kanûn-u Esâsî, basic law) in 1876, despite it being shot down by Sultan Abdul Hamid II just two years later, as well as its revival by the “Young Turks” movement in 1908, highlights the understanding among Ottoman elites that change was needed and their belief that such change was possible.
The fall of the Ottoman Empire set the political and geostrategic scene of the new Middle East. In 1920, two years after the end of the war, the region was already experiencing growing instability. The issues and trends that would plague the region until today were growing. On April 4, Arab riots broke out in Jerusalem, fueled by the growing hostility against the Zionist movement. The British passivity would convince one of the Jewish leaders Vladimir Jabotinsky (the future founder of the Israeli right-wing), of the strategic necessity of a strong Jewish military as the core of the future state.
Just two weeks later, in Turkey, the Grand National Assembly in Ankara set the foundation of the Turkish state, opening the way for several years of reforms. In Iraq, a Shiite revolt broke out in the south, as locals demanded the creation of an Islamic state.
The British compromise was to place Faisal, the son of Sharif Hussein and a Sunni, on the throne. His father, meanwhile, was embroiled in a conflict with a local tribe, the Ibn Saud, that sought to carve a new kingdom in the Arabian Peninsula.
More broadly, the long decline of the “sick man of Europe” fostered the emergence of nationalistic and ideological movements that are still key to any understanding of the Middle East today. The compatibility between the Islamic religion and culture and Western reforms were first discussed within the Ottoman Empire, and they are still up for debate today. Abdul Hamid’s pan-Islamism, while its results at the time remain limited, still resonates within the Muslim world and can still be seen as a viable rival to the region’s various nationalistic aspirations.
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Overall
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In The Vanquished, a highly original and gripping work of history, Robert Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First World War. In large part it was not the fighting on the Western Front that proved so ruinous to Europe's future but the devastating aftermath, as countries on both sides of the original conflict were savaged by revolutions, pogroms, mass expulsions, and further major military clashes.
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little-known period following WWI is illuminated
- By John on 02-16-17
By: Robert Gerwarth
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November 1918
- The German Revolution
- By: Robert Gerwarth
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The German Revolution of November 1918 is nowadays largely forgotten outside Germany. It is generally regarded as a failure even by those who have heard of it, a missed opportunity that paved the way for the rise of the Nazis and the catastrophe to come. Robert Gerwarth argues here that to view the German Revolution in this way is a serious misjudgment. Not only did it bring down the authoritarian monarchy of the Hohenzollern, it also brought into being the first ever German democracy in an amazingly bloodless way.
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Fresh Historical Perspective
- By Greg Fulkerson on 11-04-20
By: Robert Gerwarth
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Napoleon
- Soldier of Destiny
- By: Michael Broers
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Written with great energy and authority - and using the newly available personal archives of Napoleon himself - the first volume of a majestic two-part biography of the great French emperor and conqueror.
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Clarity
- By Tad Davis on 03-25-19
By: Michael Broers
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The Greek Revolution
- 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe
- By: Mark Mazower
- Narrated by: John Lee, Mark Mazower
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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As Mark Mazower shows us in his enthralling and definitive new account, myths about the Greek War of Independence outpaced the facts from the very beginning, and for good reason. This was an unlikely cause, against long odds, a disorganized collection of Greek patriots up against what was still one of the most storied empires in the world, the Ottomans. The revolutionaries needed all the help they could get.
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Excellent, had it not been for the narrator
- By Jean N on 05-15-22
By: Mark Mazower
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The Cause
- The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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George Washington claimed that anyone who attempted to provide an accurate account of the war for independence would be accused of writing fiction. At the time, no one called it the “American Revolution”: Former colonists still regarded themselves as Virginians or Pennsylvanians, not Americans, while John Adams insisted that the British were the real revolutionaries, for attempting to impose radical change without their colonists’ consent. With The Cause, Ellis takes a fresh look at the events between 1773 and 1783.
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Modest history primer, wished for more substance
- By Buretto on 10-21-21
By: Joseph J. Ellis
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Napoleon
- A Concise Biography
- By: David A. Bell
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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David Bell emphasizes the astonishing sense of human possibility that Napoleon represented. Bell emphasizes the importance of the French Revolution in understanding Napoleon's career. The revolution made possible the unprecedented concentration of political authority that Napoleon accrued. Without the political changes brought about by the revolution, Napoleon could not have fought his wars. Without the wars, he could not have seized and held onto power. Though his virtual dictatorship betrayed the ideals of liberty and equality, his life and career were revolutionary.
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Perfect introduction to Napoleon
- By DJP on 10-17-20
By: David A. Bell
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Pandora’s Box
- A History of the First World War
- By: Jorn Leonhard, Patrick Camiller - translator
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 39 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this monumental history of the First World War, Germany's leading historian of the 20th century's first great catastrophe explains the war's origins, course, and consequences. With an unrivaled combination of depth and global reach, Pandora's Box reveals how profoundly the war shaped the world to come. Jörn Leonhard treats the clash of arms with a sure feel for grand strategy, the everyday tactics of dynamic movement and slow attrition, the race for ever more destructive technologies, and the grim experiences of frontline soldiers.
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Excellent reading of a complex book
- By chris on 02-26-19
By: Jorn Leonhard, and others
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What If? Part 1
- Reshaping the 20th Century
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose, John Keegan, more
- Narrated by: John Cunningham, Janet Zarish
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
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What if Hitler had won the war, if Japan had another sneak attack, or if the cold war turned hot? What If? provides a fascinating new perspective on history's most pivotal events. Featuring today's foremost historians speculating on what could have happened, we discover where we might be if history had not unfolded the way it did.
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For history buffs
- By Charles Elmore on 05-11-04
By: Stephen E. Ambrose, and others
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Winston Churchill
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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The eminent historian John Keegan charts Churchill's career, following his steadfast leadership during the catastrophic events of World War II while England was dangerously poised on the brink of collapse. With wonderful eloquence, Keegan illuminates Churchill's incredible strength during this crucial moment in history and his unshakable belief that democracy would always prevail.
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A good intro/summary
- By Sabrina on 01-07-06
By: John Keegan
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The Ghost of Freedom
- A History of the Caucasus
- By: Charles King
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The Caucasus mountains rise at the intersection of Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. A land of astonishing natural beauty and a dizzying array of ancient cultures, the Caucasus for most of the 20th century lay inside the Soviet Union, before movements of national liberation created newly independent countries and sparked the devastating war in Chechnya.
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fascinating story of a messy region
- By A. T. Howarth on 07-30-20
By: Charles King
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The Philippine-American War
- A Captivating Guide to the Philippine Insurrection That Started When the United States of America Claimed Possession of the Philippines After the Spanish-American War
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Zenobia
- Length: 3 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The Philippine-American War of 1899-1902 was a dramatic, world-changing conflict that shaped the century to come and revealed the early stirrings of America’s drive for global power. The conflict and its aftershocks continue to influence the Philippines and the wider region to this day, leaving a legacy of governance, society, and economic organization.
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America is a racist country....blah blah blah....
- By jabba53e on 02-01-23
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War of Attrition
- Fighting the First World War
- By: William Philpott
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great War of 1914-1918 was the first mass conflict to fully mobilize the resources of industrial powers against one another, resulting in a brutal, bloody, protracted war of attrition between the world's great economies. Now, 100 years after the first guns of August rang out on the Western front, historian William Philpott reexamines the causes and lingering effects of the first truly modern war.
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Confusing and disorganized
- By BMC on 08-05-14
By: William Philpott
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The Iraq War
- By: John Keegan
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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John Keegan, whom the New York Review of Books calls "the best historian of our day", now brings his extraordinary expertise to bear on perhaps the most controversial war of our time. In exclusive interviews with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks, John Keegan has gathered information about the war that adds immeasurably to our grasp of its causes, complications, costs, and consequences.
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A Solid, Quick Overview
- By Charles on 12-08-04
By: John Keegan
What listeners say about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Republic of Turkey
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Caleb M. Harris
- 03-17-23
Good overview
There are plenty of other books that go into more detail. But this is a good overview.
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- Mary Ann
- 05-31-23
Not for everyone but I loved it
I'm off to visit Turkey and this biography of Mustafa Kemal was great preparation.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-26-21
Good Book
Fast paced, covers rise of Mustafa kemal. He was prepared for it
Narrattion was good. Good job
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- YunusTheOptimist
- 07-29-20
good listening
This book helps to understand Atatürk and his life.
it could be longer than what it is
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-22-21
Nothing about Ataturk
Didn’t tell you anything about the man. Just talk about a few events and a war. Very high level. Don’t waste your credit.
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