Episode 8: Transforming a Nation: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the most important Turkish political leader since the Ottoman Empire’s expansion was checked at Vienna in 1683. A career officer educated from the age of 12 in military academies – where he excelled, earning the nickname Kemal (‘the Perfect’) – he saw service in Tripolitania (modern Libya) and the Balkans. He entered the world stage during the First World War, especially for his command of the Ottoman 19th Division defending the Gallipoli peninsula against the Allied forces’ landings in 1915–16.

His ascent was secured through his command in the war with Greece over the frontiers of the Turkish rump-state in 1919–1922, which ended in a population exchange. His military successes paved the way for his political leadership, which was inspired by French Republican views. He transformed Turkey through a profound programme of modernisation, which earned him a new title, Ata-Türk – father of Turkey. Despite his small stature, he cast a long shadow over Turkey that endures today.

Dr Mesut Uyar, our guest for this episode, graduated from the Turkish Military Academy and from Istanbul University (Political Sciences). As a Turkish career military officer twice wounded in action, he served as an instructor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and did several tours for the UN in Georgia and as a staff officer in Afghanistan. He has lectured on Ottoman military history at the University of New South Wales, Canberra, and at Antalya Bilim University. He is currently a visiting professor at the University of New South Wales, Canberra.

Mesut Uyar, The Ottoman Army in the First World War (Abingdon: Taylor Francis, 2020).

Mesut Uyar & Edward Erikson: A Military History of the Ottomans: From Osman to Atatürk (New York: Praeger, 2009).

Yüksel Atillasoy, Atatürk: First President and Founder of the Turkish Republic. (Woodside, NY: Woodside House, 2002).

Patrick Kinross, Atatürk: The Rebirth of a Nation. (London: Phoenix Press, 2003).

Mesut Uyar, The Ottoman Defence Against the Anzac Landing 25 April 1915 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2015).

Frank Jacob, "Gallipoli. The Rise of Mustafa Kemal, and the Martial Creation of the Turkish Nation." In Frank Jacob and Francesco Mangiapane (eds.): Identity and Nationhood, special issue of Global HumanitiesYear 6 Vol. 8 (2021), pp. 9-23.

Andrew Mango, Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey, John Murray, 2004.