HISTORY 301
HISTORY OF THE TURKISH REVOLUTION
Fall 2001
Sec.1: MW 12:30-13:45. Sec. 2: MW/ 15:30-16:45
Instructors:
Dilek Barlas (Sos. 155), office hours: MW 11:00-12:00 A.M., or by appointment
Derin Terzioğlu (Sos. 153), office hours: Tue. 10:00-12:00 A.M., or by appointment
Assistant:
Ceren Cenker, (Sos. 164), office hours: MW 11:00-12:00, or by appointment
Course description
This course surveys the history of Turkish modernization and reforms from the late Ottoman
period to the foundation of the Republic of Turkey and Atatürk’s reforms. Perspectives from
social, political, economic and cultural history are drawn together to examine diverse aspects
of the changes that led to the emergence of modern Turkey.
Course requirements
1st examination
2nd examination
3rd examination
Attendance
32%
32%
32%
4%
*Students are examined on the material covered in both the readings and the lectures. A
standard examination consists of two analytical essays, aimed to test not only the students’
mastery of facts, but also (and more importantly) their understanding of the critical issues,
their ability to make and support an historical argument with the proper evidence.
*Students who miss an examination will get a failing grade for that examination unless their
excuse is approved by the Dean’s Office of their respective faculties. The excuse must be
submitted within one week after the examination missed.
*Students can demand a rereading of their examination only within the first week after the
grades are announced. Grades can go up or down as a result of the rereading process.
Academic honesty
Academic honesty is taken very seriously and any infringement will not be tolerated in this
course. Please refer to page 37 of the University Catalog for the university policy on this
issue.
Readings
A reader containing all the required readings for the course will be available for purchase.
Copies of the reader will also be available on reserve in the library.
1
COURSE SCHEDULE
MODULE 1: Lectures by Derin Terzioğlu
WEEK 1
INTRODUCTION
Oct. 1
Oct. 3
Introduction
Ottoman state and society at the beginning of the 19th century
Readings:
- İ. Ortaylı, İmparatorluğun En Uzun Yüzyılı, 11-25.
- D. Quartaert, Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, 37-51.
WEEK 2
EARLY 19TH CENTURY REFORMS
Oct. 8
Oct. 10
Autocratic modernization: the reforms of Mahmud II
Limiting royal authority: Gülhane Edict and its Ottoman roots
Readings:
- E. Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History, 23-51.
- D. Quataert, “Clothing Laws, State and Society in the Ottoman Empire, 1720-1829,”
IJMES, 3 (August 1997): 403-421.
- H. İnalcık, “Sened-i İttifak ve Gülhane Hatt-ı Hümayunu,” in İnalcık, Osmanlı
İmparatorluğu, 343-359.
WEEK 3
TANZİMAT ERA
Oct. 15
Oct. 17
Tanzimat bureaucrats and the project of Ottomanism
Economic transformations: "incorporation," crisis and resilience
Readings:
- Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History, 52-74.
- R. H. Davison, “Turkish Attitudes Concerning Christian-Muslim Equality in the
Nineteenth Century,” in The Modern Middle East, 61-78.
- Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 110-137.
WEEK 4
TANZİMAT ERA
Oct. 22
Oct. 24
Social and cultural transformations
“Young Ottomans,” Mithat Paşa and the Constitution of 1876
Readings:
- S. Esenbel, “The Anguish of Civilized Behavior: The Use of Western Cultural Forms in
the Everyday Lives of the Meiji Japanese and the Ottoman Turks During the Nineteenth
Century” Japan Review 5 (1994): 145-185.
- Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History, 75-79.
- Ş Mardin, The Genesis of Young Ottoman Thought, 107-132, 308-319.
2
WEEK 5
CONSTITUTIONALISM AND THE CONSTITUTION OF 1876
Oct. 29
Oct. 31
NO CLASS. HOLIDAY
Hamidian era: period of patrimonial sultanism or peak of Tanzimat reforms?
Readings:
- Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History, 80-90.
- S. Deringil, The Well-protected domains: Ideology and the legitimation of power in the
Ottoman Empire, 1876-1909, 93-111.
WEEK 6
YOUNG TURKS
Nov. 5
Nov. 7
MIDTERM (to be scheduled)
The ideology of the Young Turks
Readings:
- Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History, 90-94.
- Ş. Hanioğlu, The Young Turks in Opposition, 7-32, 200-216.
WEEK 7
YOUNG TURK ERA
Nov. 12
Nov. 14
The 1908 Revolution
Nationalism, violence and collective memory: multiple perspectives
Readings:
- Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History, 97-137.
- R.G. Suny, "Empire and Nation: Armenians, Turks, and the End of the Ottoman Empire,"
Armenian Forum 1, 2 (Summer 1998), 17-51.
- E.D. Akarlı, "Particularities of History: A Response to Ronald Grigor Suny," Armenian
Forum 1, 2 (Summer 1998), 53-64.
MODULE 2: Lectures by Dilek Barlas
WEEK 8
Nov. 19
Nov. 21
FROM WWI TO THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
A film on the period between the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the
foundation of the Republic of Turkey
WEEK 9
REPUBLIC OF TURKEY IN THE 1920s
Nov. 26
Nov. 28
The collapse of the Ottoman Empire
The War of Independence
Readings:
- F. Ahmad, “The Late Ottoman Empire” in The Great Powers and the End of the Ottoman
Empire, 5-30.
- Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History, 138-163.
3
WEEK 10
REPUBLIC OF TURKEY IN THE 1920s
Dec. 3
Dec. 5
Political Reforms
Secularism
Readings:
- N. Berkes, The Development of Secularism in Turkey, 443-460 and 479-503.
WEEK 11
SOCIETY AND ECONOMY IN TURKEY
Dec. 10
Dec. 12
Economic Background
Social Classes and Economic Measures
Readings:
- S. Yerasimos, “The Monoparty Period” in Turkey in Transition, 66-87.
- Ahmad, The Making of Modern Turkey, 72-101.
WEEK 12
ETATISM AS A POLITICAL STRATEGY
Dec. 17
Dec. 19
NO CLASS - HOLIDAY
MIDTERM (to be scheduled)
WEEK 13
ETATIST POLICIES OF THE 1930s
Dec. 24
Dec. 26
Trade and Finance
Industrialization and Railroad Policy
Readings:
- D. Barlas, Etatism and Diplomacy in Turkey, 60-72, 82-89 and 92-99.
- S. İlkin, The Chester Railway Project, 1-45.
WEEK 14
DIPLOMACY OF THE INTERWAR PERIOD
Dec. 31
Jan. 2
The Main Trends in Turkish Foreign Policy
Transitional Peace
Readings:
- H. Ülman “Türk Dış Politikasına Yön Veren Etkenler” A. Ü. Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi
Dergisi, Vol. 26, No. 3 (1968): 241-273.
- F. Armaoğlu, 20. Yüzyıl Tarihi 1914-1980, 321-358.
WEEK 15
DIPLOMACY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Jan. 7
Jan. 9
Turkish Foreign Policy
Conclusion
Readings:
- W. Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy 1774-2000, 79-108.
4