Open History Book

Atatürk and the Turkish Republic

1881 – 1914: The making of an officer

1881Born in Thessaloniki 1896 to 1899Military high school at Bitola 1899 to 1905War College and Staff College in İstanbul 1905 to 1907Damascus and the first secret society July 1908 to April 1909The 1908 revolution and the Action Army December 1911 to October 1912Tobruk and Derna November 1912 to July 1913The Balkan Wars, Gallipoli and Edirne October 1913 to January 1915Military attaché in Sofia

1915 – 1918: The Great War

25 April 1915Anzac Cove: the landing at Gallipoli 25 April 1915, dawnAnzac Cove: the landing at dawn 25 April 1915, morningAnzac Cove: the 57th Regiment 25 April 1915, afternoon and eveningAnzac Cove: the counterattack 6 to 10 August 1915Suvla and Chunuk Bair 6 to 8 August 1915Suvla: the August offensive 9 August 1915Suvla: the dawn attack 10 August 1915Chunuk Bair: the counterattack August 1916Muş and Bitlis, the Caucasus front July 1917 to July 1918The Seventh Army, and a journey to Germany September to October 1918The Syrian front and the retreat to Aleppo 30 October to 13 November 1918The Armistice of Mudros and the Allied fleet in İstanbul

1919 – 1923: The War of Independence

1919

May

15 to 19 May 1919Occupation, and the landing at Samsun

22 June to 11 September 1919Amasya, Erzurum, Sivas

1920

27 December 1919 to 23 April 1920Ankara and the Grand National Assembly June to August 1920The Greek summer offensive 10 August 1920The Treaty of Sèvres September to December 1920The Eastern front and the Treaty of Alexandropol

1921

January to April 1921First and Second İnönü 9 to 11 January 1921İnönü: the first battle 23 March to 1 April 1921İnönü: Metristepe

Sakarya

10 July to 5 August 1921Kütahya and Eskişehir, the retreat to the Sakarya July 1921Kütahya: the Greek summer offensive 16 to 25 July 1921Eskişehir: the withdrawal to the Sakarya 23 August to 13 September 1921The battle on the Sakarya 10 to 25 August 1921Sakarya: the march round the flank 26 August to 2 September 1921Sakarya: the assault on the heights 8 to 13 September 1921Sakarya: the counterattack 19 September 1921Field marshal and Gazi

20 October 1921The Ankara Agreement with France

1922

The Great Offensive

June to August 1922The year of preparation 26 to 27 August 1922Kocatepe and the breakthrough at Afyon 26 August 1922Great Offensive: the barrage at dawn 27 August 1922Great Offensive: the breakthrough at Erkmentepe 27 to 28 August 1922Great Offensive: two Greek groups 29 August 1922Great Offensive: the ring around Trikoupis 30 August 1922Dumlupınar, the commander in chief's battle 30 August 1922Dumlupınar: the battle at Alıören 31 August to 2 September 1922Dumlupınar: the surrender of the Trikoupis group 1 to 18 September 1922The pursuit to İzmir

11 October 1922The Armistice of Mudanya 1 November 1922The sultanate is abolished

1923

24 July 1923The Treaty of Lausanne 13 to 29 October 1923Ankara becomes the capital and the Republic is proclaimed

1923 – 1939: Epilogue

1923 to 1938The reforms and the end 1936 to 1939Hatay joins Turkey

1899 to 1905

War College and Staff College in İstanbul

In 1899 Mustafa Kemal enters the War College in İstanbul and in 1902 the Staff College. He graduates in January 1905 as a staff captain. As a cadet he reads banned newspapers and takes part in discussions about the constitution. Soon after graduating he is arrested. After his release he is posted to the Fifth Army in Damascus, far from the capital.

Mustafa Kemal on graduating from the Staff College as a staff captain, 11 January 1905Wikimedia Commons, Unknown author, Public domain (Atatürk as a alumni of Ottoman Military Academy, 1905.jpg)

Sources

Andrew Mango, Atatürk (1999).

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