The Military Career of Ataturk during the First World War
This paper will discuss the military career of Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk, during the First World War. The first part of the paper will briefly describe Kemal's life up until the war. The second part of the paper will examine the Gallipoli campaign, during which Kemal established his reputation. The third part of the paper will briefly describe his actions during the last years of the war, particularly his command of an army in Syria during the last month of the war. The basic thesis of this paper is that Kemal's reputation was based upon his accomplishments as a commander during the First World War and that this reputation was responsible for his rise to political power in Turkey. Consequently, this was one of the most important periods of his life since it defined his character to the Turkish people.
Mustafa Kemal was born in 1881 in the town of Salonika in Macedonia, a Balkan province controlled by Turkey. His father, Ali Riza, died when Mustafa was seven years old, after working as a minor government clerk and later failing as an independent businessman. Mustafa's mother, Zübeyde, was therefore one of the main influences throughout his life. A devout Muslim who had originally sought a religious education for her son, Zübeyde was the object of both devotion and conflict on the part of Mustafa. While he virtually doted on her when he was with her, he fought against most of which she believed, including the Sultanate and the religious influence in Turkey.
Although Zübeyde wanted her son to be educated in a traditional Muslim school, Ali Riza wanted a Western education for Mustafa. In a compromise, Mustafa was sent to a Muslim school for a short time, but young Mustafa did not get along with the clerical instructors at the school, so Ali Riza pulled him out and sent him to a private secular school. After the death of his father, Mustafa was ...