Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish field marshal and statesperson who founded the Republic of Turkey and served as its first president from 1923 until his death in 1938. He led sweeping reforms that transformed Turkey into a secular, industrializing nation. His ideology, a blend of secularism, republicanism, and nationalism, became known as Kemalism. Born in Salonica in the Ottoman Empire, he was persecuted early on for opposing Sultan Abdul Hamid II’s autocracy and joined opposition groups such as the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and the Young Turks. He took part in the Young Turk Revolution and the 31 March Incident, but later denounced the CUP for politicizing the military, leading to his sidelining as they established an authoritarian regime. His early military career included service in the Italo-Turkish and Balkan Wars, and he rose to prominence for his role in the Defence of Gallipoli during World War I. After the Ottoman defeat, he led the Turkish National Movement in the Turkish War of Independence, resisting the partition of Turkey by Allied powers. Establishing a provisional government in Ankara, he secured victory against Greece, Armenia, France, and the United Kingdom, confirmed by the Treaty of Lausanne. During and after the war, large-scale ethnic cleansing of Armenians and Greeks from Anatolia, including the Kars region, was largely completed through massacres, flight, expulsions, and a population exchange with Greece. His government abolished the Ottoman sultanate in 1922 and proclaimed the Republic in 1923. As president, Atatürk introduced far-reaching reforms to build a secular, republican nation-state. By the mid-1920s, opponents were suppressed as a one-party regime solidified. He abolished the Ottoman caliphate, curtailed religion, replaced the semi-secular Mecelle with a fully secular civil code, and encouraged Western cultural mores, including banning the fez. State-owned enterprises were established, foreign assets nationalized, and a Latin-based Turkish alphabet introduced. Women received equal civil and political rights. His government pursued Turkification policies to create a homogeneous, secular nation. He sought rapprochement with Iran, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Romania, and Greece, and helped create the Balkan Pact to resist Italian and Bulgarian expansion. He died on 10 November 1938 at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, succee
- born
- c. 1881, Salonica, Ottoman Empire
- died
- 10 November 1938, Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul
- field
- Field marshal, statesperson
- nationality
- Turkish
- known_for
- Founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey; leader of the Turkish Nat
Lore & Background
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in Salonica in the Ottoman Empire. He led the Turkish National Movement from 1919 to 1922 in the Turkish War of Independence, uniting the Turkish Muslim majority and expelling foreign forces occupying what the Turkish National Movement considered to be the Turkish homeland. On 1 November 1922, the Ottoman Sultanate was abolished by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and Sultan Mehmed VI departed the country. The Republic of Turkey was proclaimed on 29 October 1923. The Ottoman Caliphate, held by the Ottomans since 1517, was abolished in 1924. The reforms included abolishing the caliphate, curtailing religion, replacing the semi-secular Mecelle with a fully secular civil code based on the Swiss Civil Code, banning the fez, establishing state-owned enterprises, nationalising foreign industrial assets, implementing a five-year plan, opening thousands of schools, and introducing the Latin-based Turkish alphabet. Turkish women received equal civil and political rights during his presidency. The literacy rate within the Republic of Turkey rose from 9% to 33% in only 10 years.
Reader's Guide
Atatürk's reforms were a series of political, legal, religious, cultural, social, and economic policy changes designed to transform the new Republic of Turkey into a secular, modern nation-state. Central to the reforms was the belief that Turkish society had to modernize, meaning widespread reform affecting politics, economics, social, educational, and legal spheres. The reforms began with modernizing the constitution, including enacting the new Constitution of 1924 to replace the Constitution of 1921, and adapting European laws. By 1928, when the last part of Atatürk's reforms removed the reference to Islam in the Constitution, Turkey became a secular and democratic republic that derives its sovereignty from the people. The basic nature of the Republic is laïcité, social equality, equality before law, and the indivisibility of the Republic and of the Turkish Nation. The principal political entity, the Republican People's Party (CHP), ruled Turkey as a one-party state from 1923 to 1945. Following Atatürk's death in 1938, his successor İsmet İnönü took over leadership and integrated further Kemalist reforms, though work was stranded by World War II. The CHP eventually lost the elections to the Democratic Party in 1950, putting an end to the Turkish Revolution.
Did You Know?
- The literacy rate within the Republic of Turkey rose from 9% to 33% in only 10 years following Atatürk's reforms.
- The Ottoman Caliphate, held by the Ottomans since 1517, was abolished in 1924 as part of the reforms.
- The Republic of Turkey was proclaimed on 29 October 1923 by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
- The reforms included replacing the semi-secular Mecelle with a fully secular civil code based on the Swiss Civil Code.
- The CHP ruled Turkey as a one-party state from 1923 to 1945, with several exceptions of attempts for a multi-party democracy.
More in Leaders And Monarchs 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record