Turkish Army as a Powerful Tool of Modernisation and as an Effective Agent of Socialisation
Year: 2005
Type: preprint
Abstract: The major objective of this study is to analyse the roots of Turkish modernisation and the roles of the Turkish Army in this process. The modernisation process in Turkey began in the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, this process reached its real and certain meaning with the Atatuerk reforms. The face of Turkey was turned completely to the west by Atatuerk. Turkish modernisation was shaped by the Kemalist Revolution. Atatuerk defined the form and the way which should be followed by the Turkish people to become a more civilised and westernised society. The central institution in the process of Turkish modernisation was the army. After the abolition of the Janissary in 1826, the military became one of the most Westernised elements in the Empire. Liberal ideas first spread among the military officers and military colleges became the centre of secret political organisations in the mid-nineteenth century. Turkish military elites have always had the aim of representing the new values, behaviour patterns and life styles since the late Ottoman era.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Authors: D. Ali Arslan, Ali Arslan
Institution: Mersin Üniversitesi
Language: English
Topic: Historical Turkish Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2297010705