Framing the Kemalist Revolution (MA Thesis) (original) (raw)

The Kemalist Revolution represents a major turning point in Turkey’s contemporary history. This revolution established the Turkish Republic that the world knows today, and more importantly, it established a system that is an intertwined mixture of contemporary political systems dominated by secular values, in light of which the political behaviour of institutions and individuals is determined. It produced a constitution that stipulates a strong guardianship system based on secular values, which has kept the legacy of the Kemalist Revolution dominant in the history of Turkey until today. The goal of this thesis is to achieve a better understanding of where the Kemalist Revolution stands against a broader background of revolutions in history. Hence, it attempts to explore this revolution, including its unique characteristics as well as its points of intersection with some other revolutions such as the French, Russian, and Iranian revolutions. Hence this thesis will also address the current debate in Western historiography about the Kemalist Revolution. The study is divided into an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion. The first chapter of my thesis provides a general overview of revolution as a historical phenomenon, its definitions, and the most important theories that have attempted to explain and analyse revolution. The second chapter is an attempt to understand the peculiar characteristics of the Kemalist Revolution by comparing it to the French, Russian, and Iranian revolutions. Finally, the third chapter deals with the Western scholarly literature and contemporary research on the Kemalist Revolution, where I review recent or current debates about the Kemalist Revolution. Keywords: Revolution, Kemalism, Kemalist Revolution.