The Ideal of Turan in the Memory of Ottoman Soldiers Fighting on the Caucasian Front (1914–1918)
Ersoy Zengin · Turcology Research, 2024
Collection summary
A scholarly article examining the ideal of Turan in the memoirs of Ottoman soldiers fighting on the Caucasus front.
Ersoy Zengin's article in Turcology Research (2024) traces the shift from Ottomanism to Turkism after the Balkan Wars and the Turanist policy pursued during the First World War, drawing on the memoirs of soldiers serving on the Caucasus front. It argues that Turkism and Islamism were conceived together in the Turanist ideal, and that liberating Muslims under Russian rule was seen as a sacred duty. For this collection, the piece illuminates the ideological background that motivated the Army of Islam's 1918 campaign in Azerbaijan.
The source's own abstract
The Ottoman Empire, which had a multinational structure, tried to maintain its existence with the policy of Ottomanism throughout the 19th century and in the early years of the 20th century. However, the defeat in the Balkan War in 1912–1913 caused great trauma in Ottoman society. From then on, the policy of Turkism rather than Ottomanism was deemed necessary for the future of the state. With the start of the First World War, the Turanist policy was implemented. The Ottoman Empire, which wanted to rely on a large Turkish population in order to continue its existence in the future, turned to the Caucasus and Central Asia. In this period of life-and-death war, especially the educated part of the Ottoman soldiers fighting in the Caucasus were Turanists. For the Turanists, it was a sacred duty to save the Muslims living as captives under Russian rule and to establish political unity with the Turkish communities here. In the Turan ideal, Turkism and Islamism were considered together. Turkish-speaking Muslims were considered Turks. Under the leadership of the Turks, it was aimed at liberating the Muslims of the Middle East and Asia, who were exploited by Russian, British, and French imperialism. Many controversial issues related to the First World War are closely related to the policy of Turanism. For example, the defeat of Sarıkamış is attributed to Enver Pasha’s Turanism. Another stereotype is that the war on the Caucasian Front was fought for the interests of Germany as an ally. Another claim put forward regarding the Turan ideal is that it targets the Christian community. According to some authors, the Ottoman Turks wanted to destroy the Armenian and other Christian communities, which they saw as obstacles, in order to unite with the Turks in the Caucasus. Therefore, understanding the policy of Turanism is important in terms of recent Turkish and world history.
Index
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- Ersoy Zengin
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- Osmanlı Ordusu
The source's keywords
Ancient history · Engineering · Epistemology · Front (military) · History · Ideal (ethics) · Mechanical engineering · Philosophy