Two Victorious War Leaders: De Gaulle and Atatürk

Özet

On the occasion of the centennial of the former French President Charles de Gaulle's birth, I would like to offer a comparison between Atatürk, the national hero of Turkey, and de Gaulle, the national hero of France. Although the two great statesmen lived and acted at different periods of history, they belong more or less to the same half-century and were, therefore, subject to roughly similar political and social forces. Comparing them can be considered useful to better understand the distinguished persons as well as their times. Allow me to describe first the circumstances of Atatürk's times. The First World War had ended with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Soon afta the signing of the armistice of Mudros (30 October 1918), large sections of Turkey which until then had not yet been invaded, were occupied by the Allies-for instance, Eastem Thrace, the Adana region, Hatay, Antep, Maraş, Urfa, Mosul, Antalya, Fethiye, Marmaris, Bodrum and Konya. In many places the Allies (England, France, Italy) had small military detachments and/or control officers. The Arab possessions of the Ottoman Empire had already been occupied during the fıghting before the armistice. For the Turks, this was certainly a very grave situation.