Kemal He was born in Thessaloniki in 1881, and graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1902. Primarily interested in military progression, he participated in early revolutionary activities while serving as a junior officer.
Considered a possible rival by Enver Pasha, the most prominent figure in the country’s administration, in charge of the Young Turks party, Kemal He was sent to Bulgaria as a Turkish military attaché and remained there when the European war broke out in August 1914.
With the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war in November 1914, Kemal he received command of the 19th Division based in Gallipoli. His fanatical determination to repulse the Allied invasion both there and at Suvla Bay in 1915, manifested itself in repeated attacks, often at great cost. His defiant stance drew admiration and made him a popular figure in his country.
Promoted to general due to his success at Gallipoli, he was later transferred to the Caucasus in 1916, where he proved to be far less successful in the face of adverse circumstances. However, he came out of what was a disastrous summer offensive for the Turks, with greater merit than most.
The next year, Kemal he led the Second Army in Aleppo as part of a larger German-led force. In October 1917 he resigned in protest at Enver Pasha’s conduct in the Caucasian campaign, but returned in August 1918 to the command of the Seventh Army to carry out his withdrawal after the defeat at Megiddo. Shortly before the armistice took effect, in October 1918, he received general command of the Ottoman forces north of Aleppo.
Unaffected by the collapse of the Young Turk administration (most of the leaders fled to Germany) Kemal organized nationalist forces in Anatolia against the Allied division of Turkey. Outraged by the terms of the Treaty of Sevres, which effectively reduced the Ottoman Empire to Turkey itself, Kemal announced the establishment of a provisional government.
As president (and effective dictator), Kemal radically transformed the society, politics and law of Turkey; its citizens adopted Western dress standards, the Latin alphabet, secularism, and industry.
Awarded the title ‘Ataturk’ – ‘Father of the Turks’ – by the National Assembly in 1934 Kemal died on November 10, 1938 in Istanbul; he was the most significant figure of his generation.