Political Elite’s Perception on Relationship between Geography and Civilization during the Transition Period from Empire to Republic

Abstract

This study examines how the Late Ottoman and Early Republican political elite perceived the interrelation between civilization and geography. The political elite associated the “West” with hard working, production, dynamism, discipline and progress, whereas they attributed negative characteristics to the “East” such as stagnation, laziness, fatalism, devastation and backwardness. More importantly they were convinced that the East, of which Ottoman Empire was a part, was destined to be destroyed or most likely dominated by the West. Therefore the political elite considered immediate necessity of becoming a part of the Western civilization a matter of survival. Hence efforts of the Early Republican elite to become a part of the “West” can be regarded as a consequence of this existential crisis which appeared during the Late Ottoman period.