Timeline of Turkish History - 20th Century

20th Century

Year Date Event
1908 3 July Second Constitutional Era (Young Turk revolution)
5 October Bulgaria obtains full independence.
7 October Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia by mere declaration.
1912 The Ottomans are easily defeated by Italy in a short war, with the Italians gaining Libya and ending the 340-year Ottoman presence in North Africa.
28 November First Balkan War: Albania declares independence
1913 17 May First Balkan War: The Ottoman Empire is nearly wiped out from Europe, save for Istanbul and just enough land around to defend it.
1914 2 August The Empire enters into World War I on the side of the Central Powers. Cyprus is annexed outright by Britain.
1915 18 March The Gallipoli Campaign was considered one of the greatest victories of the Turks and was reflected on as a major failure by the Allies.
24 April The Ottoman Empire initiates forced deportation of Armenians.
1923 29 October The Republic of Turkey was proclaimed.
Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) was unanimously elected the first President of the Republic of Turkey by secret vote.
30 October The first cabinet of the Republic of Turkey was formed by İsmet İnönü.
1924 A new policy was instituted that imams be appointed by the government.
3 March The Ottoman caliphate was abolished by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
The Union of Education (Tevhid-i Tedrisat) Law was passed.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and all religious schools were abolished.
6 March Second cabinet, again by İsmet İnönü
8 April Religious courts were abolished and replaced with civil courts.
20 April A new Turkish constitution was accepted.
26 August Türkiye Is Bankasi was established.
30 October The generals who were also in parliament were asked to choose either military profession or politics but not both. (This event is known as the crisies of generals.) Only Prime Minister Ismet Inönü retains his title as General and remains in politics as Prime Minister.
17 November The second political party in Turkey, the Progressive Republican Party, was formed.
22 November Third cabinet by Fethi Okyar.
1925 11 February The Sheikh Said rebellion started in the eastern provinces.
25 February A law separating religion from politics was accepted and passed in the TBMM.
4 March Fourth cabinet by İsmet İnönü
5 May An Armenian named Manok Manukyan was executed in Ankara for planning an assassination attempt on Mustafa Kemal.
3 June The Progressive Republican Party was closed and abolished for supposedly exploiting religion for political purposes. Republican Peoples Party of the governing elites remains as the only political organization in the country. According to "Takrir-i Sukun" law, all opposition newspapers are also banned and closed indefinitely and Turkish "Republic" becomes one of the first dictatorships in Europe.
29 June Sheikh Said and his 46 followers were sentenced to death in Diyarbakır.
27 August Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) came to Kastamonu to initiate the Hat Revolution.
1 September The first Turkish Medical Congress was assembled.
4 September Turkish women entered a beauty contest for the first time.
1 October Atatürk opened the Bursa textile factory.
5 November Ankara Law School (then the Ankara University Faculty of Law) was opened.
25 November "Hat Law" was issued, abolishing religious dress.
26 December A law was passed which abolished the lunar calendar in favor of the international calendar.
1926 17 February A Turkish civil code based on the Swiss Civil Code was accepted. The code granted expanded civil rights to women and prohibited polygamy.
1 March A Turkish criminal code was established based on the Italian Criminal Code.
17 March A law was passed to nationalize the iron industry.
24 March A law was passed to nationalize the petroleum industry.
1927 7 March The extraordinary Independence Tribunals were abolished.
15 October Mustafa Kemal Atatürk started his "Nutuk" speech.
The second nationwide congress of the Republican People's Party took place.
20 October The "Nutuk" speech ended.
28 October The first population census counted the population at approximately thirteen and a half million.
27 November Fifth cabinet by İsmet İnönü
25 December The first female Turkish lawyer, Süreyya Ağaoğlu, began her duty.
1928 10 April The article "The official religion of Turkey is Islam" was removed from the constitution.
19 May A law establishing an engineering school was accepted.
1 November A new Turkish alphabet based on the Latin alphabet was accepted.
1929 3 April A new municipal law enabled women to enter municipal elections both as voters and as candidates.
29 April The first female Turkish judges were appointed.
13 May A trade law was accepted by the TBMM.
1 September Arabic and Persian courses were abolished replaced by Turkish-only language courses.
1930 11 June A law was accepted which established the Turkish Republic Central Bank.
12 August The Free Republican Party, the third party in the republic, was established.
27 September Sixth cabinet by İsmet İnönü
27 October Greek prime minister Venizelos visited Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara.
17 November After the Free Republican Party's cooption by radical religious groups, its leader Fethi Okyar decided to close.
30 December Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay, a second lieutenant in the Turkish army, was killed in a reactionary uprising.
1931 16 March The first female Turkish surgeon, Dr. Suat, received her specialty.
26 March The Measurements Law was accepted, abolishing the former Arabic length and weight measurement units and replacing them with the metric system (kilogram instead of okka, meter instead of endaze, etc.)
20 April Mustafa Kemal Atatürk historically declared the slogan "Peace at home, peace in the world!"
4 May Seventh cabinet by İsmet İnönü
25 July A new press law was accepted.
1932 18 July Turkey became a member of the League of Nations.
31 July Turkish woman Keriman Halis Ece was declared the World Beauty Queen at a contest in Belgium.
13 November Dr. Müfide Kazim became the first female Turkish government physician.
12 December Adile Ayda became the first female Turkish civil servant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1933 7 February The first Turkish-language mosque prayers began in Istanbul.
31 May The 480-year-old Darülfünun was abolished, to be converted into Istanbul University.
June Sümerbank and Halkbank were established.
26 October Turkish women were granted the right to vote and be elected to Village Councils.
18 November Istanbul University was opened.
1 December The first five year development plan was accepted.
1934 21 June The Surname Law was accepted, abolishing the former titles of Bey, Effendi, Pasha, Sultan, and Hanım as of 26 November.
24 November Mustafa Kemal Pasha took the surname Atatürk.
The Hagia Sofia mosque was converted to the Ayasofya (Hagia Sofia) Museum.
5 December Turkish women were granted the right to vote and be elected in Turkish parliamentary elections. (Afterwards, in the first elections, 18 women were elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly).
1935 1 March Eight cabinet by İsmet İnönü.
1936 29 May A law determining the size and ratios of the star and crescent in the Turkish flag was accepted.
8 June A labor law was accepted which represented the first step towards the Turkish Social Security System.
1937 27 January Hatay's independence was accepted by the League of Nations in its Geneva meeting.
9 June A law establishing a medical faculty in Ankara was accepted.
20 September Atatürk opened the first art gallery in his residence, the Dolmabahce Palace.
9 October Atatürk opened the Nazilli Printed Cloth Fabric Factory.
25 October Ninth cabinet by Celâl Bayar, former minister of Economy
Dersim Rebellion in 1937-1938 : The revolt had quashed by government.
1938 10 November The founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk died. He was succeeded by İsmet İnönü, former prime minister and general. He declares himself "National Chief" (Milli Şef), similar to the titles of some other dictators in Europe at the time.
1939 World War II: World War II began. Turkey was to remain neutral for most of the war, until a declaration of war against Germany at its end.
7 July The Province of Hatay joined Turkey.
1950 14 May First Democratic Elections in Turkish Republic. General İsmet İnönü and his Republican People's Party, which had ruled the country since 1923, loses election to newly formed Democratic Party of Celâl Bayar and Adnan Menderes.
25 June Korean War: The Korean War began. Turkey was a part of the joint UN operation.
Müfide İlhan mayor of Mersin. First ever woman mayor in Turkey.
1952 Turkey became a NATO member country strategically important in countering Soviet influence.
1953 27 July Korean War: The war ended.
1954 Turkey began to host the United States Air Force at the Incirlik Air Base as a deterrent to the Soviet Union.
1955 6 September Istanbul Pogrom: The Istanbul Pogrom started the process of driving many Greeks and Christians from Turkey.
7 September Istanbul Pogrom: The pogrom drew to a close.
1960 27 May 38 officers of Army form a junta and organize the 1960 Turkish coup d'état. They claim the Islamists had gained influence in the government. After this clash over the "separation of religion and state/government" between İnönü's Republican People's Party and his opponents, democratically elected President Celâl Bayar and Prime Minister Adnan Menderes of Democratic Party, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was held responsible by a kangaroo court selected by the junta and was executed with two of his ministers.
1965 14 October Military rule bowed out to civilian rule, and former Milli Şef (National Chief) İsmet İnönü again loses a democratic election, this time to the Justice Party of Mr. Süleyman Demirel.
1971 12 March Military officials forced an advisory committee on the government due to the increasing anarchical situation caused by the Right (fascist/capitalist) – Left (communist) clash and ineffective policies in maintaining order. Although the military were not in charge they had significant influence.
1974 Turkey invaded Cyprus in response to a Greek-backed coup on the island.
1980 12 September The 1980 coup d'état took place. Martial law was almost immediately established and a quarter of the military (about 475,000) were mobilised to settle the resistance to the coup.
1983 6 November After the establishment of a new 1982 Constitution, the military regime dissolved itself.
1991 After the ending of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Incirlik Air Base enforced the northern no-fly zones in Iraq.
1999 24 March Kosovo War: NATO interceded in the Balkans to end a civil war in the region. Turkey was part of the mission.
10 June Kosovo War: The war ended.

Read more about this topic:  Timeline Of Turkish History

Famous quotes containing the word century:

    “When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.”
    —Lao-Tzu (6th century B.C.)