" I am not leaving a spritual legacy
of dogmas, unchangeable petrified directives. My spritual legacy is
science and reason."

M. Kemal Atatürk 1933

 

Illustrated Biography of Atatürk and
Chronology of Independence and Reforms
Atatürk's formative years


Three story house at the Kocakasim District of Salonika

1881 M. Kemal is born in the Ottoman city of Salonika.

1893 He enrolls in the Military Cadet School in Salonika.

1896 He graduates to the Military High School in Manastir.

1899 He graduates to the War College in Istanbul.

1902 He graduates to the War Academy in Istanbul.


War Academy graduate Staff Captain Mustafa Kemal (1905)

1905 He graduates from the War Academy as Staff Captain, and is assigned to 5th Army in Damascus.

1906 He establishes in Damascus the Motherland and Freedom Society.

1907 He is transferred to 3rd Army in Salonika as Adjutant Major, and joins the Progress And Union Society.

1909 He is assigned as Chief of Staff of the military operation to quell March 31 uprising in Istanbul.

1910 He is the Chief of Staff of the military operation in Albania.

1911 He is assigned to the General Staff office in Istanbul with the rank of Major.

1911 He is the Commander of the offensive against Italy in Tobruk, Tripoli.


Mustafa Kemal at the Tripoli War with his friends (1912)

1912 He is the Commander of Operations for the Defense of the Straits.
1913 He is the Military Attache in Sofia.


With friends in Sofia as Military Attache (1914)

1914 He is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

1915 He is the Commander of 19th Division for the defense of the Dardanelles, and defeats Winston Churchill's attempt to take Gallipoli and break through the Straits.

1916 He is assigned as Brigadier General to recapture the cities of Bitlis and Mus from the British.

1917 He is the Commander of 2nd Army in Diyarbakir, then 7th Army in Aleppo. He issues his famous report on the state of the country and the military.

November 11, 1918 Armistice ending WWI is signed between Allied and Axis countries.

November 13,1918 Istanbul is occupied by allied forces.

November 18, 1918 He stops the British advance at the north of Aleppo. Concerned over the progress of events, he returns to Istanbul.

April 30,1919 He unsuccessfully confers with several leaders of the military and politicians, and with the Sultan. He is assigned as Inspector to the 9th Army in Erzurum.

May 15, 1919, Greek forces land in and occupy Izmir, with the encouragement and under the protection of the British.

May 16, 1919 He leaves Istanbul for Samsun


The 9th Army Inspector Mustafa Kemal This photograph was taken 28 days before He left for Samsun.

Atatürk's formative years • War against occupying Colonial powers • Political and cultural reforms