“Nevertheless, occasions proved that the choice they’d made for his or her capital was not a smart one. The Russian Colossus now dominated by the Bolshevik was shivering below a brand new fever of imperialism as acute because the endemic one it had below the Tsars. It stretched its bloodstained claws to the South, and gripping the unbiased Turkish republic of Caucasia, implanted its Soviets too dangerously close to Erzeroum.
The Turks of Anatolia, the Nationalist Turks as they now known as themselves, noticed the hazard and shivered in dismay. Their group was as but nil, the Turkish armies had been disbanded, the Turkish fleet had been dismantled, and their capital the brains of New Turkey whose double nationwide objective was naturally to guard Europe from a Southeastern Bolshevik invasion and the Close to East from western domination was with out weapons, with out cannons and with out bayonets, on the mercy of Russia. The dismay within the Turkish camp was, nevertheless, of brief period.
From Constantinople had arrived an awesome man, an awesome chief, an awesome normal whose genius had already as soon as saved Turkey walking tours istanbul on the Dardanelles. Mustapha Kemal Pasha appeared in Erzeroum and the Nationwide Meeting unanimously elected him directly to its presidency. He gave fast orders and all of the members of the Nationwide Meeting, numbering practically seven hundred, all of the civilian and army chiefs accompanied by their staffs, all the workers of the non permanent Authorities packed up their baggage and trudged their weary method to the good Anatolian plateau accessible solely by means of simply defensible mountain passes the place the Sakaria river winds its approach.
“Right here, on the head of one of many only a few railroad strains in Asia Minor, virtually on the identical distance from the Black Sea shores, the Russian Soviet’s borders, Mesopotamia occupied by the British and Cilicia then occupied by the French all locations from which an assault may have been anticipated on the rear of the Nationalist armies preventing towards the Greeks on the Smyrna and the Broussa entrance was a small, dilapidated, half burned village, Angora. But it surely was the pure middle from whence the Turkish wrestle for freedom might be higher launched and might be defended with the best likelihood of success.
“The Turkish Nationalists wished to construct up their nation for effectivity, not for luxurious. They’d not sought and obtained energy for egocentric causes of consolation and delight. So what did they care if their capital was to be a small, uncomfortable village! They’d left their properties, their property and their households in Constantinople and had come to Asia Minor to place into execution lofty beliefs. Their objective was to arrange in Anatolia a brand new state, a brand new democracy, a brand new Authorities of the folks and for the folks, free and unbiased and so they had been firmly decided to do that towards any odds.