The modern Turkish nation-state was created in the 1920s. The appearance of this new geo-political state was seen by some (particularly Turkish historians who sought to design the period as the era of national liberation) as a long process that ended with the overthrowing of the Western imperialistic repression. Others consider that even though the influence of the European Great Powers was detrimental to the creation of modern Turkey, working mostly as an opposition to the nationalistic movement, the republican regime did not reject the Western model as the new Turkey proceeded to reform itself becoming a modern, secular state. It is difficult to assess the extent to which the creation of modern Turkey is a response against Western imperialism. Firstly, one needs to define what falls under the category of Western imperialism. Secondly, looking closely at the series of events that culminated with the formation of Turkey, one needs to analyse which of these can be thought as consequences of the influence exerted by the Great Powers. To answer the question, I believe that Turkey was formed indirectly by European …show more content…
The first two are what other historians consider as Western imperialism and it is indeed what the national movements attack during the period that leads to the conception of the Turkish state. Still, one should also remember that despite the intervention of the imperial powers, the Ottoman Empire was never considered a