No More Learning

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? -AFTER SIX YEARS OF CONSTITUTION
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V
After Six Years of Constitution
It is a painful duty to insist upon the
destruction of a living body. It is es-
pecially painful for a writer who knows
the people he dooms to death. If there
are good peoples and bad peoples, the
Turks certainly belong to the first sort.
As a rule they are honest, modest, hos-
pitable, chivalrous. Their ancient glory
as soldiers stands in spite of all. They
are fine statesmen -- of course for con-
ditions which are no more. It is hardly
possible to get in touch with them and
not to love them. If politics could -- or
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
should -- be based upon sympathy, nobody
would like the idea of destroying an Empire
founded and maintained by these nice
fellows. Unhappily politics are based upon
other factors.
The whole world hailed the Young
Turkish Revolution of 1908 in the sincere
hope that a new era of real progress had
opened before the Ottoman Empire. On
the eve of the Great War the disappoint-
ment was general and for ever incurable.
Experience has clearly shown that there
was practically no difference between the
Old Turkish and the Young Turkish regime.
The Parliament, almighty in the early
days of the Revolution, was reduced to
practical slavery. The administration was
as bad as in Abdul Hamid's days. The
condition of the Christian races " im-
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? AFTER SIX YEARS OF CONSTITUTION
proved " only in as much as they were
admitted to compulsory military service ;
but the most precious stronghold of their
national existence, the communal and edu-
cational autonomy which even Abdul
Hamid had respected, was made a target
for menaces and attempts. Never had
the Old Turk tried to interfere with the
national individuality of his non-Turkish
subjects : he was indifferent to the lan-
guage they spoke at home or in school.
The Young Turk did not hide his object
of gradually imposing his language upon
Arabs, Albanians, Armenians, Greeks and
Slavs of the Empire. Bribery in office,
muddle and corruption in court showed
no promise of disappearing -- rather the
opposite. The Albanians, the most loyal
of Ottomans in former days, were driven
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
into revolt by stupid governmental pro-
ceedings. The massacre of Armenians in
Adana left nothing to desire for one who
remembers the high standards of the
massacres of 1894-1896; and the Young
Turkish Government left the official cul-
prits unpunished like the Old Turkish.
Against all this not one step, not one act
of any progressive character can be written
on the credit side. We mean progress in
any sense -- political, social or economic.
The obsolete laws ruling the tenure of land
are still unchanged in spite of all efforts,
although they constitute the greatest
obstacle to the economic development of
the country. Mortgage of rural properties
is still practically impossible, and so no
sound system of agricultural credit can be
created. The recognition of the " persona
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? AFTER SIX YEARS OF CONSTITUTION
juridica/' indispensable condition to a free
immigration of foreign capital, is still a
pious wish.
It has been said that the Young Turkish
Government " had no time to do things. "
This is an exaggeration. The constitutional
regime was consolidated in the early sum-
mer of 1909 ; the Tripoli War began only
in the autumn of 1911. Two years are
sufficient to show a good will and a fair
understanding. Of course nobody pretends
that the Young Turks could have carried
out social reforms in two years ; but
it is an awful exaggeration to say
that such reforms could not have been
passed in Parliament. They were not even
proposed. Whoever witnessed in those
years the life of the Ottoman Chamber
will attest that it had plenty of time to
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
legislate ; but the time was spent in futile
intrigues behind the curtain. Was it lack
of patriotism ? Certainly not. Was it
lack of statecraft ? Perhaps. But first
of all the cause of this innate impotence
of the " new 99 r6gime is to be found in
the organic construction of the Turkish
Empire.
Before we deal with this organic defect
of the country it will be of some use to
throw a glance upon the men. We said,
just now, that one of the reasons of the
failure was perhaps lack of statecraft.
Let us shortly recall the essential features
of the human element known by the name
of Young Turks.
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? VI-THE YOUNG TURKS
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? VI
The Young Turks
The morning after the Turkish Revolution
everybody in Constantinople, Salonika, etc. ,
was " a Young Turk," " a member of the
Committee/ ' a Somebody or a Something
in the then victorious conspiracy. But
the real Young Turks who prepared and
carried out the Revolution were not numer-
ous. They formed two distinct groups :
we shall describe them roughly as the
Young Turks of Paris -- and those of Turkey.
When we say Paris we mean not only
the French capital but also London, Geneva,
in general all the western towns where
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
Turkish emigrants used to concentrate in
the long days of Hamid. Paris was the
main centre. Here Ahmed-Riza published
his organ, the " Meshveret," in two edi-
tions -- the Turkish one for his fellow-
countrymen in the distant homeland, and
the French one for Europe. Here Prince
Sabaheddin conceived his own programme
of Ottoman reconstruction which included
in a rather unexpected combination the
two battlecries of decentralization and
private initiative. The few members of
the Liberal Turkish intelligentsia who were
lucky enough to get permission to go
abroad, used to make their pilgrimage to
Paris as to a kind of political Mecca. Even
those among the emigrants who lived in
England or Switzerland drew their political
wisdom only from Paris. It is useless for
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? THE YOUNG TURKS
us to inquire why they chose France -- of
all the European countries the most un-
like their own -- to be the school and the
model of their constitutional lore. Enough
to know that it just happened so, and that
in describing the Young Turkish emigrants
as a Paris group we point not only to a
geographical fact but also to the main
factor which influenced their intellectual
development.
France is a strongly centralized country,
uniform and ruled by a uniform system
which is applied everywhere in the same
way. There are even Frenchmen who
think this uniformity too exaggerated.
But it is a consequence of a past disease
-- of the excessive provincialism which
divided and sterilized France before 1789.
Every province was almost a different
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
state, with different laws and taxes ; it
was not uncommon to talk of a " nation
Normande," " nation Picarde," or " nation
Auvergnate. " The great Revolution had
before it the task of amalgamating them
all into one nation. That is why it in-
sisted upon the principle of uniformity
and centralization with such emphasis that
even now the average French politician
recognizes in them one of the holiest
dogmas of 1789, one of the main assets
of freedom and progress. The Young
Turks imbibed these ideas without any
criticism or discrimination. They knew
that the greatest misfortune of their own
country was also the fatal disunion of the
different elements of population ; and they
conceived the naive belief that the remedy
which saved France would be equally fit
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? THE YOUNG TURKS
to save Turkey. It seemed to them that
differences between Turks and Armenians,
Greeks and Bulgars, Serbs and Albanians
were to be taken and treated in the same
way as differences between Normans and
Picardians. Thus was born and rooted
their deep enthusiasm for the system of
centralization and assimilation. Sabahed-
din, with his confused programme which
admitted a shadow of local distinctions,
remained in a hopeless minority. The
Armenian Revolutionists tried several times
to persuade the " Meshveret " party that
the only system fit for a constitutional
Turkey is that applied in Switzerland or
at least in Austria -- system of provincial
self-government and national autonomy.
But the Young Turks abhorred their
scheme, and so it came, towards the end
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
of the 'nineties, to a definite break between
the followers of Ahmed-Riza and the
Dashnaktzutiun.
Such curious political aberration implies
of course a tremendous ignorance of the
real conditions in Turkey. And ignorance
it was.
The Young Turks were not the
first example of emigrants who lost in
exile every feeling of the realities in the
Motherland. We have instances of no
lesser miscomprehension in the schemes
and tactics of the Russian Revolutionists
who tried to " lead 99 from abroad the
popular movement of 1905. Their mis-
takes showed how deeply they ignored the
most essential facts of Russia's intellectual
and social life. Yet Russia was not an
unexplored country like Turkey is ; they
had at their disposal exact statistics, mono-
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? THE YOUNG TURKS
graphies dealing in a scientific way with
the different problems of the country, a
highly developed monthly and daily Press,
a constant intercourse with tens of thou-
sands of educated Russians travelling
abroad. The Young Turks of Paris lacked
all that. For long, long years they were
practically cut off from any living touch
with the milieu which they struggled to
free and revive. Visitors from Turkey
were rare, shy and uninformed. No wonder
if they gradually lost all sense of possi-
bilities, distances and proportions.
This reproach could not be fairly applied
to the other group -- the Young Turks in
Turkey. These were humble, poor fellows
living in the everyday life, little post clerks
like Taraat, schoolmasters like Djavid,
soldiers like Enver. They worked among
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
the masses and knew them thoroughly.
They fully realized the deep gulf fixed
between the various races which hated
each other in Macedonia and Armenia.
They knew their own country. But this
was the only thing they knew. It must
not be imputed for blame to a person
brought up in Turkey if we admit certain
gaps in his education -- or even if in some
cases we consider his whole education as
one big gap. Hamid's system of censor-
ship was ideal in its own way -- it was
impenetrable. The Young Turks in Turkey
were doomed to ignore many things which
are written in books. But the thing about
which their ignorance was really fabulous
was one that cannot be learnt from books.
This thing was; -- Constitution. Its bless-
ings and its failures can be taught only by
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? THE YOUNG TURKS
life itself, by life in a constitutional country.
Peoples accustomed to Parliaments and
responsible Governments know that a con-
stitution is not the solution of difficult
problems -- it is only the way through
which the contending forces of a country
can search for settlements of problems.
They know that a constitution means
growth and development of internal
struggles, not pacification. For a people
living under tyranny the constitution is
a dream, perfect and absolute as only
things in dreams can be. It is the con-
ciliation of all the dissensions, settlement
of all the quarrels, it transforms enemies
into brothers and hate into love. Such
was the political dream of the Young
Turks in Turkey. Well they knew how
serious was the clash of conflicting interests
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
between the different nationalities of their
country ; but firm and strong was their
belief that there is one magic remedy and
its name is Constitution.
So the two groups represented two
different types of misinformation. Those
in Paris were acquainted with the lights
and shades of representative government,
but they did not know the country to
which it had to be applied. Those in
Turkey knew the country, but had a queer
idea about the omnipotence of a parlia-
mentary regime. With a little good luck
the two groups might have been the
complement each of the other. The
Parisian Turks might have contributed
their knowledge of constitutional life,
the local workers their acquaintance with
local realities. It might have made quite
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? THE YOUNG TURKS
a valuable combination of statesman-
ship.
But the Young Turks had in this sense
bad luck. Their misfortune was the too
easy victory of the revolutionary move-
ment. In a fortnight's time, without a
shot, without any bloodshed, they became
the rulers of Turkey. Easy victories are
dangerous. They make people too con-
fident, frivolously sanguine, inclined to
believe in the practicability of every dream.
Such was the atmosphere when, the day
after the Revolution, the two groups met
after long years of separation. Instead of
amalgamating their truths they amalga-
mated their mistakes. The combined pro-
gramme included a Parisian ignorance of real
Turkey and a childish belief in the miracu-
lous almightiness of The Constitution/'
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
Do you remember the Arabian tale of the
ingenious association of the blind and the
legless ? The blind man took the legless
man on his shoulders and the trust thus
formed had at its disposal one pair of good
legs and one pair of good eyes. In the
case of the Young Turks the opposite
happened : the legless was entrusted to
carry and the blind to lead.
We saw them at work. The spirit which
permeated the average Young Turk re-
sulting from this amalgamation is best
shown by a living portrait. We choose
for such purpose one of the most influential
and of the least known leaders of the
" new " Turkey. His name is Dr. Nazim.
He is a rare and curious personification of
both types. He was a student of medicine
in Paris, but for some years before the
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? THE YOUNG TURKS
Revolution he worked among the masses
under heavy risks and privations. The
legend tells that, when troops were sent
from Anatolia to Salonika to crush the
revolutionary movement, Nazim-bey, dis-
guised as a " kaffedjee" (coffee seller),
managed to get on board the military
transport -- and, when the ship reached
the rebel town, officers and soldiers were
all under his influence. Even if exagger-
ated this tale shows the man. After the
victory he became, behind the curtain,
the soul and the gist of the Committee
" Union and Progress. " He declined all
offers of ministerial posts, even of a seat
in Parliament. While streams of gold were
pouring, from all sides, into the coffers
of the Committee -- and also into some
individual pockets of the Committee --
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
Dr. Nazim, the chief secretary, accepted
only a ridiculously modest monthly pay --
people said, about five or six Turkish
pounds. His working day oscillated be-
tween 16 and 20 hours. He never ap-
peared in public, but everybody knew
that " Dr. Nazim is the Committee/ 1
And in truth by his strong will, by his
cold fanaticism, by his unbending one-
sidedness he influenced all the policy of
the Young Turkish headquarters between
1909 and 1912. His speciality, his strong
point, was of course the main problem of
Turkey -- the racial problem. His point
of view in this question was very simple :
he denied its importance. He was per-
suaded that differences of language, national
habits, etc. , are only a sham doomed to
disappear by the mutual consent of all
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? THE YOUNG TURKS
the races in the Ottoman Empire. They
needed such distinctions only so long as
they had to struggle against tyranny.
" Once freedom is proclaimed and every-
body has equal rights, they will be only
glad to throw away their superfluous
foreign tongues in favour of Turkish. As
a matter of fact, you see, it is not Turkish
-- it is the Ottoman language. " Dr. Nazim
was sure that Arabs, Greeks, Armenians
would accept this programme without any
serious reluctance. The opposition to it
would be limited to small factions of worn-
out leaders, most of them in the secret
pay of foreign Governments. The bulk
of the people would be sensible, they would
overthrow their former nationalist chiefs
and follow the call of " Ottomanization. "
Does not the same thing happen in all the
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? TURKEY AND THE WAR
constitutional countries ? About this last
point, too, Dr. Nazim was absolutely sure.
He " knew from the best sources " that
in free countries racial questions do not
exist. And Austria, Hungary, Belgium,
Canada, Ireland, Switzerland ? " Oh, tout
cela n'a pas d'importance," Dr. Nazim
used to reply, imperturbably. Besides, his
great hope was Socialism. He was sure
that this movement would soon develop
into Western proportions (and that in a
country where the first industrial factory,
so to say, was yet to be created). And
he " knew from the best sources," that the
Socialists fight everywhere against the con-
servation of local idioms in favour of the
one and indivisible language of the one and
indivisible State. His conclusion was : " Les
nationality ? nous les digererons toutes. "
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? THE YOUNG TURKS
These were not the ideas of one indi-
vidual. As we said, they inspired the
Young Turkish policy which led to the
revolts in Albania, to the loss of Macedonia,
and to the loss of what was far more
precious than any portion of land -- the
loss of trust.
But, in fairness to the Young Turks,
we must repeat : the main cause of their
failure was elsewhere. Had they been
wise as Solomon and wily as Macchiavelli
they would have failed all the same.
IOI
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? -THE TURKISH MINORITY IN TURKEY
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