Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the modernization of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal, also known as Ataturk, reformed Turkey in a series of cultural, social, economic, and political ways in order to transform Turkey into a modernized, democratic state. Ataturk was the person who founded the Turkish Republic. As well as becoming its first president. He wanted to end the power of the Ottoman empire. In order to do this, Turkey needed a strong leader. And Ataturk was that man. As a powerful leader he took out all those in his way, he fought for Turkey's independence and the right for them to be modern and different instead of following the old rules.

Ataturk, which means father Turk, started to transform Turkey after WWI. He wanted Turkish people to stop dressing with religious clothing and to start dressing more like those who lived in Europe or within the European nations. This was a secular change meaning less religious. The change i feel he is best known for is the Fez. He believed that men who wore this for religious purposes were uncivilized and should were the hats worn in Europe. For the women he believed they shouldn't wear the veils that cover their head and face. Ataturk's main purpose was to get rid of the ottoman empire that followed old traditional ways and focus on modernizing the country as well as changing other aspects.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

Gandhi was a very important man who leaded his country into gaining independence from Great Britain. But his way was different from many others. He did not believe in war nor did he believe in violence. He didn't believe in doing crazy things to get attention. His way of fighting was by using non violence so in turn it made Great Britain look bad. Gandhi also started creating his own products, i.e weaving his own cloth, creating his own salt, using food only made by them, etc. By doing this he was putting Great Britain into debt because his followers stopped buying their products. This was a very interesting way of protesting because Great Britain could do absolutely nothing about it. But not everything was always non violence. Some people felt as though they had a right to use violence if violence was used on them. But when this happened, Gandhi would fast. He would fast until all violence stopped. This man would literally lose his life to fight for the independence of him, his people, and his country. I honestly think that India would've gained their independence but not as quickly as they would've without Gandhi. He was a very big influence in that and this is why many people still honor and respect him today. While Gandhi was fighting for their independence, Great Britain had troubles of their own and I believe that with all the problems Gandhi caused them as well they ultimately gave up because they had to start focusing on their own country.