Chronology
From Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic (1839–1939)
Efforts of Ottoman Reorganisation
1839 — Abdulmecit I issues the Imperial Rescript of Gulhane, containing the ‘Tanzimat’ reforms.
1854 — Crimean War against Russians; the British and French join in support of the Ottomans.
1856 — Sevastopol falls, Russians ask for peace, treaty signed in Paris; a new decree of reforms (Imperial Rescript) issued.
1866 — Young Ottomans Association formed.
1876 — Abdulhamit II proclaimed Sultan; Parliamentary Constitution adopted; opening of the ‘First Mesrutiyet’ era.
1877 — Another Ottoman-Russian war begins; the first Ottoman Assembly convenes, but soon dissolved.
1878 — Turkey sues for an Armistice, Treaty of San Stephano signed; Congress and Treaty of Berlin; Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Romania become independent; the administration of Cyprus is left to the British while the island remains a part of the Ottoman Empire; ‘First Mesrutiyet’ ends.
1881 — Mustafa Kemal born in Salonika.
1882 — Britain occupies Egypt.
1908 — Young Turk revolution in Salonika, Committee of Union and Progress forces Abdulhamit II to restore Constitution of 1876 and recall Parliament; Bulgaria proclaims independence; Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina; Crete votes for union with Greece.
1909 — Counter-revolution in Istanbul; Union and Progress striking force marches on the city from Salonika; Abdulhamit II deposed and exiled.
1911 — Italy declares war on Ottoman Empire - invades Tripoli.
1912 — Italian troops occupy Dodecanese.
The Balkan and First World Wars
October 1912 — Outbreak of First Balkan War. Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro attack Ottoman Empire.
May 1913 — Treaty of London. Ottoman Empire cedes all territory in Europe west of Enos-Midia line.
June 1913 — Outbreak of Second Balkan War. Bulgaria attacks Serbia, Greece and Romania.
August 1913 — Treaty of Bucharest. Ottoman Empire regains eastern Thrace up to Maritza River including Edirne. Greece gains Salonika, southern Macedonia and Epirus.
August 1914 — Ottoman Empire signs treaty of alliance with Germany. British occupy Iraq.
November 1914 — Russia, Britain and France declare war on Ottoman Empire.
18 March 1915 — Unsuccessful Allied naval attack on the Dardanelles.
25 April 1915 — Mustafa Kemal checks Allied military landings at Gallipoli.
1916 — Allied evacuation of Gallipoli peninsula; Mustafa Kemal promoted General; Sherif of Mecca proclaims independence of Arabia; Russian army captures Erzurum in Eastern Turkey.
April 1917 — Treaty of St. Jean de Maurienne. Britain, France and Russia recognise Italian sphere of influence in south-western Anatolia, including Izmir and Adalia.
June 1917 — King Constantine of Greece forced to abdicate by France and Britain. Succeeded by son Alexander. Greece declares war on Ottoman Empire.
March 1918 — Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Soviet Russia agrees to evacuate eastern Anatolia and cede districts of Ardahan, Kars and Batum to Turkey. Enver Pasha takes Erzurum from Armenians.
May 1918 — Break up of Transcaucasian Republic and formation of separate Republic of Armenia.
September 1918 — Turkish forces occupy Baku and hold it until November. Collapse of Turkish armies in Palestine and Syria.
October 1918 — Armistice of Mondros (Mudros). Ottoman Empire surrenders unconditionally to Allies.
November 1918 — Allied fleet passes Dardanelles; British and French forces occupy Istanbul.
The War of Independence
13 April 1919 — Karabekir leaves Istanbul to take command of Fifteenth Army Corps at Erzurum.
29 April 1919 — Italians occupy areas of south-western Anatolia.
12 May 1919 — ‘Big Four’ at Paris Peace Conference agree to allow Greek Prime Minister, Venizelos, to land troops at Izmir.
15 May 1919 — 20,000 Greek troops land at Izmir protected by Allied warships.
19 May 1919 — Mustafa Kemal lands at Samsun as Inspector-General of the Ninth Army in Eastern Anatolia (later renumbered as the Third Army).
21 June 1919 — Mustafa Kemal and leading supporters sign Amasya Protocol calling for national resistance against occupation of Turkish territory.
July 1919 — Greek Army completes occupation of large area of Izmir hinterland.
August 1919 — Nationalist Congress in Erzurum issues the ‘National Pact’ declaring the policy of national resistance.
September 1919 — Sivas Congress confirms the National Pact. Mustafa Kemal severs relations with Sultan’s Government.
November 1919 — British evacuate Cilicia and French occupy it.
27 December 1919 — Mustafa Kemal establishes headquarters in Ankara.
12 January 1920 — Last Ottoman Chamber of Deputies meets in Istanbul. Many nationalists elected; Mustafa Kemal remains in Anatolia.
16 March 1920 — Allies proclaim martial law in Istanbul and arrest many army officers, civil servants and deputies.
11 April 1920 — Dissolution of Istanbul Parliament.
23 April 1920 — First Grand National Assembly (GNA) meets in Ankara.
11 May 1920 — Mustafa Kemal and other nationalist leaders condemned to death in abentia by the Sultan’s Government.
29 May 1920 — Armistice between French and Turks in Cilicia.
22 June 1920 — By agreement with Lloyd George, Greek Army advances on Bursa.
July 1920 — Greek troops occupy eastern Thrace and capture Edirne.
10 August 1920 — Sultan’s delegates sign the Treaty of Sevres. Greece to gain all Aegean islands, Thrace up to Chatalya lines, and to occupy Izmir area for five years pending a plebiscite. Armenia to be independent with boundaries delineated by President Wilson. Area of Straits to be under international control.
24 August 1920 — Soviet Russia and the Ankara government sign draft treaty.
September 1920 — Russian diplomatic mission arrives in Ankara.
24 September 1920 — Outbreak of war between Turkey and Armenia. Karabekir conducts successful Turkish offensive.
25 October 1920 — Death of King Alexander of Greece.
14 November 1920 — Greek General Election: Venizelos heavily defeated.
2 December 1920 — Treaty of Alexandropol between Turkey and Armenia. Treaty of Sevres nullified. Turkey gains Kars and present eastern boundary.
December 1920 — Bolshevik coup in Armenia establishes Soviet rule.
6 December 1920 — King Constantine returns to Greece.
10 January 1921 — Greek advance checked at the First Battle of İnönü.
12 March 1921 — London Conference fails to reach agreement with the Turkish Nationalists on modifications to the Treaty of Sevres.
13 March 1921 — Turko-Italian agreement. Italian troops to be withdrawn from southern Anatolia.
16 March 1921 — Treaty of Moscow between Soviet Russia and Ankara government. Territorial boundaries of Treaty of Alexandropol confirmed. Soviet financial aid for Turkey.
7 April 1921 — Greek offensive on Bursa repulsed in the Second Battle of İnönü.
13 June 1921 — King Constantine lands at Izmir.
June 1921 — Allied conference in London offers mediation. Rejected by Greeks.
13 July 1921 — Greek offensive opens on Eskişehir-Afyon Karahisar.
4 August 1921 — Turks driven over Sakarya River.
4 August 1921 — Mustafa Kemal appointed Commander-in-Chief of Turkish armed forces with full powers.
13 September 1921 — Greek offensive against Ankara repulsed after the 22-day long Battle of Sakarya River. Greeks withdraw to line west of Eskişehir-Afyon Karahisar.
20 October 1921 — French Foreign Minister, Franklin-Bouillon, signs Ankara Accord with the Ankara government; promises close economic and military support for Kemal Government.
22 March 1922 — Britain, France and Italy propose armistice with evacuation of Anatolia and part of eastern Thrace by Greece. Greece and Turkey refuse.
July 1922 — Greece withdraws two divisions from Anatolia to Thrace, but request to occupy Istanbul is rejected by Allies.
4 August 1922 — Lloyd George in House of Commons urges Greeks to wage war “with full strength”.
26 August 1922 — The great Turkish offensive against the Greek Army begins.
30 August 1922 — Turkish Army wins the Battle of Dumlupinar.
9 September 1922 — The Nationalist Forces enter Izmir.
18 September 1922 — Mustafa Kemal announces complete destruction of Greek Army in Anatolia.
27 September 1922 — Abdication of King Constantine.
September 1922 — Chanak crisis. France and Italy refuse to co-operate with Britain in defence of Straits zone.
11 October 1922 — Armistice of Mudanya between Allies and the Nationalist Government. Greeks agree to evacuate eastern Thrace and withdraw to line of Maritza River.
1 November 1922 — Grand National Assembly abolishes the Sultanate.
Establishment of the Turkish Republic
24 July 1923 — Treaty of Lausanne. Successful diplomacy of Ismet Pasha establishes present Turkish boundaries apart from Hatay.
6 October 1923 — Turkish Army enters Istanbul.
29 October 1923 — Turkish Republic declared. Mustafa Kemal elected first President.
The Republican Era
3 March 1924 — Abolition of the Caliphate; Ministry of Sheria and Pious Foundations abolished, Religious Affairs attached to the Prime Ministry.
4 March 1924 — Caliph Abdulmecit and the members of the Ottoman Dynasty expelled.
8 April 1924 — Abolition of religious courts.
25 November 1925 — Abolition of the fez.
11 February 1925 — Revolt in the Southeast provinces.
2 September 1925 — Decree dissolving religious orders.
17 December 1925 — Treaty of neutrality and non-aggression signed with the Soviet Union.
26 December 1925 — Turkey adopts Western calendar.
17 February 1926 — Adoption of the new Civil Code based on the Swiss Civil Code.
5 June 1926 — Treaty of Ankara between Turkey, Britain and Iraq; agreement on Mousul.
17 February 1927 — Resumption of diplomatic ties between Turkey and the United States which were suspended since 1917.
9 April 1928 — Turkey becomes a secular state, Islam is no longer the official religion of the state.
3 November 1928 — Introduction of the Latin alphabet.
30 October 1930 — Turkey and Greece sign Ankara Treaty.
23 December 1930 — Reactionary disturbances in Menemen.
1 April 1931 — Turkey adopts the metric system to be effective as January 1, 1933.
12 April 1931 — Mustafa Kemal founds the Turkish Historical Society.
12 July 1932 — Mustafa Kemal founds the Turkish Linguistic Society.
12 August 1932 — Turkey becomes member of the League of Nations.
14 September 1933 — Turkey-Greece sign a ten year non-aggression treaty.
9 February 1934 — Balkan Pact concluded between Turkey, Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia.
24 November 1934 — Mustafa Kemal awarded the surname of Atatürk by the Grand National Assembly in terms of the new law requiring Turks to adopt a surname.
5 December 1934 — Women obtain the right to vote and are eligible to become MP’s.
January 1935 — 18 women elected as MP’s.
29 May 1936 — Dispute regarding future status of Hatay referred to the League of Nations.
20 July 1936 — Montreux Convention signed, Turkey regains military control over the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits.
5 February 1937 — Turkish Constitution amended; the state becomes ‘Republican, Nationalist, Populist, Etatist, Secular and Reformist’ which are also the mottos of the single party Republican People’s Party rule.
9 July 1937 — Sadabad Pact signed between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.
31 March 1938 — Illness of Atatürk officially announced.
11 May 1938 — Atatürk donates his model farms to the State and some of his real estate to the Municipality of Ankara.
2 September 1938 — Grand National Assembly votes nominal Republic of Hatay with Turks in effective control, following agreement with the French.
10 November 1938 — Death of Atatürk in Istanbul.
11 November 1938 — Ismet İnönü designated President of the Republic.
29-30 June 1939 — Hatay Assembly votes for union with Turkey; Turkish troops enter Hatay.
1 September 1939 — World War II begins.
NOTE: The dates in bold characters are the Turkish national days or commemoration days.