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Mustafa Kemal, the most outstanding military man in the Empireduring the great war, the hero exalted by the defense of the Dardanellesthat earned him great national prestige, emerged as the unifier of the patrioticand popular forces and the undisputed animator, the leader of theprocess of national reassertion and modernization 4 . Not only other outstandingmilitary chiefs rallied around him; he also joined together importantsectors of the people, of the imperial offıcialdom, of the urban middleclasses, of the intelligentsia, and even of the provincial Islamic clergy,in a great national patriotic front.The nationalist movement's first aim —to defeat of the occupyingpowers which Greece had joined, and their intents to dismember the nation—was accomplished in barely four years, by virtue of an enormouswar effort despite the fact that its strength and resources were inferior tothose of its adversary. Mustafa Kemal's military genius stood out again atthat time, as did the quality of his leadership and his unbending will directedat consolidating his fatherland's independence. The 1923 Treaty ofLausanne culminated that heroic endeavor, for it declared null and voidthe Sevres' attempt at expoliation. Furthermore, the Treaty of Lausannewas the only one signed on an equal footing with the victors, by one ofthe powers defeated in World War I. That political and diplomatic triumphConsolidated the victory of the nationalist arms and the independenceof Turkey, and paved the way for the transforming and creativestage of the nationalist revolution, inaugurated by the abolition of the Sultanateand the proclamation of the Republic on October 29, 1923 5 .Mustafa Kemal would also be the main motive force and inspiratorbehind this task. The hero of the Dardanelles and of the war of liberationwas not only a great military leader, but also a man of culture, a connoisseurof history, a political thinker with a modern projection, influencedby the example of the French Revolution and by advanced democraticthinking. Since his early youth he wished to overcome the secular backvvardnessof the old Ottoman Empire by adopting the advances made bywestern civilization in various fundamental domains, albeit adapting andintegrating them into the Turkish national culture.Let us summarize the principal aspects of the process that transformedthe Turkish society so deeply:4. Kemal's reputation as a military leader, and his feats during World War I are sufficientlywell-known. About his decisive role in the defense of the Dardanelles, see themost recent and perhaps more complete history of that conflict, by British historianMartin Gilbert First Worlcl War, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, Second Impression,October, 1994, Chapter 8. Also see the aforementioned vvork Atatürk, by BlancoVillalta, second part, specially chapters 7 and 8.5. For an excellent revievv of the war of liberation by a Turkish source, see A. Afetinan,A History of the Turkish Revolution and Turkish Republic, The General Directorateof Press and Information of the Turkish Republic, Ankara, 1981. Also see BlancoVillalta, Atatürk, third and fourth parts.32