The Ottomans built the largestMuslim empire in the modern era.

The Ottoman Empire reached its

height under Suleiman the Magnificent

in the 1500s.

However, by the early 1900s, the Ottoman Empire had declined.The Ottomans lacked moderntechnology.

Europeans competed for land in theonce great empire.

World War I only worsened matters.The Ottomans had allied themselveswith the Central

Powers, Germanyand Austria-Hungary. The

Central Powerslost the war.

France and England took controlof some lands in the OttomanEmpire.

But some young Turkish nationalistsdecided it was time for a change.

They led a revolutionary movementagainst the authoritarian Sultan, Abdulhamid II.

The leader of the Young Turks, Mustafa Kemal, known as Ataturk orfather of the Turks, was a nationalistand the founder of modern Turkey.

The Young Turks established a constitutional government.

Under Ataturk’s leadership, they modernized and

westernizedTurkey. They encouraged secularism

and granted universal suffrage

(voting).

As first President of

Turkeyfrom 1923 until 1938,

Ataturkshaped

the modernnation of Turkey.

He gave the Turkish people

last namesand abolished the

Fez. He even replaced

Arabic script witha modified Latin

alphabet.

While many changes occurred thatbenefitted the Turkish people, Armenians (an ethnic group livingin the region) were massacred by thehundreds of thousands.

And the Ottoman Empire was no more.Yes, Turkey was a modern nation built on change.