The post-World War I world saw major changes.
The fall of the Ottoman Empire – once a great power and later the “sick man of
Europe” – saw the partition of the Middle East , independence of other
territories, and a redefinition of Turkey by Mustafa Kemel Ataturk (1881-1938).
China, ancient and formidable for centuries
until later pillaged by colonial powers and plagued by warlords, emerged into
nationhood first under Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) and later Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975).
The Italian peninsula united at a nation in 1861 from the post -Roman centuries
of foreign rule and competing city-states. Italy scrambled to find its place
among modern nations with among other things a disastrous attempt at colonial expansion
into Africa. Political opportunist Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) rallied the
Italian people.
It may be an oversimplification to say that each
of these stepped into a vacuum, but it is fair to say that these countries were
in a radical state of change with no clear path forward and great anxiety among
the populations.
The Ottoman Empire existed from 1299 to 1922.
The long and complex history was marked by conquest, often religion-fueled.
Like erstwhile adversary Russia, it was an absolute monarchy (sultanate) and
often anachronistic. Ataturk’s accomplishment was to create the secular Republic
of Turkey and work toward modernization. Modern Turkey has been an ally of the
West from the Korean War to the present as well as trading partner.
China was united as an imperial state in 221 BC
and various dynasties continued until the establishment of the Republic of
China in 1912. There was trade with the Roman empire and the creation of a rich
cultural history. Chinese fleets were
involved in trade from East Africa to Japan and beyond during the Ming dynasty.
In the 19th century western
powers negatively impacted China (Opium
War 1840) and unlike the Japanese, the
Chinese did not modernize and did not fare well in opposing the West. The 1912
Republic was beset with problems including regional warlords. Chiang Kai-shek
managed to contain these and bring Western style reforms to military and
government. Fighting both the Japanese and Mao’s communists, Chiang was beleaguered
for much of his time on the mainland before retreating to Taiwan in 1949.
A newspaperman Mussolini had leftist political
leanings early on but managed nonetheless to become the father of Fascism. He
led Italy from 1922 to 1943 and was executed by Italian partisans in 1945. His chief objective
was to unite the Italian people who for centuries self-identified by region,
city, and ethnicity. He is famously said to have “made the trains run on time” but
more impactful was his work on a spirit of nationalism by engaging in a series
of small wars in the 1930s. He did not join the Axis in WWII hostilities until
June of 1940 having originally stated a non-belligerent status in 1939.
Three very different personalities with one
common denominator of establishing (or redefining) a national identity. In
ordinary times the defining of national identity can be fairly nuanced by pop culture,
elections, the emergence of technology, and less decisive events than world
wars or radical changes in governmental structure but the 1920s were anything
but ordinary.
More importantly national leaders must be judged in no small part by how well their people fared.
The Italians suffered the strain of being nearly constantly at war - Libya, Ethiopia, Albania, and then the later world wide conflict. Accordingly Mussolini was viewed as hero, buffoon, and albatross at various times - finally the Italians themselves had enough and hanged him.
Turkey under Ataturk by contrast brought emancipation to women, an organized government, trade & industry, a new education systems & scores of new schools, and more. He is remembered 80 years later in the words of the current president with "eternal respect".
Chiang's China is a mixed bag. His accomplishments include land reforms, reining in the warlords, and some economic development. Beset by wars - some foisted upon him, some chosen - he was "building the ship while sailing the ship" in setting up a more modernized country in the midst of that chaos. The retreat to Taiwan in 1949 ended the experiment on the mainland, but created a thriving economy on the island. Mao's communist country is now the world's second largest economy due in large part to massive manufacturing & exporting... a kind of capitalism. I wonder would the Generalissimo would think about that?!
