"The people who founded the Republic of Turkey were not simple adventurers, disgruntled individuals, or opportunists looking for a position. Each of them already held a distinguished place in the empire as commanders, bureaucrats, or intellectuals," explains İlber Ortaylı. "We must follow their ideals. Because they did not work for the hostility to democracy that was fashionable at the time, but for the continuation of the republic they founded as a democracy-oriented state."

The Dawn of the Republic opens with the often-overlooked life of Zübeyde Hanım, the mother of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, before sweeping through the profound turbulence of the Abdülhamid II era, the Balkan Wars, and the First World War. Ortaylı traces the miraculous resurrection of a nation that the world had deemed "finished," detailing the heroic sacrifices at Gallipoli, the organizing power of the Sultanahmet Rallies, and the critical first steps of liberation taken on May 19, 1919.

This masterfully written volume gathers the most sensitive and pivotal moments of the Turkish War of Independence and the founding of the Republic. Ortaylı tackles complex historical debates head-on: How did Turkey's democratic journey truly unfold? How should we interpret the abolition of the caliphate, the alphabet reform, or the country's neutrality in WWII? Released as an unforgettable gift for the 100th anniversary of the Republic, this book provides crystal-clear commentary on a century of history from Turkey's most beloved historian.