Rethinking History Writing In Turkey: German Professors, The Turkish History Thesis And The Higher Education System In The 1930s And 40s

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b3422576

This study delves into the scholarly works of Clemens Bosch, a German professor of ancient history specializing in numismatics who sought refuge in Turkey during the persecution of German-Jewish academics by the National Socialist Party. It will examine Bosch’s contributions to Istanbul University history department and the Turkish historiography of 1930s and 40s, including his textbooks on Roman and Hellenistic histories alongside his article on ancient Anatolia’s cultural impact on world civilization, within the context of the University Reform of 1933, the Turkish History Thesis and the shift towards the Humanist history writing of İsmet İnönü’s presidency. The study investigates, using Bosch’s works as a focal point, whether German émigrés’ works were solely influenced by the narrative promoted by the nascent Turkish Republic or if their own perspectives played a significant role. Additionally, it aims to recontextualize the relationship between émigré professors like Bosch and the Republic of Turkey, challenging the prevailing notion of a one-sided influence on the part of the Turkish state, wherein the whole discourse and content of the scholarly works were dictated to the German academics by the state itself. Instead, this study aims to highlight that some German émigrés’ views on history and their arguments found in their works produced before their arrival in Turkey resembled, in several respects, the narrative being constructed by the Turkish state in the 1930s. Thus, the study also reimagines the alignment of interests between the Republic of Turkey and German émigrés not only as an imperative for finding a place to live and work on the part of persecuted German scholars and the need to find scholars and experts for the higher education system on the part of the Republic of Turkey but, at the same time, as a coalescence of intellectual interests on the part of both sides. From this perspective study suggests that the convergence of existing historiographical trends, the state’s historical narratives, and the methodologies of German professors contributed to the making of these scholarly works. Ultimately, the study seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of the dynamic interaction between émigré scholars and the Republic of Turkey during this pivotal period in Turkish history.