INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

THE GREAT WAR AND THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: THE ORIGINS

16 OCTOBER 2014, ISTANBUL

Marmara University, Sultanahmet Campus 

2014 is the centennial of the Great War that has shaped the world we live in today. To commemorate this historical anniversary and shed light on the various aspects of the war with its never ending  influence on  the world affairs, a series of international conferences/symposiums will be organized. The focus of the first symposium will be the origins of the Great War, which is expected to set the foundation for a convenient and fruitful intellectual groundwork for the following symposium/conferences in the series. A multidisciplinary approach will be particularly pursued during the process in order to better elaborate the war phenomenon, its origins and consequences.

The Great War brought about far-reaching and long-lasting repurcussions for the then-existing World order and beyond with the downfall of empires, the rise of nation states, the conduct of a new warfare, the introduction of novel universal norms, the demarcations of unprecedented political maps, and dramatic changes in cultural, intellectual, economic fabric of the societies all over the world. Moreover, the legacy of the war left a remarkable mark on the successor of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey. TheOttoman Empirelost the war, but achievements prevailed in certain battles, i.e. Gallipoli, and the politics pursued during the war largely influenced the foundations of the state narrative, its ideology as well as its relations with the outside world. This effect has gained consistency in the years to come. In compliance with the points raised, the scope and objective of the symposium will serve well to comprehend today's global issues as well as the legacy ofTurkey’s current challanges through a retrospective outlook.

In due respect, the symposium's aim at first drawing attention to the multiple causes of the Great War and then the long-enduring impact of the war on world politics in general and on the Ottoman Empire/the Republic of Turkey in particular in the context of internal and external developments.