The Foundation of the Free Republican Party and Subsequent Developments According to the British Embassy Reports

Abstract

The History of Turkish Democracy from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic is a striking topic for social scientists. They exert themselves to understand dynamics that changed or remained stable during the evolution from sultanate to democracy. One of the most studied topics of the History of Turkish Democracy is doubtless the experience of the Free Republican Party. Qualified as the second trial of a transition to the multiparty system against the early period of the Young Republic’s single-party system, the Free Republican Party is evaluated both as a private attempt to resolve the tension between Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) and İsmet (İnönü) on behalf of Mustafa Kemal and as Turkey’s reaction to the Great Depression in 1929. Established as a guided opposition party, it had a profound influence on Turkish political life, despite its short 99-day lifespan. The party was intensely supported by the masses and pushed for power. In historiography, the party’s experience has only been written about with reference to the contemporary press, memoirs, and Turkish archival documents, overlooking the British Embassy Reports. This study aims to contribute to the historiography of the Free Republican Party by comparing different discourses and paradigms in the party’s historiography with the English documents on the foundation of the Free Republican Party and subsequent developments.