This week in Arab Spring: A History we finish looking at Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. We look at how Turkey was created through a mixture of political, social and economic reforms, such as the use of political parties, the Latin alphabet and the 1932 Miss Universe Contest.

This week in The Arab Spring: A History we cover the rise of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. We look at his early life, and follow him through World War One and the Turkish Wars of independence. Ataturk may have created a state, but he still needs to create a nation.

This week in Arab Spring: A History we cover the Ottoman Empire in the years 1876-1919. We cover the Young Ottomans, the Young Turks, the CUP and, the Armenian Genocide, not to mention the small matter of the First World War. The scene is set for the rise of Ataturk next week.

Hello and welcome to Arab Spring: A History. In this episode we introduce the series, and have an overview of what we will be covering in the coming weeks. The scene is set in 1900, as we explore why the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Persia had fallen so far behind the West.