On the 19th of May, 1919, an Ottoman general stepped ashore at the Black Sea port city of Samsun. This marked the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence, and ultimately the end of the Ottoman Empire. The man's name was Mustafa Kemal, the soldier, statesman and reformer who would create the Republic of Turkey out of the rubble, and become its first president.

Dan is joined by Marc David Baer, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He talks us through the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the man who became known as Atatürk.

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.

Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/

We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at [email protected].

You can take part in our listener survey here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.