Population Politics and Family in Türkiye’s Early Republican Era
Celalettin Vatandaş, Saniye VatandaşThe society that the Republic of Türkiye inherited was a society whose demographic normality had been disrupted. This society formed the basis of all political, economic, and cultural change projects in the early Republican Era. During the first days of the Republic, the political, legal, economic, and cultural reforms that were believed would establish modern Türkiye were implemented one after another, and special importance was given to population policy in accordance with the conditions of the day. Pronatalist and eugenic approaches constituted the characteristic feature of the population policy that had been put into practice without delay and whose details were created during the process. Hence, the endeavor was to construct a national family by encouraging marriage and having multiple children, with the prohibition of marriage for having few children even being mentioned during the process. In addition, special efforts were made to ensure that the current population would consist of healthy and physically strong individuals in accordance with the principle of a sound mind residing in a healthy body. By drawing on the written sources and documents of the period, this research aims to determine the characteristic features of the population policy carried out in the early Republican Era and the efforts and endeavors to construct the national family.
Erken Cumhuriyet Döneminde Nüfus Siyaseti ve Aile
Celalettin Vatandaş, Saniye VatandaşCumhuriyet yönetimi, Osmanlı’dan demografik felakete uğramış bir toplum devraldı. Devralınan toplum, savaşlar, işgaller, kitlesel katliamlar, kitlesel göçler, salgın hastalıklar nedeniyle demografik normalliği tamamıyla bozulmuş bir toplumdu. Bu toplum, erken cumhuriyet dönemindeki tüm siyasal, yasal, ekonomik, kültürel değişim projelerinin zeminini teşkil etti. Cumhuriyetin ilk günleriyle birlikte, iki asrı aşkın süredir dâhil olunan batılılaşma sürecinin son aşamasını teşkil edecek modern Türkiye’yi inşa edeceğine inanılan siyasal, yasal, ekonomik ve kültürel devrimler peş peşe uygulamaya konulurken, mevcut olumsuz şartlar gereği nüfus siyasetine de özel bir önem verildi. Hiç vakit kaybetmeden uygulamaya konan ve süreç içerisinde detayları oluşturulan nüfus siyasetinin karakteristik özelliğini pronatalist ve öjenik yaklaşımlar oluşturdu. Bu nedenle örneğin evliliğin ve çok çocukluluğun özendirildiği, buna karşılık evlenmemenin ve az çocuklu evliliğin yasaklanmasının dahi gündeme geldiği bir süreç ile “milli aile” inşa edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Ayrıca mevcut nüfusun “sağlam kafa sağlam vücutta bulunur” ilkesi gereği sağlıklı ve bedenen güçlü bireylerden oluşması için özel çaba harcanmıştır. Çünkü toplumun hem demografik normalliğinin tesis edilmesi hem de bu demografinin dinç ve dinamik olması amaçlanmıştır. Bu araştırma, doğrudan dönemin yazılı kaynaklarına ve belgelerine dayanılarak, erken cumhuriyet döneminde yürütülen nüfus siyasetinin karakteristik özelliklerini ve bu bağlamda idealize dilen “milli aileyi” inşa etme çaba ve çalışmalarının niteliğini belirleme amacındadır.
The strong mutual relationship between the family institution and social structure is important. However, social structure is what dominates this reciprocal relationship, because demographic or functional changes in the social structure very quickly and easily affect the family institution structurally and functionally. In this respect, the periods in which extensive or radical changes have taken place in the social structure also gain meaning as the periods in which comprehensive and radical changes had taken place in the family institution. Many factors can be mentioned that lead to comprehensive and radical changes in the social structure. The most important factors among these that cause changes in the social structure are wars, natural disasters, mass migrations, epidemics, political revolutions, radical and massive religious or cultural changes, and sudden and comprehensive economic disasters or developments. Changes and new formations in the social structure under the influence of these or similar factors directly lead to a new cycle of changes and transformations in the family institution. This feature of the social structure-family relationship can be exemplified through Türkiye’s recent history. In this respect, the 30-year period between 1910-1940 that covers the years of the Second Constitutional Era and the early Republican Era is very important. The Balkan War disaster, the Gallipoli Campaign, the disaster in the Battle of Sarikamish, and similar wars in the East, as well as mass murders, epidemics, mass migrations, the country’s shrinkage by 800%-1000% within a short period of 10-15 years, the occupation of the entire country’s territory, and the National Struggle that was carried out with all kinds of difficulties and impossibilities are all factors that meant difficulties that far exceeded anything any society or country could imagine. Moreover, those years represent a time when radical changes took place at the political, legal, economic, and cultural levels within the scope of the Westernization project. If one considers the matter only and especially in terms of disasters, a demographic disaster is seen to have been experienced in Türkiye during this period, and a significant part of the country’s population had been lost due to wars and diseases. Thrace and Anatolia, which would become a homeland through the Republican Era, served as the shelter for those who had migrated from the Balkans and Caucasus in masses, leaving behind all their property and even some of their relatives due to wars and massacres. From this perspective, such a mass migration had rarely been seen in history. These masses experienced great mental and physical shock and pain and constituted the current demographic basis and structure in the nation-building efforts that started during the Second Constitutional Era and gained a systematic character in the Republican Era.
This period covers the first quarter of the 20th century and is mostly associated with wars, massacres, diseases, and extensive and deep subsistence problems. It also constituted an extremely important threshold of the Westernization that had been going on for more than two centuries. This period corresponds to a time when radical changes in social institutions took place at the highest level within the scope of Westernization efforts that had turned into state policy through the Tanzimat [Reform Era]. The Republican cadres believed that this policy should be all-encompassing nationwide, and they knew and projected that they had much to do when they took power. However, the Republican administration took over a society that had suffered a demographic disaster. For this reason, they believed that before all their political, legal, cultural, and economic projects, they should first repair the existing demographic structure that had lost its natural balance and restore it to a healthier condition. This was a very important aspect for the future of the country, as this would be necessary for the success of the revolutions to be carried out or planned beforehand. They believed that the way to repair the demographic structure in terms of the social structure-family relationship was through the family. They also believed that if the institution of the family, which had been damaged heavily by great disasters, could be made healthy and strong, the demographic structure would return to its normal state and the revolutions would be successful and innate. For these reasons and purposes, they immediately took action. Even in the years of the National Struggle, they had intellectual discussions about the regulations regarding the family institution. They thought of methods and tools to make the family stand stronger and more functional. When they took power, they started to implement all of their plans one after another. Thus, the first 20 years of the Republic are regarded as a period of time in which the perceptions of the individual, politics, state, religion, laws, tradition, culture, bureaucratic structure, family, and society as a whole generally changed significantly, with new ideas regarding these areas beginning to dominate and new expectations arising. The endeavor to complement the political revolution with a social one was an important feature of the period. For this purpose, regulations regarding the appearance and lifestyles of individuals were implemented. New perceptions and practices regarding the status of women emerged. Gender roles were actively discussed. An approach to solidarity was spread nationwide. Marriage was encouraged. The family institution was strengthened. The family was removed from the private sphere and made into an element of the public sphere. Pronatalist and eugenic population policies were implemented. Regulations and practices regarding work life were made, and women’s paid work was encouraged.
The times when radical changes are experienced are the times when opinions about the possible methods for realizing the envisaged regulations are frequently expressed, views on the mechanisms for controlling the disintegration of the social structure are voiced, projects concerning problems are developed, and actual attempts are made regarding what is desired to happen in the future. These times are also when the family institution becomes the center of attention of political power centers due to the societyfamily relationship. Therefore, issues such as new life and new family came to the fore during the Second Constitutional Era when comprehensive and profound demographic, political, economic, legal and cultural changes had been experienced in many respects is no coincidence. During this era, the family institution was strongly and intensely referred to as the foundation of society, the most concrete unit of social solidarity, and the source of the morals and values that are described as the mortar of national solidarity. Due to the unique conditions of the period, the family institution was both removed from being an institution shaped under the influence of religion and transformed from being an element of the private sphere to being an element of the public sphere. The Republican administration made an effort to take over this legacy and give it its own influence. While the leaders of the Republic and intellectuals were doing this, they benefited greatly from the experiences of the Constitutional Era, during which their personalities and worldviews had also been shaped. For this reason, the concept of the national family had a great impact on the family policies of the early Republican Era. The efforts to build and protect the national family, which was first voiced by Ziya Gökalp and put into practice by the Unionist government during the Constitutional Era, became the basis for the policies related to the family in the Republican Era.
According to the dominant understanding of family that the civil and military bureaucrats and intellectuals who operated the state apparatus of the period had, the number of marriages and children in particular or the structural characteristics and functioning of the family institution in general were too important to be left to the personal preferences and pleasures of individuals in the early Republican Era. Therefore, the fact that individuals of marriageable age did not marry (preferred to remain single) or chose to divorce easily became an important state and nation problem. Marriage and having many children are one’s debt to the homeland, and not getting married or having few children is a betrayal to the homeland and nation, with the related disloyalty and selfishness being negative dimensions of personality. According to the common and dominant understanding of the period, this was because family meant the independence of the country, the power of the state, and the prestige and wealth of the nation. Even more importantly, a child means a soldier who will defend the country, economic production and the resultant wealth, the reputation of the nation, and family. Hence, the number of children in the family has always been considered important. Families were encouraged to have many children. But of equal importance was that these children be healthy and strong. For this purpose, eugenic practices were carried out meticulously. In addition, the health and education of the mother were considered important conditions for a healthy family structure. Within the context of all these, the state was the entity that should solve problems such as being single or getting divorced in order to build a family structure of satisfactory quality and quantity. Therefore, the state took the initiative and carried out efforts to control the process through encouragement and intimidation.
