Cumhuriyet Döneminde Okullarda Askerliğe Hazırlık Kampları Üzerine Bir Sözlü Tarih Çalışması (1935-1947)
Özlem Gürsoy, Mustafa GündüzXIX. yüzyıldan itibaren gerek zorunlu askerlik sistemi gerekse topyekûn savaş anlayışı vatandaşların askerlikten önce nitelikli bir askerlik eğitiminden geçirilmesini gerektirince, gençlere okullarda militarist nitelikli derslerle okul dışında da paramiliter örgütler ve izcilik aracılığıyla askerlik eğitimi verilmiştir. I. Dünya Savaşı öncesinde ve sonrasında bu tarz eğitimler II. Meşrutiyet ve Cumhuriyet yıllarında siyasi elitlerin ilgisini çekmiştir. 1926’da Askerliğe Hazırlık Dersleri müfredata konulurken, yaz tatillerinde de öğrenciler Askerliğe Hazırlık Kampları’na götürülerek her an cepheye gidecek şekilde eğitilmiştir. Bu çalışmada, Askerliğe Hazırlık Kampları, öğrenciler cephesinden ele alınmıştır. Bunun için 1935-1947 yılları arasında kamplara katılmış bireylerle sözlü tarih çalışması yapılmıştır. Birinci ağızdan şahitlerle kamplarda neler yaşandığı sunulurken, kampların belgelere yansımayan insani yönleri de gösterilmiştir. Bu çalışma, ilk defa birincil kaynaklarla ve canlı tanıklarla Askerliğe Hazırlık Kampları’nın eğitim tarihindeki yerini göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır.
An Oral History Study on Preparatory Camps for Military Service in Schools in the Republican Era (1935–1947)
Özlem Gürsoy, Mustafa GündüzSince the 19th century, the compulsory military service system and the concept of total war required citizens to undergo a qualified military training before military service. Thus, young people started to receive training in militaristic classes, paramilitary organizations, and scouting. This type of training appealed to political elites of Second Constitutional and Republic Eras before and after the World War I. As the preparation for military courses was included in the curriculum in 1926, students were taken to the camps on summer holidays and were trained to be war ready. To explore the camps from students’ perspective, an oral history study was conducted with individuals who attended camps between 1935 and 1947. While presenting what happened in the camps through witnesses, this study shows the humanitarian aspects of the camps, which are not reflected in the documents. In summary this study aims to reveal the place of military service preparation camps in the history of education, using witnesses primary sources.
Since the 19th century, the change in the understanding of war, the expansion of war zones, and the increasing need for labor force, have made it necessary to channel all resources in a country toward war training. In such an environment, including young people in war required that they will be equipped with military training well before they were enlisted, and so, the contents of civilian schools’ curricula were militarized. While military and shooting training courses in schools became a mainstay, military skills were also taught to youth outside of schools, through paramilitary organizations and scouting.
In a short time, these developments in preparing young people for military service in and out of school in Europe were reflected in the Ottoman Empire. As in Europe, especially after the defeat of the Balkan Wars, the contents of the training programs were restructured in order to “raise young people to be war-ready.” During the Second Constitutional Era, militarist elements such as medical training, drilling, games, and target practices were added to the contents of the physical training course, and with military course in the curriculum, students were taken to the shooting ranges. In this way, young people were primed for military training in schools. Outside of schools, through the Boy Scout Organization (İzci Ocağı), which was established and directed by the state, and also through paramilitary organizations, such as the Türk Gücü Derneği, the Osmanlı Güç Dernekleri, and the Osmanlı Genç Dernekleri, the same priming was achieved. It should be noted that the idea of creating a “millet-i müsellaha” (nation in arm) under the mobilization conditions of the First World War was also effective in directing political elites to militarist training in this period.
After the proclamation of the Republic, the need to protect the borders of the newly established state amidst the fragile conditions of the 1930s, and the possibility of a new war required constant war preparations. Also, when the effect of shortening the duration of military service is added to this process, it was considered that practical solution for giving basic military knowledge to young people in schools is beneficial. Consequently, the physical education course, which was in the curriculum in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, continued to remain in the curriculum unchanged until 1926. However, in 1926, the basic military skill was removed from the content of physical education and added to military education as a separate course. In the academic year of 1926–1927, basic military skill was re-included in the curriculum under the name, preparation for military service. In the first stage, this course was added to the last two years of boys’ high schools and boys’ schools for teaching, but later, it was taught in all schools from middle school to university with a denser content in the unsafe environment emerged in the mid-1930s. In 1937, when the danger of a new war emerged, female students were also taught the preparation for military service courses.
In addition, after the course was reincluded in the curriculum, the subjects taught under it were shown to the students in the preparation for military service camps during the summer holidays, and in a practical way as well. At the end of school years, students were taken to the camps in August in the first stage. When the number of students required to attend the camps increased due to the widening of the course’s scope, high school and university students were taken to camps away from the city during the summer holiday. In these camps, where there were no civilian individuals other than the students, and everything was done in military fashion, getting the students accustomed to military training and service.
In this study, preparation for military service camps will be examined from the point of view of students with the oral history method. For this, interviews were conducted with individuals who participated in these camps between 1935 and 1947. Thus, by discussing the camps with the living witnesses, the humanitarian dimension of the camp life that is not reflected in the documents will be shown.
