man Turkish administrative lay in governing what they had conquered. The survival of any government for six centuries is in itself a testimony to greatness. The Turks proved to be adaptable to new circumstances. They managed to turn their system from a nomadic state whose members were more naturally wanderers than statesmen to a settled empire with laws, taxation systems, and economic might. The state was based on tolerance of differences among its subjects. Christians and Jews were allowed to keep their religious practices. This was good for the Ottomans, because satisfied subjects did not rebel.
             In the 1600s and 1700s the Ottoman central government weakened as European power increased. The Europeans were translating the benefits of the Renaissance, the scientific revolution, and the discovery of Americas into military and economic advantage. As the Ottoman Empire compressed, the Turks also began to develop a national consciousness.
             The ultimate push toward Turkish nationhood came after World War I. Anatolia, Istanbul, and a small portion of Europe were all that was left to the Turks. Then in 1919, Anatolia was also invaded. Aided by Britain, France, and Italy, the Greek Army landed and took control of Western Anatolia and Eastern Thrace. The European allies took Istanbul themselves. Drawing on their old military skills, the Turks organized to save what remained. They went under the leadership of General Mustafa Kemal, defeated the Greeks, and created a new state, the Turkish Republic, in Anatolia and eastern Thrace, on October 29, 1923. Mustafa Kemal became the first president of the Republic. He devised political, economic, and social reforms that would bring Turkey in to the modern world. Once again the Turks proved to be adaptable to change. Soon after this, Turkey became a secular state. Islam remained the religion of most of the people, but the state was not religious. Other changes followed: the veil and...