'The Turkish and Pan-Turkish Ideal by Tekin Alp' [‎18v] (41/58)

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joining the separate settlements, and without any internal unity, which
is of such vital necessity. Separated by enormous distances, they lived
isolated lives, and were lacking in community of spirit, and therefore in
any national civilization. The Turks have always lived like an organism
without a head or a brain. . . .”
This description applies of course to the old regime, and the coming
of the new regime has not yet brought about any material improvement.
The causes of this national evil have not yet disappeared, precisely
because the Turks have not yet come to their national consciousness.
The efforts to awaken a national spirit have met with loud protests
and violent opposition. People laboured at first under the delusion that
a national movement meant opposition to religion. The few liberal-
minded spirits who dared to identify themselves more closely with the
movement, were silenced. The true awakening of national consciousness
did not take place until after the Balkan Wars.
CHAPTER II
THE AWAKENING
It is a well-established historical fact that great political or social
crises usually produce great social movements. The awakening of the
German nation came at the time of its greatest misfortune. A large
part of Germany was groaning under the Corsican’s yoke, and her very
existence was menaced. At that time, great poets, philosophers, and
orators rose, summoned the youth of the nation to resist, and rallied the
national thought by word and deed. The foreign yoke of France was
shaken off in fierce battles, Germany’s political independence was won,
and the influence of the French language, literature, and civilization was
weakened and dispelled. The spirit of the German people received new
life. When, therefore, French arrogance once more threatened the
frontiers of Germany, the nation rose in a body against her hereditary
foe. Sedan and other names bear witness to the successes of Germany’s
combined forces. Men such as Bismarck, Moltke, and others were the
sons of this German national spirit. Forty-four years of peace, of quiet
development outside, and consistent progress inside the country, followed
on this period. In a few decades Germany reached the front rank of the
civilized nations, and the cowardly fear of being outstripped gave “ faith
less Albion ” no peace until she could vent upon us the rage which is
the heritage of the great German-hater, Edward VII, and raise all Europe
in a furious blow against the dangerous strength of Germany. This war
is a brilliant proof of Germany’s highly developed national consciousness.
The number of her volunteers, who can be counted by millions, bears
eloquent witness to her spirit. We are now seeing the results of organiza
tion and national strength.