Fevzi Çakmak

Mustafa Fevzi Çakmak (12 January 1876 – 10 April 1950) was a Turkish field marshal ('' Mareşal'') and politician. He served as the Chief of General Staff from 1918 and 1919 and later the Minister of War of the Ottoman Empire in 1920. He later joined the provisional Government of the Grand National Assembly and became the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense and later as the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1921 to 1922. He was the second Chief of the General Staff of the provisional Ankara Government and the first Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of Turkey.

Graduating from the War College as a Staff Captain and assigned to the 4th Department of the General Staff, Mustafa Fevzi participated in numerous battles during the prolonged downfall of the Ottoman Empire, such as the First Balkan War and the Battle of Monastir. He was engaged as the Commander of the V Corps throughout the defence of Gallipoli, during which his younger brother was killed in the Battle of Chunuk Bair. He became a Pasha and the Chief of General Staff of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War and was appointed as the commander of the First Army Troops Inspectorate in 1919 by Grand Vizier Ahmet Tevfik Pasha. After briefly serving as War Minister in 1920, Fevzi left to join the dissident Grand National Assembly in Ankara as a Member of Parliament for Kozan.

He was appointed as National Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister by Mustafa Kemal Paşa in 1920, commanding numerous military successes throughout the Turkish War of Independence, notably during the Battle of Sakarya. He succeeded Mustafa Kemal as Prime Minister in 1921, resigning in 1922 to engage in the successful Battle of Dumlupınar. He was appointed Field Marshal ( Mareşal) in 1922 at the recommendation of Mustafa Kemal. He had succeeded İsmet İnönü as the Chief of General Staff in August 1921 and continued serving after the Turkish Republic was declared in 1923. Adopting the surname 'Çakmak', he was a candidate to succeed Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as the President of Turkey after Atatürk's death in 1938, but stood down in favour of İnönü. He continued to serve as Chief of General Staff until 1944, after which he became a Member of Parliament for Istanbul from the Democrat Party. He later resigned from the Democrats and co-founded the Nation Party headed by Osman Bölükbaşı.

Fevzi Çakmak remains, alongside Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as one of the only two field marshals of Turkey.

Biography

Family and schools

Mustafa Fevzi was born on 12 January 1876 in Cihangir (Istanbul, Ottoman Empire) to mother Hesna Hanım, daughter of Varnalı Hacı Bekir Efendi, who was the youngest son of Ömer Ağa, and father Ali Sırrı Efendi, who was the son of Çakmakoğlu Hüseyin Derviş Kaptan. Ali Sırrı Efendi had served for Tophane (Arsenal) as secretary. In 1879 Ali Sırrı Bey was appointed to Black Sea Artillery Regiment (''Karadeniz Topçu Alayı'') at Rumeli Kavağı, and the family moved there. Thus, Fevzi's name in the Army became "Kavaklı Fevzi Pasha".Hayrullah Gök, ''Mareşal Fevzi Çakmak'ın askerî ve siyasî faaliyetleri, 1876–1950'', p. 3.

He studied at Sadık Hoca Mektebi in Rumeli Kavağı between 1882 and 1884. He continued to study at Tedrisiye-i Haybiye Mektebi in Sarıyer between 1884 and 1886, at Salonica Military School (''Selânik Askerî Rüşdiyesi'' ) between 1886 and 1887, at Soğukçeşme Askerî Rüşdiyesi between 1887 and 1890. He learned Arabic and Persian languages from his grandfather Hacı Bekir Efendi, who had studied in Egypt and Baghdad and was one of the prominent intelligentsia at the time. He continued to Kuleli Military High School (''Kuleli Askerî İdadisi'') between 1890 and 1893. After graduating from the Kuleli military high school, he entered Ottoman Military College on 29 April 1893. He completed the military school as the seventh of the class on 28 January 1896 and joined the Ottoman military as an infantryman. Second Lieutenant (''Mülâzım-ı Sani'').T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, ''Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri'', Genelkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1972, p. 52.

On 28 January 1898, he entered the Imperial War Academy and on 16 March 1897, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. On 25 December 1898, he graduated from Academy as a staff captain and was assigned to the 4th department of the General Staff.Genelkurmay, ''Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri'', p. 53.

Western Rumelia

On 11 April 1899, he became the staff officer of 18th Regular Division under the command of Şemsi Pasha at Metroviça (present day Mitrovica) of the Third Army. He studied Serbian, Bulgarian, Albanian languages to read their newspapers for collecting information. On 20 April 1900, he was promoted to the rank of Kolağası, on 20 April 1902, Major (''Binbaşı''), on 19 July 1906, Lieutenant Colonel (''Kaymakam'') and on 17 December 1907, Miralay

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