14. Today in 1920s Turkey: 29 August 1926 (Flying Babies: Republican Edition)

(“Victory and Airplane Day,” Papağan or “Parrot,” 29 August 1926, no. 156, page 1.)

Comments:
Ninety years ago today the journal Papağan featured on its cover a large illustration in recognition of the upcoming joint holidays of Victory Day and Airplane Day. Victory Day celebrates the military victory against the Greeks at Dumlupınar (Başkomutanlık Meydan Muharebesi in Turkish common parlance) on 30 August 1922. This was one of the last battles of the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1922). The seminal battle is referenced with the inclusion of the armed soldier and airplanes which were used throughout the War of Independence. Furthermore, the connection between the independence war and a government of the people (the Turkish Grand National Assembly government, whose motto was Hakimiyet Milletindir or “Sovereignty belongs to the nation”) is expressed with the inclusion of the first National Assembly building’s silhouette before the rising sun.

(The first Turkish Grand National Assembly building, now the War of Independence Museum or Kurtuluş Müzesi, Ankara, Turkey. Photo taken August 2010.)

The National Assembly building coupled with the rising sun represents the birth of the new state in the wake of the war. This new state is signified by the infant being raised to the sky with the efforts of the soldier. The sash across the infant’s body has the word “Republic” (Cumhuriyet) written directly on it to ensure the message of the cartoon—i.e., the relationship between the victory at war and the new regime—is crystal clear.

Additionally, the illustration celebrates airplanes as the nascent Turkish Aeronautical Association (Türk Hava Kurumu, est. 1925) declared in 1926 that 30 August would also be Airplane Day due to the important role played by airplanes in securing this victory. This development reflects the overall popular interest in airplanes in Turkey in the 1920s (see also post #5). Airplanes represented military strength, economic prosperity, and technological superiority which are all things that the young nation-state aspired to attain. This perceived causal relationship between technological wonder and the development of the state is recreated in the central event of the illustration: the transferal of the Republican baby from the hands of the soldier on terra firma to the pilot flying with great speed to previously unfathomable heights.

Note: The reason the magazine is celebrating the holiday a day early is due to the fact that it publishes twice per week on Sundays and Wednesdays. Since that year 30 August fell on a Monday the journal simply published their commemorative issue a day early. This is common practice with these kinds of weekly or bi-weekly publications. They tend not to change their special issue dates just to coincide with a holiday.

English:
(Above)
30 August is Victory and Airplane Day for the Turks.
(Below)
Pilot: Give [him to me] so I, too, can elevate him a bit more!

Türkçe:
(Üstte)
30 Ağustos Türklerin Zafer ve Teyyare Bayramıdır.
(Altta)
Teyyareci: Ver, biraz da ben yükselteyim!..