Meşrutiyet’ten Cumhuriyet’e İlk ve Ortaokul Tarih Ders Kitaplarında Romanya Algısı (1908-1932)

Abstract

Edward Hallett Carr says, “history is an endless dialogue between past and future” in his book named “What is History”. And this dialogue is conveyed to young minds through history textbooks given to them since their childhood periods, not through the history books written in large volumes. The political conditions arisen with the effect of the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars caused the Turkism to have a significant effect in history textbooks. History studies in Turkey have developed with the nation-state and the nationalism idea it followed with the establishment of the Republic. The negative effect of Rumelian lands, which got out of hand first as self-governing states then as independent states such as Romania, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Albania and the endless migration waves manifested itself in historiography. Romania is generally discussed in the section of “the Conquests of the Ottoman Empire in Balkans” in a chronological and historical systematic starting from the conquest of Moldavia (Eflak) and Walachia (Boğdan), and this situation hasn’t played a significant role in the formation of an adequate perception of Romania in the minds of Turkish youths. This article aims to show how Romania, with which international bilateral relations were more advanced compared with the other Balkan states, is discussed in the first and secondary school history textbooks in Turkey between 1908 and 1932. Understanding whether bilateral relations are reflected in the history textbooks and presenting suggestions on how to use history textbooks in the development of friendship relations between Turkey and Romania are also among the objectives of the article.