Education in Antalya During the National Struggle (1918-1923)

While military, political and economic issues constitute the agenda in the general framework during war periods, subjects such as culture, education and art are naturally pushed to the second or even the third plan. While the school buildings were sometimes used as military shelters during the war days, they were sometimes used as an arsenal and sometimes as a hospital. It seems plausible that the money allocated to education in the ordinary budget should be spent on other sectors during the war. The human element in education is also a force to be utilized in times of war. Teachers or students were sent to the front and used to reinforce the army, and female students or female teachers were sometimes evaluated in ammunition production, logistics or transportation, and sometimes they were employed in the treatment of wounded soldiers such as nurses. Considering that the Ottoman Empire participated in almost non-stop wars in the last ten years, it will be understood how much of a blow the educational activities took on the above-mentioned situations. When we look at the issue in the Turkish War of Independence, it will be seen that the conflicts with the occupying forces in many regions have created a similar situation. The main purpose of this study is to show the course of education and training activities in the city of Antalya, which was occupied and freed from the Italian occupation during the years of the National Struggle. Another purpose of the study is to show the viewpoint of the people and administrators on education in the city of Antalya, which was occupied by a foreign state before the negative effects of the First World War, to reveal what kind of work the teachers do in this field, to indicate the situation of schools and students in this painful period. While creating the study, archival sources were consulted as much as possible, the local press of the period was examined and research works were used. It was aimed to reveal the original aspect of the issue by comparing the memories that touched on this subject, even if only a little, with other documents and information.

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