Karaman During the National Struggle

Karaman, whose historical roots date back to approximately 8,000 years ago, was established on a fertile plain on the transition route from the interior of Anatolia to the Mediterranean. The city has traces of various different civilizations such as Persia, Rome, and the Seljuk Dynasty. The importance, the foundation and many other values of the city relates directly to the establishment of the Karamanids. Karaman, which experienced its most brilliant period with the Karamanids, looked like an average Anatolian district consisting of approximately 1,300 households during the days of the Armistice of Mudros signed by the Ottoman Empire on October 30, 1918. The fact that the district was located on the Baghdad Railway Line caused the military and economic mobility that emerged with the armistice to be seen in and around the district. After the Armistice, Karaman was not directly involved in the occupation activities in Anatolia. However, it was one of the settlements where the reflections of the occupations and the activities of the occupying states were indirectly seen. At the beginning of the Armistice, the French interest in Karaman and its surroundings increased due to the fact that it was a center of grain production and storage capacity in terms of economic resources as well as military activity. Thus, the French desire to ship the grain in the region to the south caused the reaction of the military and national forces in and around the province, namely Kuvâ-yı Milliye. This caused a crisis between the central government and local administrators from time to time. The expansion of the French occupation area in the south with the armistice caused the government to take some quick and unplanned decisions. As a result of this situation, one of the biggest train disasters of the period occurred on the Karaman railway line. In addition, the effects of the Delibash Mehmet uprising were seen in Karaman and its surroundings as well as in many districts of the Konya province. In summary, the events caused by the turmoil and restructuring process that emerged in Anatolia with the armistice had repercussions on Karaman. Despite all these setbacks, Karaman was among the settlements that closely followed and supported all stages of the War of Independence from the beginning. Based on the general information above, this study aims to examine the developments in Karaman during the Armistice and the National Struggle Period, especially in the light of archival documents, copyright and research works. As a result of the sources accessed, the military activities in the province, the reflection of the uprisings in Konya on Karaman, the train disaster between Mandason-Arıkören, the issue of grain, and the contribution and support of the province to the National Struggle were revealed. The study reflects the military, economic and political outlook of an Anatolian city in the specified period.

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