Symbols of Kemalism'in in nation state building

In the early periods of the Republic of Turkey, which was established after the War of Independence, nation building and the implementation of Western model reforms throughout the country occupied an important place in the policies of the Kemalist government. In this direction, the Kemalist founding staff wanted to transform a society, most of which lived in rural areas and where the rate of reading and writing was very low, within the scope of Kemalist reforms and according to the Western model. The Kemalist elite also aimed to bring a spirit of nationalism to this society based on Turkish ethnic elements. In this sense, the government used many methods to reach the people in a society where the literacy and writing rates were low and to make them adopt the reforms within their own ideology. These methods were sometimes educational institutions that would raise new generations within the scope of Kemalist policies, and sometimes they were different tools designed for the illiterate public and appealing to visuality. Within the scope of the subject, modern cities designed in the Western model, monuments and statues of Atatürk, banknotes of the Early Republican Period and visuals of postage stamps from this period aimed to make the illiterate people adopt the ideology of the Kemalist government and thus give legitimacy to the government. Similarly, the Kemalist government used women as a symbol of civilization and an advertising face against Western civilization within its own policies. Another reason why the government focuses on women's policies is that in the society planned to be transformed in the construction of a nation-state, the first educator to raise future generations is a woman, in her duty as a mother. Kemalism tried to achieve social transformation through music in the Western model, and in this sense, folk songs and folk songs, which were thought to be monophonic, were compiled and tried to be made polyphonic with Western musical techniques. In this regard, Kemalism, which aimed at a Westernization project in every aspect, wanted to impose its own ideology on the people. Ultimately, these tools, which were aimed at implementing the Kemalist government's own methods, became symbols of Kemalism by identifying with the Kemalist ideology.