Economic and cultural status of Bitlis (1920-1950)

In this study, in which the social, cultural and economic developments of Bitlis between the years 1923-1950 are discussed, it has been observed that thedevelopment of Bitlis in related areas was generally weak compared to other provinces in the region. The republican period social and cultural implementations in Bitlis cannot be considered separate from political factors. After the proclamation of the Republic, efforts had been initiated to meet the economic, social, cultural, health and public works needs, to increase the economic status of the people by settling and to make the necessary work for the peasants and farmers to own the land. However, due to the traditional structure that had lasted for centuries, the greatest resistance to the regime and structuring of the Republic emerged in the eastern provinces. During the early republican years, great efforts were made to break the resistance against the regime while at the same time dealing with the reconstruction of these provinces. These efforts to achieve national unity and solidarity manifested itself in the social field as well as in the political area. After the reforms were put into practice, the visible results of this resistance showed its presence in the region as a rebellion. It is seen that the activities carried out in the region were aimed at annihilating the factors that caused the Sheikh Said rebellion. Especially the activities carried out to generalize Turkish in the region covered a large area of cultural activities. again, the exiles and forced migrations made during this period show that political and social activities complemented eachother and aimed at the same purpose.With this study, It is aimed to contribute to the local history of the region emphasizing that Bitlis has an independent demographic structure, culture and history completely separate from the nearby provinces and districts.