Bilecik in the light of statistics (1923-1945)

Following the proclamation of the Republic, the Republic of Turkey embarked on a process of restructuring the administrative, social, and economic systems inherited from the Ottoman Empire. During this transformation, Anatolian cities were redefined in terms of both administrative organization and societal modernization. Bilecik, located in the founding geography of the Ottoman Empire, became one of the symbolic and structural centers of this change. The path to the establishment of the Republic was shaped not only on battlefields but also through the reconstruction of cities and the transformation of daily life. With the declaration of the Republic, one of the new state's primary objectives was to spread modernization to every corner of Anatolia. The signs of this transformation became more evident in rural provinces, where the new state's institutional and social foundations were laid. In this context, Bilecik stands out as a province that underwent significant administrative, demographic, and social changes during the early Republican period. The population movements, education campaigns, marriage and divorce statistics, and production data of the 1920s and 1930s are important not only for understanding this province but also for grasping the social structure of the newly established Turkish Republic. This study examines demographic, educational, health, family, and production statistics regarding Bilecik between 1927 and 1945, and evaluates the effects of the Republic's first quarter-century on rural society. This analysis of local data is also significant in showing how policies disseminated from the center were received and reflected in peripheral regions.