The anatomy of a student uprisal: The case of the Bursa Sultani (1914) from the perspective of political considerations in the Ottoman educational system

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the formation, development, and results of a student uprisal that took place in the Bursa Sultani (Royal High School) in 1914 from the perspective of political considerations in the Ottoman educational system. The Bursa Sultani was located in the city of Bursa in Hüdavendigâr province center, which was known to be among the leading places where modern educational policies were implemented quickly and effectively due to its proximity to the capital city of Istanbul. Therefore, it is important to reveal how the student uprisal in the aforementioned school was addressed by the Turkish bureaucracy, how the necessary research and investigation was carried out, and how certain measures were taken based on the correspondence between the institutions. This study, aiming to examine the student uprisal specifically and systematically, was designed as a history of education research based on original and primary sources in line with qualitative research methods. In this regard, a historical review was conducted in light of the obtained documents from the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Directorate of State Archives. The documents written in Ottoman Turkish were scrutinized within the framework of the methods and procedures required by the discipline of history to reconstructing the historical plot of the uprisal. According to the research findings, a group of students in the Bursa Sultani left the school by causing a uprisal for various reasons on March 28, 1914. The activists also encouraged the students of the Darülmuallimin (Teacher Training High School for Boys) and the Agricultural School in Bursa to revolt and propagated by wandering in the streets and bazaar of the city. It became increasingly heated and threatened schools and students in many cities around Bursa, especially in Istanbul. Thereupon, a comprehensive investigation was initiated by assigning an inspector from the central office to the region. Although the incidence was suppressed by taking the necessary precautions by the state, it took place in history as a prominent student movement kept the authorities busy for a while.