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The United States and Turkish Nationalism: Investments and Technical Aid during the Atatürk Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Roger R. Trask
Roger R. Trask
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of History, Thiel College
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Abstract

The important role of American business interests and technical assistants in Kemalist Turkey's drive for economic modernization forms the basis for an excellent illustration of the interaction of governments and businessmen in developing countries.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , Spring 1964 , pp. 58 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1964

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References

1 Karpat, Kemal H., Turkey's Politics: The Transition to a Multi-Party System (Princeton, 1959), p. 300Google Scholar.

2 See Gordon, Leland J., American Relations With Turkey, 1830–1930: An Economic Interpretation (Philadelphia, 1932), pp. 10–12Google Scholar; Trask, Roger R., “The Relations of the United States and Turkey, 1927–1939” (Ph. D. thesis, The Pennsylvania State University, 1959), pp. 4–6Google Scholar; Ahmed Nessimi (Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs) to Abram I. Elkus (American Ambassador to Turkey), April 20, 1917, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917, Supplement I, The World War (Washington, 1931), p. 603Google Scholar; Congressional Record, 65 Cong., 1 Sess., vol. LV, part 1, p. 104.

3 Hurewitz, J. C. (ed.), Diplomacy in the Near and Middle East: A Documentary Record, 1535–1956 (2 vols., Princeton, 1956), vol. II, pp. 81–87Google Scholar; Toynbee, Arnold J. and Kirkwood, Kenneth P., Turkey (London, 1926), pp. 78–110Google Scholar. See also A Speech Delivered by Ghazi Mustapha Kemal, President of the Turkish Republic, October, 1927 (Leipzig, 1929), pp. 9–572Google Scholar for a very detailed personal narrative of the events of 1919–1922.

4 Davison, Roderic H., “Turkish Diplomacy From Mudros to Lausanne,” in Craig, Gordon A. and Gilbert, Felix (eds.), The Diplomats, 1919–1939 (Princeton, 1953), pp. 206–208Google Scholar.

5 See the intimate account of the Lausanne Conferences in Grew, Joseph C., Turbulent Era: A Diplomatic Record of Forty Years, 1904–1945, ed. by Johnson, Walter (2 vols., Boston, 1952), vol. I, pp. 485–585Google Scholar. For documents pertaining to the Turco-American treaty negotiations, see Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1923 (2 vols., Washington, 1938), vol. II, pp. 1040–1171Google Scholar.

6 Frank B. Kellogg to Mark L. Bristol, January 18, 1927, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1927 (3 vols., Washington, 1942), vol. III, p. 766Google Scholar; The American Committee Opposed to the Lausanne Treaty, The Lausanne Treaty and America (Supplement) (New York, 1927)Google Scholar, in file 711.672 Protests/3, Department of State Archives (National Archives, Washington, D.C., Record Group 59. All records from the Department of State Archives hereafter cited as DS). See also Grew, Joseph C., “The Peace Conference of Lausanne, 1922–1923,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. XCVIII (February, 1954), p. 2Google Scholar. For a detailed treatment of the treaty struggle, see Trask, “The Relations of the United States and Turkey, 1927–1939,” pp. 42–59.

7 Bristol to Kellogg, March 16, 1927, DS 867.00/1961; Bristol to Tevfik Rüşdü Aras, February 17, 1927, Foreign Relations, 1927, vol. III, pp. 794–95Google Scholar.

8 See Karpat, Turkey's Politics, pp. 84–90, 251–54, for an analysis of Turkish nationalism and its effects on economic policies. See also Berkes, Niyazi (ed.), Turkish Nationalism and Western Civilization: Selected Essays of Ziya Gükalp (New York, 1959Google Scholar) and Heyd, Uriel, Foundations of Turkish Nationalism: The Life and Teachings of Ziya Gökalp (London, 1950)Google Scholar.

9 For information on the Capitulations and their abrogation in 1914, see C. Bie Ravndal (Consul General, Istanbul) to William J. Bryan, June 22, 1915, “Origins of the Capitulations and of the Consular Institution and Incidentally a Historical Sketch of the Early Commerce of the Countries Around the Mediterranean,” DS 711.673/65; Thayer, Lucius E., “The Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire and the Question of Their Abrogation As It Affects the United States,”American Journal of International Law, vol. XVII (April, 1923), pp. 207–17CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Kilic, Altemur, Turkey and the World (Washington, 1959), pp. 7–8Google Scholar.

10 Samuel Goldberg, “General Developments in Turkey” (mimeographed letter, European section, Division of Regional Information, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce) to District Office Managers, December 28, 1927, file 449.0, Records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce (National Archives, Washington, D.C, Record Group 151. Hereafter cited as FDC Records). See also Blaisdell, D. C., “American Investment in Turkey: A Forecast,” Levant Trade Review, vol. XV (December, 1927), p. 525Google Scholar.

11 Cooke, Hedley V., Challenge and Response in the Middle East: The Quest for Prosperity, 1919–1951 (New York, 1952), pp. 268–69Google Scholar.

12 K. E. Clayton Kennedy (Ottoman-American Development Company) to Charles Evans Hughes, July 25, 1923, Foreign Relations, 1923, vol. II, pp. 1215–41Google Scholar (includes documents on the concession); Bristol to Hughes, December 21, 1923, ibid., p. 1251; DeNovo, John A., “A Railroad for Turkey: The Chester Project, 1908–1913,” Business History Review, vol. XXXIII (Autumn, 1959), pp. 300–329CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

13 During the 1930's, Henry Woodhouse, who took over the “rights” of the Ottoman American Development Company, tried to sell his non-existent concession to the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company. He claimed that lands in Iraq under the control of the Turkish Petroleum Company, in which the two American firms participated, really belonged to his company. See Henry Woodhouse to Hull, September 21, 1935, DS 867.602 OT81/496.

14 Diary, July 30, 1930, Joseph C. Grew Papers (Houghton Library, Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts), 1930, vol. 3.

15 Memo, K. Carlson (State Department), “The Ottoman Public Dept,” June 28, 1929, DS 867.51/387½ (survey of the history of the Ottoman Public Debt); Fisher, Sydney Nettleton, The Middle East: A History (New York, 1959), pp. 327–29Google Scholar.

16 Toynbee and Kirkwood, Turkey, p. 237; Grew to Henry L. Stimson, November 28, 1930, DS 867.51/433; G. Howland Shaw to Hull, May 29, 1933, DS 867.51/529. See also Kazdal, Mustafa Nebil, “Trade Relations Between the United States and Turkey, 1919–1944” (Ph. D. thesis, Indiana University, 1946), pp. 42–44Google Scholar, for a discussion of the revisions of the Ottoman Debt settlement.

17 Grew to Stimson, July 15, 1931, DS 867.51/448; Daily Report, Wallace Murray (Chief, Near Eastern Division), July 24, 1934, DS 867.51/575.

18 Robert P. Skinner to Hull, June 28, 1934, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1934 (5 vols., Washington, 1950–1952), vol. II, p. 950Google Scholar; memo, Henry S. Villard (Near East Division), July 11, 1934, DS 611.6731/164.

19 Frederick P. Small (President, American Express Company) to Hull, May 9, 1933, DS 867.516/71; Shaw to Hull, July 17, 1933, DS 867.516/78; Shaw to Hull, August 4, 1933, DS 867.516/80; Kazdal, “Trade Relations Between the United States and Turkey,” pp. 97–98. The State Department documents noted here imply that the Bank suspended operations, but there is no proof that it actually did so. Kazdal says its operations continued.

20 Charles H. Sherrill to Stimson, June 29, 1932, DS 867.504/4; Shaw to Hull, June 12, 1933, DS 867.504/9; Skinner to Hull, June 30, 1934, DS 867.504/11.

21 John V. A. MacMurray to Hull, November 3, 1936, DS 867.504/24. See also Karpat, Turkey's Politics, pp. 74, 109.

22 Conversation, Grew and Ismet Inönü, April 9, 1930, Grew Papers, 1930, vol. 3; conversation, Grew and Tevfik Rüşdü Aras, April 22, 1930, ibid.; conversation. Grew and Tevfik Rüşdü Aras, July 24, 1930, ibid.

23 Grew to Stimson, November 12, 1930, DS 867.51-Shukri Bey Mission/1.

24 Grew to Stimson, September 23, 1931, DS 867.51-Shukri Bey Mission/3; editor's note in Grew, , Turbulent Era, vol. II, p. 907nGoogle Scholar.

25 Grew to J. Pierpont Morgan, October 5, 1931, Grew Papers, 1931, vol. 1; Grew to Stimson, October 5, 1931, DS 867.51-Shukri Bey Mission/23.

26 A. Vignau-Lous to Stimson, October 11, 1931, DS 867.51/452; Vahan Cardashian to Stimson, November 10, 1931, DS 867.51-Shukri Bey Mission/43.

27 Diary, January 5, 1932, Turbulent Era, vol. II, p. 908.

28 Robert F. Kelley to Hull, October 26, 1937, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1937 (5 vols., Washington, 1954), vol. II, p. 952Google Scholar; memo of telephone conversation, George V. Allen (Near East Division) and Warren L. Pierson (President, Export-Import Bank), December 19, 1939, DS 611.6731/659.

29 Skinner to Hull, March 17, 1934, DS 867.50 Three Year Plan/3; MacMurray to Hull, October 19, 1938, DS 867.51/666 (about the German credits); Herschel V. Johnson (Counselor of Embassy, London) to Hull, June 11, 1938, DS 867.51/647 (about the English credits).

30 C. M. Bounell (Vice President, Ulen and Company) to Department of State, April 25, 1927, DS 867.51 UL2/-; Sheldon L. Crosby to Kellogg, May 26, 1927, DS 867.51 UL2/1; Charles E. Allen (Consul, Istanbul), Review of the Turkish Press, May 22–31, 1927, DS 867.9111/183; New York Times, May 24 and 29, 1927.

31 To Kellogg, June 6, 1927, DS 867.51 UL2/2.

32 D. C. Poole (Chargé d'Affaires, Berlin) to Kellogg, January 4, 1928, DS 711.67/63; diary, conversation with Marcus Reich, January 31, 1928, Grew Papers, 1928, vol. 3; diary, February 2, 1928, ibid.; memo, Wallace Murray, “The American-Oriental Bankers' Corporation,” March 7, 1928, DS 867.51 A. O. B. Corporation/14.

33 Kellogg to Embassy, May 2, 1928, DS 867.51 A. O. B. Corporation/23; Grew to Kellogg, September 27, 1928, DS 867.51 A. O. B. Corporation/32; memo, Murray, “The American-Oriental Bankers' Corporation,” March 7, 1928, DS 867.51 A. O. B. Corporation/14.

34 Grew to Kellogg, October 26, 1927, DS 867.77 Fox Brothers/1; Christian Science Monitor (Boston), November 16, 1927; Grew to Kellogg, March 14, 1928, DS 867.77 Fox Brothers/14; Grew to Kellogg, April 25, 1928, DS 867.77 Fox Brothers/21.

35 Julian E. Gillespie (Commercial Attaché, Istanbul), Special Report No. 5, “Turkey Obtains $10,000,000 Loan in Return for Match Monopoly,” July 10, 1930, DS 867.51 Turkish-American Investment Corporation/9.

36 Jefferson Patterson (Chargé d'Affaires) to Stimson, June 16, 1930, DS 867.51 Turkish-American Investment Corporation/1; Patterson to Stimson, June 17, 1930, DS 867.51 Turkish-American Investment Corporation/5.

37 Wilbur J. Carr (Acting Secretary of State) to Embassy, April 27, 1932, DS 867.51 Turkish-American Investment Corporation/13; memo of conversation, George V. Allen, Murray, and Paul H. Ailing (all of the Near East Division) and Louis E. Stern (Treasurer, Turkish-American Investment Corporation), July 7, 1938, DS 867.51 Turkish-American Investment Corporation/100.

38 Kelley to Hull, January 24, 1938, DS 867.51 Turkish-American Investment Corporation/85; MacMurray to Hull, June 30, 1938, DS 867.51 Turkish-American Investment Corporation/94; memo, Francis X. Ward (Legal Adviser, State Department) to George V. Allen, August 16, 1938, DS 867.51 Turkish-American Investment Corporation/110. According to Kazdal, “Trade Relations Between the United States and Turkey,” p. 199, the Turkish government paid off its indebtedness to the Turkish-American Investment Corporation by July, 1943.

39 August 21, 1931, Grew Papers, 1931, vol. 2. For details of other Standard Oil tax troubles, see Grew to Stimson, January 15, 1930, DS 867.5123 Standard Oil/8; Grew to Stimson, April 16, 1930, DS 867.5123 Standard Oil/16.

40 Diary, conversation, Grew and Clinton D. Campbell (General Manager, Standard Oil Company, Turkey), November 26, 1927, Grew Papers, 1927, vol. 1; diary, conversation, Grew and Campbell, December 14, 1927, ibid.

41 “Constantinople Ford Assembly Plant,” Levant Trade Review, vol. XVII (February, 1929), pp. 43–47Google Scholar.

42 Gillespie to Director, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, December 15, 1930, FDC Records, file 254.1 Turkey.

43 Diary, February 8, 1932, Grew Papers, 1932, vol. 3; Grew to Stimson, March 11, 1932, DS 867.796 Curtiss/7. The efficiency of American aircraft was demonstrated by the record non-stop flight of Russell Boardman and John Polando from New York to Istanbul in July, 1931. Their plane was equipped with a Wright motor. See diary, July 27-August 10, 1931, Grew, , Turbulent Era, vol. II, pp. 890–99Google Scholar; Washington Post, July 31, 1931; New York Times, August 1 and 2, 1931.

44 Sherrill to Stimson, June 17, 1932, DS 867.796 Curtiss/14; Skinner to Hull, November 9, 1933, DS 867.796 Curtiss/18; Skinner to Hull, December 6, 1933, DS 867.796 Curtiss/20.

45 Memo of conversation, G. Howland Shaw and T. K. Schmuck (Texas Company), March 16, 1927, DS 867.6363/122; memo of conversation, Shaw and John C. Case (Vacuum Oil Company), December 6, 1928, DS 867.6363/130; H. C. McEldowney to Department of State, April 1, 1930, DS 867.6363/133 (about Benedum Trees Company); Kelley to Hull, November 18, 1937, DS 867.6363/158 (enclosure No. 1, article by Cevat Eyup Tashman, Director of the Turkish Institute of Mineral Research, Ministry of Economy, on petroleum explorations in Turkey).

46 Memo of telephone conversation, Murray and Charles D. Hilles (American Smelting and Refining Company), November 15, 1929, DS 867.63/31; Fred Searles, Jr. (Newmont Mining Corporation) to Shaw, April 12, 1929, DS 867.6452/1.

47 Cooke, Challenge and Response in the Middle East, pp. 268–71; Karpat, Turkey's Politics, p. 87. See also Kelley to Hull, March 10, 1938, DS 867.50 Five Year Plan/21, for a summary of progress made under the Five Year plan.

48 Curti, Merle and Birr, Kendall, Prelude to Point Four: American Technical Missions Overseas, 1838–1938 (Madison, 1954), pp. 22–24, 154–55Google Scholar.

49 Bristol to Hughes, April 4, 1924, DS 867.01A/12; Bristol to Hughes, June 13, 1924, DS 867.51A/2; Grew (Acting Secretary of State) to Bristol, July 9, 1924, DS 867.51A/6; Bristol to Hughes, June 24, 1924, DS 867.01A/31.

50 Baker, Robert L., “State Planning in Turkey,” Current History, vol. XXXVIII (July, 1933), p. 505Google Scholar; New York Times, May 28, 1933.

51 Curti and Birr, Prelude to Point Four, p. 183; “Turco-American Relations,” Current History, vol. XXXVIII (June, 1933), p. 379Google Scholar; New York Times, January 20, 1935; Sherrill to Stimson, July 1, 1932, DS 867.01A/58.

52 Sherrill to Stimson, July 1, 1932, DS 867.01A/57 (attached are carbon copies to the above offices, all dated July 7, 1932, signed by W. R. Castle, Jr.).

53 Robert H. Vorfeld to Henry S. Vttlard (Near East Division), October 19, 1932, DS 867.01A/73 (attached is correspondence between Vorfeld and Ahmed Mouhtar, Turkish ambassador in Washington, who handled the hiring of Vorfeld); Sherrill to Stimson, January 19, 1933, DS 867.01A/97; memo of conversation, Castle and Ahmed Mouhtar, January 24, 1933, DS 867.01A/91. Bell was a former transportation director of the United States Food Administration. See New York Times, May 5, 1933.

54 Memo, Murray, May 19, 1934, DS 867.01A/132; Skinner to Hull, February 18, 1935, DS 867.01A/140.

55 Sherrill to Stimson, November 1, 1932, DS 867.01A/76.

56 Sherrill to Stimson, January 5, 1933, DS 867.01A/89; Skinner to Hull, November 10, 1933, DS 867.01A/126; Gillespie to Shaw, May 7, 1934, FDC Records, file 449.0; memo, Murray, May 19, 1934, DS 867.01A/132. See also New York Times, March 19 and September 11, 1933. Clark headed a company of industrial and engineering consultants, and served previously with the United States Shipping Board. See New York Times, May 5, 1933.

57 Ahmed Mouhtar to Murray, March 29, 1933, DS 867.01A/112; Skinner to Hull, March 26, 1935, DS 867.01A/141; memo, Murray, May 19, 1934, DS 867.01A/132. Van Siclen previously worked for the Bureau of Mines and Paige for the Geological Survey. See New York Times, May 5, 1933.

58 Curti and Birr, Prelude to Point Four, p. 184; William Phillips to General Douglas A. MacArthur (Chief of Staff), April 11, 1933, DS 867.50A/14A (about Somervell).

59 Phillips to Embassy (for Somervell from H. Alexander Smith), January 15, 1934, DS 867.50A/63A (report of Hines' death); Skinner to Hull, June 22, 1934, DS 867.50A/82; Curti and Birr, Prelude to Point Four, p. 184. Kemmerer had previously undertaken similar missions to the Philippines, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Poland, Germany, and South Africa.

60 October 8, 1933, DS 867.50A/46.

61 Skinner to Hull, March 26, 1934, DS 867.50A/76; Curti and Birr, Prelude to Point Four, pp. 184–85; memo, Gillespie to Shaw, May 7, 1934, FDC Records, file 449.0 (enclosure is copy of Gillespie to Dorr, May 4, 1934). See also New York Times, July 15, 1934.

62 Curti and Birr, Prelude to Point Four, p. 186; Cooke, Challenge and Response in the Middle East, p. 269.

63 Curti and Birr, Prelude to Point Four, p. 186.

64 American Friends of Turkey, Inc., American Friends of Turkey (New York, 1931)Google Scholar, in Mark L. Bristol Papers (Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.), Box 96 (a pamphlet explaining the origins and purposes of the group); Asa W. Jennings (executive director, American Friends of Turkey) to Wallace K. Murray, July 20, 1933, DS 867.42711/4; Shaw to Hull, April 26, 1933, DS 867.42711/1.

65 Skinner to Hull, June 3, 1935, DS 867.61A/15; Curti and Birr, Prelude to Point Four, p. 183, quoting letter, Dorr to Curti, October 23, 1951.

66 Kelley to Hull, March 15, 1938, DS 867.124A/1.

67 Shaw to Murray, March 30, 1936, DS 867.6363/152; Kelley to Hull, November 18, 1937, DS 867.6363/158; Frederick P. Latimer, Jr. (Consul, Istanbul) to Hull, February 9, 1938, DS 867.6363/159.

68 H. Alexander Smith to Murray, March 5, 1934, DS 867.01A/127 (hydrographer); Skinner to Hull, April 5, 1934, DS 867.01A/129 (highway engineer); Turkish Embassy, Washington, to Department of State, November 9, 1936, DS 867.64A/1 (flood control expert); New York Times, March 14, 1939 (police); Turkish Embassy to Department of State, June 6, 1935, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 2935 (4 vols., 1952–1953), vol. I, p. 1052Google Scholar; Murray to Munir Ertegun, June 24, 1935, ibid., p. 1053; Ertegun to Hull, May 3, 1937, DS 867.20/70 (military aviation experts).