The history of Turkey encompasses the history of Republic of Turkey and the history of the region now known as Turkey (derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia; i.e., "Land of the Turks"), including the areas known as Anatolia and Eastern Thrace.[1][2] Anatolia (Turkish: Anadolu) comprises most of modern Turkey and is known by the Latin name of Asia Minor.Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic,including various Ancient Anatolian civilizations and ancient Thracians. The remnants of Bronze Age civilizations such as the Hattians, provide examples of the lives of its citizens and their trade. After the fall of the Hittites, new states such as Phrygia and Lydia appeared on the western coast as Greek civilization began to flourish.
The growing Persian kingdom eventually absorbed them. Following the Persian invasion, its expansionism brought it into conflict with the Greek monarch Alexander the Great who successfully expelled the Persians. Although he brought an end to the Persian Empire, his reign was short and his empire broke up on his death. Most of Anatolia eventually fell under the Seleucid Empire, the largest of Alexander's territories, but they were driven back by the Romans by 191 BC, most of their lands returning to local kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Pergamum. Roman control gradually strengthened carving out provinces from the Anatolian lands, but the Roman Empire was weakened by successive civil wars and barbarian invasions. These resulted in periodic divisions of the empire.
In the 4th century, during the reign of Constantine the Great, at the east part of the Roman empire (referred to by historians much later as the Byzantine Empire) was established a new capital at Constantinople. Parting from the West empire the Byzantine Empire it succeeded to flourish for almost a thousand years.
Oghuz Turks began migrating into Anatolia in the
context of the larger Turkic expansion, forming the Seljuq Empire in the
11th century AD. After the Seljuq victory over forces of the
Byzantine Empire in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert,the process was
accelerated. The Seljuq dynasty controlled Turkey until the country
was invaded by the Mongols following the Battle of Kosedag. During the
years when the country was under Mongol rule, some small Turkish states
were born. One of these states was the Ottoman beylik which quickly
controlled Western Anatolia and conquered much of Rumelia. After finally
conquering Istanbul, the Ottoman state would become a large empire,
called the Turkish Empire in Europe. Next, the Empire expanded to
Eastern Anatolia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Central Europe and
North Africa. Although the Ottoman Empire's power and prestige peaked in
the 16th century; it did not fully reach the technological advance in
military capabilities of the Western powers in the 19th century.
Nevertheless, Turkey managed to maintain independence though some of its
territories were ceded to its neighbors and some small countries
gained independence from it.Following World War I in which Turkey was defeated, most of Anatolia and Eastern Thrace was occupied by the Allied powers including the capital city Istanbul. In order to resist the occupation, a cadre of young military officers formed a government in Ankara. The elected leader of the Ankara Government, Mustafa Kemal organized a successful war of independence against the Allied powers. After the liberation of Anatolia and East Thrace, the Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 with its capital at Ankara.
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