Compared to China or Industrial Revolution-age Britain? Hell no, Ataturk pretty much had silk gloves on.
Really Ataturk was less harsh than Industrial Revolution-age Britain? I find this highly unlikely (unless your taking about their colonial practices in which case the Armenian genocide is relevant). I think the reason you’re overestimating the relative harshness of Britain is that Britain had more freedom of speech than other industrializing nations and thus its harshness (such as it was) is better documented.
(That’s just after a fifteen-minute search. By the way, haven’t you read Dickens? He gives quite a vivid contemporary account of social relations, although dramatized.)
Are you claiming that similar and worse things didn’t happen in Turkey?
With the exception of the Armenian genocide (which is comparable in vileness to many things, including the actions of that wonder of private enterprise, the East India Company) - yes. Not during the late 19th and 20th century, I mean. Turkish landlords might’ve been feudals, but they didn’t outright steal the entirety of their tenants’ livelihood from under them.
Let me get this straight: you’re trying to argue that Britain was harsh because some people expressed opposition to a law you like?
The other way around! Many respected people hated and denounced it so much, it famously prompted Dickens to write Oliver Twist.
I knew perfectly well about all of those except the Great Famine before searching, thank you very much! (I used to think there was only one Irish famine.) That’s why I felt confident in saying that 20th century Turkey was not as bad! “Fifteen-minute search” referred to a search for articles to show in support of my argument, not an emergency acquisition of knowledge for myself.
Really Ataturk was less harsh than Industrial Revolution-age Britain? I find this highly unlikely (unless your taking about their colonial practices in which case the Armenian genocide is relevant). I think the reason you’re overestimating the relative harshness of Britain is that Britain had more freedom of speech than other industrializing nations and thus its harshness (such as it was) is better documented.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_%28Ireland%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution#Child_labour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Poor_Law
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers1.html
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/workers2.html
(That’s just after a fifteen-minute search. By the way, haven’t you read Dickens? He gives quite a vivid contemporary account of social relations, although dramatized.)
Are you claiming that similar and worse things didn’t happen in Turkey?
Let me get this straight: you’re trying to argue that Britain was harsh because some people expressed opposition to a law you like?
Yes, that’s want I meant by Britain’s harshness (such as it was) being better documented thanks to its freedom of speech.
With the exception of the Armenian genocide (which is comparable in vileness to many things, including the actions of that wonder of private enterprise, the East India Company) - yes. Not during the late 19th and 20th century, I mean. Turkish landlords might’ve been feudals, but they didn’t outright steal the entirety of their tenants’ livelihood from under them.
The other way around! Many respected people hated and denounced it so much, it famously prompted Dickens to write Oliver Twist.
“The blogosphere overflows with Google Pundits; those who pooh-pooh, with a few search queries, an argument that runs counter to their own ideological assumptions, usually regarding a subject with which they possess only a passing familiarity.” It always gets my goat when the other guy does it.
I knew perfectly well about all of those except the Great Famine before searching, thank you very much! (I used to think there was only one Irish famine.) That’s why I felt confident in saying that 20th century Turkey was not as bad! “Fifteen-minute search” referred to a search for articles to show in support of my argument, not an emergency acquisition of knowledge for myself.