centrateonthe 10 – 13 millionencitizensbornafter 1912 .²⁵⁴Theauthorspleaded
forpublicparadesofyoungpeoplefollowingpoliticalstatementsfromthegov-
ernment,asinStalin’sSovietUnion.Atatürkspoliticalstatementshadtoreach
thelastTurkishshepherdtheverynextdayandeveryyoungmanreturningfrom
militaryservicehadtopresenttherevolutionaryspirittohisfellowvillagepeo-
pleafterhisreturn.²⁵⁵Otherwise,“theregimewouldneverbecomestrong.”²⁵⁶
Therefore,theyouthhadtobeinstructedinanorganization.Thefirstaimshould
betoprepareyoungmenfortheirmilitaryserviceandtoprovidetherequire-
mentsfora“nationinarms”(“silhalanmışmillet”),²⁵⁷arecourseofColmar
vonderGoltz’sconcept.
Inthisregard,thepremilitarytrainingandphysicalinstructionwereurgent
necessities.Thelatterwastoencompassallyoungpeopleinthecountry.Theen-
tireyounggeneration,includingofficeclerkssittingforlonghours,factorywork-
erswiththeirmonotonousmovementsandthemajorityofthehard-working
ruralpopulationneededphysicalactivities.Theneedforphysicalactivitywas
bestillustratedinaquotefromabrochurepublishedbytheMinistryofWar
in 1936 ,beingafavoriterolemodeloftheYoungTurkgeneration.²⁵⁸Dueto
theraisedrequirementsofmodernwarfaretheboysshouldstarttheirphysical
educationalreadyattheageof14,notattheageof20whentheyareeligible
formilitaryservice.Toprovetheneedforethicsinstruction(ahlak),theauthors
thenevenquotedseveralsentencesfromAdolfHitler’sMeinKampf,inwhichHit-
lerreferredtotheseductivefeaturesofmodernurbanlifeandtheneedforthe
state’spreventativeauthoritarian interventionforphysicaleducation.In the
viewofSaylaviandApak,onlyastate-ledyouthorganizationcouldprevent
bad outcomesandcouldeducate“highlyqualifiedandgentlemanlikepeo-
ple.”²⁵⁹Theauthorsthentookacloserlookatthesocialconditionsofthediffer-
entsociallayerstowhichtheyoungpeoplebelonged.Theygotbetterinsightinto
TurkishvillagerealitiesthanCarlDiemdidduringhisshortvisitfouryearsbe-
forethem.Prostitution,sexualassaults,misuseofalcoholandtobacco,theneg-
SaylaviandApak,GençlikTeşkilatıHakkındaRapor,5.Cf.aprevioussimilarclaim:B.K.
Çağlar,“SporLüksDeğilİhtiyaç...”[Sports:NotaLuxury,Necessity...],TürkSporKurumuDergisi,
9September 1936 ,2.
FortheuseofdischargedconscriptsasadvocatesoftheKemalistideasseealsoAnony-
mous,“OrduveSpor”[ArmyandSports],TürkSporKurumuDergisi,6July 1936 ,16.
SaylaviandApak,GençlikTeşkilatıHakkındaRapor,7.
SaylaviandApak,GençlikTeşkilatıHakkındaRapor,8.
SaylaviandApak,GençlikTeşkilatıHakkındaRapor,10;cf.PertevDemirhan,JaponlarınAsıl
Kuvveti:JaponlarNiçinveNasılYükseldi?[TheMajorStrengthoftheJapanese:Forwhatandhow
didtheJapaneserise?](Istanbul:n.p., 19 37).
SaylaviandApak,GençlikTeşkilatıHakkındaRapor,13.
TurkishReactionsandtheLawof 1938 155