The Beginning of Their Relationship
Colonel İsmet’s military friendship with Mustafa Kemal began in the Second Army. Mustafa Kemal was appointed as commander of the Second Army. Colonel İsmet worked under his command first as Chief of Staff of the Second Army and then as commander of Army Corps. Their close work on the battlefront enabled them to learn about each other’s character and frame of mind. This friendship had a great impact on their work in the War of Independence and in the establishment of the new state. İsmet Bey’s passage to Anatolia, his immediate acceptance into the Cabinet on his arrival in Ankara, and his appointment as Chief of General Staff have roots in this friendship .
Superior-Subordinate Commanders
During WW1, İsmet İnönü worked with Mustafa Kemal in the Caucasian front as Commander of Army Corps . Meanwhile, Mustafa Kemal was appointed as Commander of the 16th. Army Corps. İsmet İnönü commanded the skirmishes in the summer months of 1916. With the recommendation of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, Second in Command of the 2nd Army, he was appointed as the commander of the 4th Army Corps on January 12, 1917.
Later, he was summoned back to İstanbul and took office in the formation of the 7th Army in Aleppo . On May1, 1917, he was appointed as Commander of the 20th Army Corps on the Palestine Front, and on June 20, as Commander of the 3rd Army Corps. During that time he was again in close relationship with Mustafa Kemal who undertook the commandership of the 7th Army. However, upon being wounded in the Megiddo War, he was sent to İstanbul.
İsmet İnönü, who was wounded in the Nablus defeat of the Blitz Armies in the Sinai and Palestine fronts against general Edmund Allenby shortly before the signing of the Mondros Ceasefire Agreement, returned to İstanbul and was appointed as undersecretary at the Ministry of War on October 24, 1918. On December 29, 1919, he became the military consultant to the commission established for the purpose of preparing for the Paris Peace Conference. On August 4,1919, he was appointed to the General Information Directorate for The Supreme Military Council for eight days, and was later appointed as a member to the commission for the amelioration of the gendarmery and police organisation. These were assignments lasting for a few days.
He went to Ankara for the first time on January 8, 1920, with the invitation of Mustafa Kemal and worked with him for a short time. However, he went to İstanbul towards the end of February with the summons of Fevzi (Çakmak) Pasha who was the Minister of War in the newly formed Ali Rıza Pasha government . After İstanbul was occupied by the Allied Forces on March 16, 1920, Mustafa Kemal Pasha decided that there was nothing left to do for Colonel İsmet and called him to Ankara. Colonel İsmet severed all his official ties with İstanbul and went to Ankara for the second time on April 9, 1920. From then on, he would be working with Mustafa Kemal Pasha as his right- hand man until the end of the War of Independence. He took part in the Grand National Assembly as Edirne congressman. He also became the first General Chief of Staff of the first government.
On November 10, 1920, Mustafa Kemal Pasha appointed Colonel İsmet to the Northern Area Commandership of the Western Front, without prejudice to his congressmanship. Colonel İsmet played an active role in the suppression of the Çerkez Ethem riot and internal rebellions. When he stopped the advance of the Greek army in the First İnönü Battle in January 1921, Mustafa Kemal Pasha congratulated Colonel İsmet, the Commander of the Western Front, with a telegram on behalf of the Grand National Assembly. The Turkish Grand National Assembly then promoted Colonel İsmet to the rank of Brigadier General. In March, 1921, after the victory of the Second İnönü Battle Fevzi Pasha, who was the Minister of National Defense, was promoted to the rank of Full General with the decision of the Grand National Assembly; on May 4, 1921, İsmet Pasha was appointed as the commander of the Western Front.
Later on, during Sakarya Pitched Battle , when Atatürk who was the head of the TGNA was appointed Commander-in Chief, İnönü was in the retinue of Mustafa Kemal Pasha as Major General, and after the Battle of Dumlupınar he was sent to Mudanya to participate in the ceasefire negotiations.
Relations of The President of Republic and The Head of Government
During the period which ended with the declaration of the republic on October 29,1923,İsmet İnönü was in close political cooperation with Mustafa Kemal. When Atatürk was chosen The President of Republic he made İsmet İnönü Prime Minister and on October 30, İsmet İnönü formed the first government of the Republic. Atatürk, convinced that it was not proper to execute the offices of Head of State and Party Leader simultaneously, left the leadership of the Republican People’s Pary, ad interim ,to İnönü. Following this, with an amendment to the party regulations, it was accepted that Prime Ministers could, at the same time, be the deputy leader of the Republican People’s Party . Such a double duty provided the Prime Ministers with great opportunities in the areas of legislation and execution.
The first reforms of the Republic were begun during the first Prime Ministry of İsmet Pasha. The abolishment of the Caliphate, the unification of education, the abolishment of Canonical Legality and Pious Foundations, and of the Ministry of General Staff, all of which were named the Secularism Legislation, and the establishment of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (May 3, 1924) were all actualised during this period. When the Progressive Republican Party, which was established as an opposition party, began to conduct its extreme opposition to the Presidency via the government, İsmet Pasha, with the assent of Mustafa Kemal, resigned from the Office of Prime Minister on November 8, 1924. The new government was formed by Fethi Bey on November 21, 1924.
When Fethi Bey resigned on account of being late in intervening with the Şeyh Said Revolt in the east, İsmet Pasha was again assigned by President Mustafa Kemal to form the government on March 3,1925. He played a great role as head of government in the suppression of the revolt. On March 6, 1925, he promulgated the Law of Establishment of Public Order and realised the re establishment of Independence Tribunals. Based on this law, he shut down all opposition parties and opposing newspapers. In 1926, after being promoted to the rank of Full General, he retired from military service. After this date he emerged as the most important political personality , together with Mustafa Kemal, in the formation of the new state.
When the Surname Law was enacted in 1934, İsmet Pasha took the surname İnönü, given to him by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He continued his office as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1937. During this period,he played a very important role in all the political developments in the country; in the promulgation and application of the reforms, in the acceptance and application of the Etatism principle for the economic policy and in the establishment of the new state. On October 25, 1937, because of differences of opinion in the government, he had to resign from his offices as Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Republican People’s Party and Celal Bayar was appointed in his place. During this period he served only as the Malatya deputy in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Being The Successor of Atatürk
After Atatürk’s demise, there began disputes about who should be the President and whether that person could perpetuate Atatürk’ mission. During that period all eyes were directed towards İnönü. Although İnönü was not actively in politics, he was Atatürk’s close fellow worker and one of the founders of the Republic. So it was a general request that he return to politics immediately and continue from where Atatürk left off. The request was realised and İnönü became the Second President of the Turkish Republic.
