Causes and Military Implications of the Emigration of the Muslim Population from Romania to the Ottoman Empire / Republic of Türkiye (1878-1939)
Causes and Military Implications of the Emigration of the Muslim Population from Romania to the Ottoman Empire / Republic of Türkiye (1878-1939)

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to analyse to what extent the emigration of Turks and Tatars from Romania to the Ottoman Empire / Republic of Türkiye had military causes. The chronological limits of the study are the year 1878, when Dobrogea entered the borders of the Romanian state, and the year 1939, when the Second World War started. The analysis is divided into two parts. The first part explains to what extent military service in a Christian army was a cause of emigration and discusses whether the authorities in Bucharest succeeded in integrating Muslims into the Romanian army. In the second part, the interwar period is examined. The study shows that performing military service in a Christian army was no longer the main cause of emigration, but there were local abuses by some representatives of military institutions. These were investigated and action from the central authorities was called for, but the phenomenon, which had complex causes, could not be stopped. This part also explains the attraction that the transformations in the Republic of Türkiye and the military and political skills of its founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, had on the Turks and Tatars of Dobruja. A final aspect analysed is the involvement of the Ministry of National Defence in the regulation of the emigration process. The main sources used in the study are unpublished archival documents from Romania and Türkiye, newspapers and magazines of the Turkish-Tatar community, and the national press.

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