Ataturk was born 1881 in the now Greek city of Thessaloniki. He was an able student, and from an early age, he became involved in the burgeoning movement for Turkish independence. He was part of a movement critical of the old, stale, corrupt Ottoman regime. In the First World War, he served with distinction, holding off the Allied attack at Gallipoli. He made passionate please to his soldiers to lay down their lives for their home country. Ataturk was seen as the father of the modern Turkish Nation. His image is widely displayed in modern Turkey and he is revered as a person who was able to forge a new nation out of the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
