Spirit of Attack as a Thought of Pragmatic Action and Daring Discourse of Atatürk

In the macro-peripheral analysis of strategic culture, history has gained a primary position. Since forms of use of force constitute a primary problematic in terms of historical analysis of strategic culture, “aggression” and “defensiveness” gain a relative priority and privilege in the historical analysis of strategic culture. The aggression, which constitutes the relatively dynamic side of the dichotomy, is expressed in the Western literature as “cult of offensive”. The controversy of strategic offensive and defensive tendencies in the strategic culture is not an area to which the Turkish strategic culture is unfamiliar. Various authors have also identified a similar dichotomy in the Turkish strategic culture by defining attack/defense or daring/temptation. On the other hand, the pragmatic tendency found in Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s rhetoric as “the spirit of attack” constitutes also this research’s problematic. In this research, the aggression in the Turkish Strategic culture will be analyzed through Atatürk's own writings, speeches, and statements