[JAPAN’S ROLE IN BREAKING EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM] Büyük milletlerden Japonlar ve Almanlar: Iki konferans. Japonya ve Japonyalilar, Japonlarin seciyeleri, sûret-i terakkîleri (Konferans Kütübhânesi 3)

AL-HUSRÎ, SATI (MUSTAFA SATI BEY) (1880-1968) & FAIK SABRI [DURAN] (1882-1943).

Kader Matbaasi, Dersaadet (Constantinople), AH 1329 [1913].

Contemporary brown cloth. Gilt lettering “Milletler” and ex-owner’s name on the front board. Cr. 8vo. (19 x 13 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 64 p. Faded on cloth and pages, browning on margins and edges. Otherwise, a good copy.

A rare book featuring two conferences delivered in Istanbul: the first by Mustafa Sati Bey on May 2, 1913, discussing Japan and the Japanese (pp. 1-37), and the second by Faik Sabri Duran on May 30, 1913, focusing on Germany and the Germans (pp. 38-64).

Mustafa Sati noted that nations exposed to European influence were often weakened. However, he highlighted one exception -Japan- as the sole example of a nation that overcame this vulnerability. The study details Japan's development process, discussing the country’s location, geographical features, and origins of the Japanese people, alongside an in-depth exploration of Japanese culture. In the final section, recommendations are offered on steps Turkish nations might take to attain the level of developed nations.

Sati al-Husri's lecture on the Japanese, delivered at the Sark Tiyatrosu [i.e., Oriental Theatre] in Istanbul, was published alongside Faik Sabri Duran's lecture on the Germans as the third book in the Conferences Series. This series holds significance for capturing the perspectives of late Ottoman intellectuals on international relations just before World War I, documenting the modernization and organizational processes of major nations from a Middle Eastern viewpoint.

“Sati al-Hüsri born Abu Khaldun Sati' al-Husri, was an Ottoman, Syrian and Iraqi writer, educationalist and influential Arab nationalist thinker in the 20th century. In 1900, he graduated from the Royal Academy and worked as a schoolteacher in Ioannina in Epirus, then part of the European territories of the Ottoman Empire. During this period, he began to show an interest in questions of nationality and was exposed to the competing strands of European nationalism. After five years in Yanina, he took up a high-ranking administrative position in Macedonia, where the officers who would later form the Committee for Union and Progress (CUP) had a strong presence. After the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, he was appointed in May 1909 as director of the Teachers' Institute, Darülmuallimin in Constantinople, where he initiated major reforms in pedagogy and the public education system. During this period, he became editor of two important educational reviews ("Tedrisat-i Ibtidaiye Mecmuasi", "Muallim"). From 1910 to 1912, he visited European countries to examine modern educational methods. Initially a supporter of Ottomanism and the Young Turks, from 1916 on he moved towards Arabism.

The Ottoman government granted al-Husri the post of director-general of education in the Syria Province at the beginning of World War I in 1914. In 1919, after the establishment of an independent Arab state in Syria under Faisal, al-Husri moved to Damascus where he was appointed Director General of Education, and later Minister of Education. Al-Husri followed Faisal to Iraq in 1920 after the French imposed their mandate on Syria, and from 1921 to 1927 held the position of Director of General Education. During this time, he published Al-Qiraa Al-Khaldouniya, the first modern Arabic language primer which was adopted by the Ministry of Education for about a century. In addition to other positions, he subsequently held the post of head of the Higher Teachers' Training College until 1937. During these years he played an influential role in promoting Arab nationalism through the educational system and brought in teachers from Syria and Palestine to teach Arabic history and culture.” (Wikipedia). 

Provenance: The Baraz Family Collection, from Ahmet Ziya Baraz.

Özege 2761., As of November 2024, we couldn’t find any copies in the OCLC.