Topkapı Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

Öz

The study of daily life practices enables the understanding of the life codes, habits, identity perception, public space practices of a culture from individual to social, in other words, from micro to macro. The ruptures in the life practices that exist within the historical continuity of every society are not the result of sudden events, but the product of a process. The change in the daily life of Istanbul is also the product of a century-long process that started in the 19th century and continued with the proclamation of the Republic in the 20th century. This process started with the adoption of Western-oriented change by Mahmud II (1808-1839), one of the innovative sultans of the Ottoman State who could be described as radical. The sultans and state officials who came after Mahmud II continued the Western-oriented change. In this context, the foundations of a long process of Western-oriented change in Ottoman culture were laid in the 19th century in Istanbul, which can be described as the centre, gained momentum during the Tanzimat and Constitutional Monarchy periods, and took on a diversified dimension with the Republic.
The five-year period starting in 1918 and lasting until the proclamation of the Republic in 1923 is the period in which the daily life habits of Istanbul changed the fastest. In this period, the occupation of Istanbul by the Entente and the consequent influx of foreigners had a great impact on the change in the daily life of the city, which was a mirror of Ottoman culture. The arrival and settlement of Russians in Istanbul in large groups during the occupation of the city led to the formation of different cultural centres in Istanbul culture. This situation gradually became one of the issues frequently covered in the newspapers of the period. The influences and positions of both the Entente soldiers and the Russians in the daily life of Istanbul on social life were one of the factors that formed the face of the new regime in the daily life of Istanbul after the proclamation of the Republic. Hakkı Süha (Gezgin) Bey, one of the most important journalists of the period, travelled around Istanbul during this period and wrote about the city's flowing life down to the finest details. The articles he published in Vakit newspaper between 1920-1923 under the title "Istanbul Life" were later published as a book. In this study, the foreigners who came to Istanbul and their effects on social life will be analysed within the framework of the impact of the new regime on social daily practices on the road to the Republic. What Hakkı Süha Bey saw and told about the subject will be elaborated by comparing with other sources.