In 1919, he initiated a nationalist revolution, ostensibly to protest the harsh peace terms levied by the victorious powers. His success entailed the revision of the settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne. Atatrk then moved to establish a provisional government at Ankara and the next year, 1922, the 623 year old Ottoman Sultanate was formally dissolved. By 1923, Turkey was a secular republic, allowing Atatrk to embark upon an ambitious programme of social and political reform. His achievements include the emancipation and enfranchisement of women, the introduction of a Westernised legal and political system and the replacement of the Arab alphabet with Latin characters. His surname, Atatürk, meaning 'Father of the Turks', was bestowed on him in 1935, by his grateful nation. The present Lot, a personal side-arm, was gifted to him by Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear (1868-1942), the then President of Argentina, to commemorate the founding of the Turkish Republic on 29 October 1923. Alvear was arguably the foremost Argentinian statesman and dipolmat of the 20th century.
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