What happened in Suomi?
It is a geography consisting of swamps and rocks, where the sun is scarce, sunny seasons are short, and winters are harsh. Most of the people are infected with cholera and typhoid, there is not even a bed in their homes, they are left to their own fate, lying on the ground, unable to be reached by a doctor; They are deprived of production, an environment where they lose hope in life... bordering states; Suomi is a country that remained under the rule of Sweden and Russia for six centuries and was subject to the arbitrary practices of the civil servants of the sovereign states in its state staff; Finnish means land of swamps, also known as Finland. The people live in difficult conditions, where there is no industry, trade or productivity, and their lives are economically dependent on other countries. As a last resort, the educational mobilization launched under the leadership of a handful of intellectuals from the second half of the 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century and the success of gaining their independence as a result. The struggle for education and training, where the only capital is the people and the only branch to hold on to is education, with a limited number of volunteer intellectuals, extending to every individual from the city to the village throughout the country; A paradigm that believes that family, children and youth will become a value through education and will provide great benefit to the country. In the Land of White Lilies (1), the rebirth story of a people who believed that they could be saved only through education and succeeded.
Can the ultimate goal be achieved by targeting cultural development for a country that has no industry, production or trade and is dependent on other countries for its economy, offering equal education rights to everyone and believing that the welfare level of the country will increase with educated people? Can the importance of reading, learning, working and social morality be established through public education through the struggle of a handful of dedicated intellectuals?
Naturally, the factors that enable a society to move towards the best and prosperity are; High morality comes from working hard and producing. This is only possible with education based on solid foundations. Unfortunately, the fate of those who cannot build the education system on solid foundations may be disappointing, and freedom and independence may come to the point of being lost in societies where individuals seek ways to live in prosperity without working or producing (Yıldız, 2015).
This book, which the Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ensured was distributed free of charge to teachers in the first years of the Republic and wanted it to be included in the school curriculum, may be on the must-read list.
Footnote 1: The work contains the findings and observations that shed light on the future of the writer Grigory Petrov, who witnessed the awakening of a nation. In the Land of White Lilies, which consists of the notes of Grigory Petrov's travels to Finland, which he went on at various intervals, he describes the situation of the Finnish people in the late 1800s, from ignorance to It tells the extraordinary struggle of a handful of Finnish intellectuals in the country, especially Johan Vilhelm Snellman, to get rid of it. Although the work written by Petrov in 1923 is dedicated to Finland, it is also a story of the struggle for civilization that will be a guide for developing countries. In the Land of White Lilies, where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wanted it to be taught in military schools, it still maintains its originality.
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