POLITICAL LEADERS

Atatürk was born in Salonica in 1881 and died in 1938. Mustafa Kemal was Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman,writer,marshall and the first president of Turkey. Atatürk was a military officer during World War I. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, he led the Turkish national movement in the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies. His military campaigns gained Turkey independence. Atatürk then embarked upon a program of political, economic, and cultural reforms, seeking to transform the former Ottoman Empire into a modern, westernized and secular nation-state. The principles of Atatürk’s reforms, upon which modern Turkey was established, are referred to as Kemalism.

Otto von Bismarck was born in 1815 and he died in 1898. Simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a German statesman who unified numerous German states into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership, then created a "balance of power" that preserved peace in Europe from 1871 until 1914. In 1867 he also became Chancellor of the North German Confederation. His diplomacy of Realpolitik and powerful rule gained him the nickname the "Iron Chancellor". As the leader of what historians call "revolutionary conservatism “ Bismarck became a hero to German nationalists. Historians praised him as a statesman of moderation and balance who was primarily responsible for the unification of the German states into a nation state.

Adolfo Suárez y González was born in 1932. He was lawyer, politican and 1st Duke of Suarez, Frandee of Spain. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the key figure in the country's transition to democracy. In 1977, Suárez led the Union of the Democratic Centre to victory in Spain's first free elections in 41 years and became the first democratically-elected prime minister of the post-Franco Regime. The King of Spain made him Duke of Suarez in 1981.

Mindaugas was born in 1200 and died in 1263. He is first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians. His ten-year reign was marked by various state-building accomplishments. In 1250 or 1251, during the course of internal power struggles, he was baptised as a Roman Catholic; this action enabled him to establish an alliance with the Livonian Order, a long-standing antagonist of the Lithuanians. During the summer of 1253 he was crowned King of Lithuania.

Guiseppe Garibaldi was born in 1807. He was Italian general,politician and patriot. He is considered, with Camillo Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II and Guiseppe Mazzini, as one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland". Garibaldi was a central figure in the Italian Risorgimento, since he personally commanded and fought in many military campaigns that led eventually to the formation of unified Italy. He generally tried to act on behalf of a legitimate power, which does not make him exactly a revolutionary. He has been called the "Hero of Two Worlds" because of his military enterprises which he conducted in both South America and Europe. These earned him a considerable reputation both in Italy and abroad.

Much of Matei's reign was spent fighting off incursions from Moldavia, which he successfully accomplished in 1637, 1639, and 1653 - see Battle of Finta. He was an enlightened ruler, and is noted for introducing the printing press to Wallachia (1634) and creating the first Wallachian code of laws as well as patronizing art and religion (founder of the first upper school in his Principality). He has taken a strong interest in prosperity of people and carried out a reform in the field of economy, culture and law. He brought printing press to own country the first time. He made a contribution for own country to develop by supporting liberal initiatives.