The incomplete part of the 10th Year March completed after 90 years

Giresun Deputy Hakkı Tarık Bey and his four colleagues submitted a legislative proposal to Parliament in 1933 for the 10th anniversary of the Republic, requesting a special ceremony be held to mark the significance of the day.

Within this scope, the legislative proposal, which included many details such as the establishment of a commission, the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Republic for 3 days, and the declaration of an official holiday during this period, was published in the Official Gazette on June 26, 1933, and entered into force.

While preparations for the ceremony were underway, the commission also reached a consensus that it would be appropriate to write a march that would tell the success story of the Republic's 10 years and the happiness felt for the revolutions.

It was requested that the march to be prepared should describe the great distances Turkey had covered on the path of progress in 10 years and show that the Turkish revolution was held above all else; several poets were asked to prepare a march with these characteristics.

COURSES OPENED TO MEMORIZE THE MARCH

As a result of long eliminations, the commission found the "10th Year March," with lyrics written by Behçet Kemal Çağlar and Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel and music composed by Cemal Reşit Rey, to be suitable.

The government launched a mobilization so that the public could sing the march with one voice and the same emotion during the ceremony; newspapers published the lyrics of the march every day, and courses were opened in schools for the rapid memorization of the march.

The march, which was woven into the hearts of the Turkish people, was performed with great enthusiasm across the country as part of the 10th-anniversary celebrations of the Republic.

The march, played by the orchestra at the Republic Day celebrations held at the Ankara Hippodrome, where the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk attended, was accompanied by the protocol, the public, soldiers, scouts, and students with great enthusiasm.

THE 10TH YEAR MARCH IN HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

According to a document dated October 5, 1933, in the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye State Archives, it was recorded that the printed version of the march to be sung throughout Turkey on the 10th anniversary of the Republic was sent to schools.

On the other hand, a document written by the Kırşehir Director of National Education to the Ministry of National Education on October 12, 1933, included the detail that although the march had been learned to the desired degree, studies continued every week.

Among the documents in the archive regarding the subject are the musical notes of the march.

Footage regarding the Republic Day ceremonies on October 29, 1933, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic, is located in the archives of the General Directorate of Cinema of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The footage includes a section where the 10th Year March is performed along with the celebration ceremonies. However, the recording in the archive cuts off after the lines: "We emerged from every war in ten years with a clear brow / In ten years we created fifteen million youth of every age / At the head is the commander-in-chief whom the whole world respects / We have woven the motherland with iron nets from four corners."

"THE 100TH YEAR OF THE REPUBLIC CARRIES A VERY DIFFERENT SPIRITUALITY FOR THE CSO"

The CSO completed the march, which was performed at the 10th-anniversary ceremonies of the Republic and remained incomplete in the archive, 90 years later.

The audience accompanied the 10th Year March, performed by the orchestra conducted by Cemi'i Cem Deliorman, and gave a standing ovation for a long time.

CSO Conductor Deliorman emphasized that the idea of the Republic is identified with the CSO, stating, "The Republic and the orchestra are two concepts that have supported each other and were produced for each other when looking at history. The 100th year of the Republic carries a very different spirituality for the orchestra."

Stating that marches refer to important turning points in Turkish history and that they therefore include the 10th Year March in their repertoire, Deliorman noted the following:

"The 10th Year March is undoubtedly a march accepted by our people, which everyone knows by heart and can sing. Its place is very special for all of us. It is a very different motivation for our listeners to sing the marches while we play. A picture emerges that represents the spirit of unity and solidarity. It has a very high spirituality, it is pride-inducing; we are happy to be a part of such a historical moment and to undertake this responsibility as the CSO."

THE FULL LYRICS OF THE 10TH YEAR MARCH

We emerged from every war in ten years with a clear brow; In ten years we created fifteen million youth of every age; At the head is the commander-in-chief whom the whole world respects,

We have woven the motherland with iron nets from four corners.

We are Turks: Our chests are the bronze shield of the Republic; It does not befit a Turk to stop, the Turk is in the lead, the Turk is forward! In one stroke we stifle evil and backwardness,

We rise like the sun over the darkness.

We are Turks, we are the heads that are superior to all heads; We existed before history, we exist after history. We are Turks: Our chests are the bronze shield of the Republic;

It does not befit a Turk to stop, the Turk is in the lead, the Turk is forward!

By drawing the map of our own homeland with our blood, We ended the years-long mourning of the country; We completed the struggle for independence in every aspect...

The whole world learned to respect Turkishness!

We are Turks: Our chests are the bronze shield of the Republic; It does not befit a Turk to stop, the Turk is in the lead, the Turk is forward! The new path we opened is an example to nations;

We are a mass without privileges, without classes, fused together:

We followed knowledge in our view, and ideals in our path. Even if the world turns upside down, we will not turn from our path. We are Turks: Our chests are the bronze shield of the Republic;

It does not befit a Turk to stop, the Turk is in the lead, the Turk is forward!

Lyrics: Faruk Nafiz ÇAMLIBEL, Behçet Kemal ÇAĞLAR

Music: Cemal Reşit REY