A condemnation of fascism coincided with the defeat of the Axis Powers, and President İsmet İnönü realized that if he did not invite opposition against the CHP, Turkey would fall into social upheaval: one-party governments were no longer seen as acceptable means of rule for modern states.
On November 1, 1945, İnönü made a speech in which he formally invited the formation of opposition parties in order to align Turkey with the democratic principles that had emerged victorious in the war.
Due to the Democrat Party's infancy and its inability to fully organize or establish rapport with the Turkish public immediately after its conception, they lost the 1946 national elections with no surprise.
The Democrat Party exploited the CHP's association with Westernization, a source of hostility for the public and a sign they were losing touch with their citizenry.
The peaceful transition to power from the CHP to the DP marked the beginning of a competitive political system in Turkey.
[14] Despite attacks on İnönü and the CHP's efforts to orient Turkey with the West, the Democrats under Menderes continued this trend.
[15] In 1952, Turkey joined NATO and strengthened its ties with the West, an effort to protect against potential Soviet expansionism.
[16] The economy grew with Marshall Plan aid and from privatizing state industry that had 27 years of protected growth under the CHP's statist economic policy.
While the opposition parties won the popular vote, this was not represented in parliament due to the winner-takes-all electoral system used at the time.
On May 27, 1960, the DP government was overthrown by military group called the National Unity Committee, led by General Cemal Gürsel.
The military feared that the founding principles of the Turkish Republic were being eroded, and there was growing public dissatisfaction with Menderes' perceived intolerance of criticism.
The military junta stayed in power for the next eighteen months, trying several top DP leaders for unconstitutional rule and high treason.
For this reason, both political parties had ideologies rooted in Kemalism which prevented the DP from differing substantially in practice from its predecessor, although it held notable variances in platform.
[12] Additionally, the DP still had to function within the confines of the 1924 constitution established by Atatürk and the first parliament which restricted the distance they could put between themselves and the CHP.
It was also less militantly secular than the Republican People's Party, and championed populism which gained it wide support among Turkey's intelligentsia.