Young Turk Revolution

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Young Turk Revolution
Part of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
Declaration of the Young Turk Revolution by the leaders of the Ottoman millets in 1908
Date July 1908 Location Ottoman Empire Result Young Turks victory Second Constitutional Era begins Repromulgation of the Constitution Reinstatement of the Parliament General elections are called
Belligerents
IMRO Dashnak Committee	Ottoman Imperial Government
Commanders and leaders
Ahmed Niyazi Ismail Enver Eyub Sabri Bekir Fikri Salahaddin Bey Hasan Bey	X Tatar Osman Pasha  (POW )

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History of the Ottoman Empire
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Rise (1299–1453) Beylik of Osman Interregnum (1402–1413) Fall of Constantinople
Classical Age (1453–1566) Sultanate of Women (1533–1656)
Transformation (1566–1703) Köprülü Era (1656–1703)
Old Regime (1703–1789) Tulip Era (1718–1730)
Decline & Modernization (1789–1908) Nizam-i Djedid (late 18th and early 19th) Tanzimat Era (1839–1876) 1st Constitutional Era (1876–1878)
Dissolution (1908–1922) 2nd Constitutional Era (1908–1920) World War I (1914–1918) Partitioning (1918–1922) Abolition of the Sultanate (1922) Abolition of the Caliphate (1924)
Historiography (Ghaza, Decline)
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Events leading to World War I
Unification of Germany 1866–1871 Franco-Prussian War 1870–1871 Second Concert of Europe 1871 Great Eastern Crisis 1875–1878 Campaign in Bosnia 1878 Dual Alliance 1879 Boer Wars 1880–1902 Austro–Serbian Alliance 1881–1903 Triple Alliance 1882 Berlin Conference 1884 Bulgarian Crisis 1885–1888 Reinsurance Treaty 1887–1890 Franco-Russian Alliance 1894 Anglo-German naval arms race 1898–1912 Fashoda incident 1898 Anglo-Japanese Alliance 1902 Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905 Entente Cordiale 1904 First Moroccan Crisis 1905–1906 Pig War 1906–1908 Anglo-Russian Convention 1907 Young Turk Revolution 1908 Bosnian Crisis 1908–1909 Racconigi Bargain 1909 Second Moroccan Crisis 1911 Italo-Turkish War 1911–1912 Balkan Wars 1912–1913 Assassination of Franz Ferdinand 1914 July Crisis 1914
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The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionaries belonging to the internal Committee of Union and Progress, an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Constitution, recall the parliament, and schedule an election. Thus began the Second Constitutional Era.

The revolution took place in Ottoman Rumeli in the context of the Macedonian Struggle and the increasing instability of the Hamidian regime. It began with CUP member Ahmed Niyazi's flight into the Albanian highlands. He was soon joined by İsmail Enver, Eyub Sabri, and other Unionist officers. They networked with local Albanians and utilized their connections within the Salonica based Third Army to instigate a large revolt. A string of assassinations by Unionist Fedai also contributed to Abdul Hamid's capitulation. Though the constitutional regime established after the revolution eventually succumbed to Unionist dictatorship by 1913, the Ottoman Sultanate and the court ceased to be the base of power of the empire after 1908.

After an attempted monarchist counterrevolution known as the 31 March incident in favor of Abdul Hamid the following year, he was deposed and his brother Mehmed V ascended the throne.

Background

Sultan Abdul Hamid II was brought to the throne after a palace coup by the Young Ottomans overthrew his brother Murad V in August 1876. Under Young Ottoman pressure, he promulgated a constitution and called for an election for a parliament. However, with the unsuccessful war with Russia which ended in 1878, he suspended enforcement of the constitution and prorogued parliament.^[1] After further consolidating his rule he governed as an absolutist monarch for the next three decades. This left a very small group of individuals able to partake in politics in the Ottoman Empire.^[2]

Countering the conservative politics of Abdul Hamid II's reign was the amount of social reform that occurred during this time period.^[1] The development of a more modernized, liberal environment in Turkey strengthened the culture, and also provided the grounds for the later rebellion.^[1] Abdul Hamid's political circle was close-knit and ever-changing.

Rise of the opposition

The origins of the revolution lie within the Young Turk movement, an opposition movement which wished to see Abdul Hamid II's authoritarianism regime dismantled. They wished to see a return to rule of law instead of royal arbitrary rule which would be accomplished through a constitution. Most of the Young Turks were exiled intelligentsia, however by 1906–1908 many officers and bureaucrats stationed in the Balkans were inducted into the Committee of Union and Progress, the per-eminant Young Turk organization.^{[citation needed]}

While the Young Turks were in consensus that some reform was required for Ottomanism, the idea of national unity among the ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire, they disagreed how far reform should go. The anti-Hamidians in the Ottoman Empire that joined the CUP were conservative liberal, imperialist, technocratists.^[2][3] To what extent they could have achieved praxis was dubious, as Ahmet Rıza, the exiled CUP leader, denounced revolutionary violence. Some Young Turks wished for a federation of nations under an Ottoman monarch, as exemplified in Prince Sabahaddin's movement, though his failed coup attempt in 1903 quashed this faction.

A congress in December 1907 saw Rıza, Sabahaddin, and

By the 20th century, the Hamidian system seemed bankrupt. Crop failures caused a famine in 1905, and wage hikes couldn't keep up with inflation. Constitutionalist revolutions occurred in neighbors of the Ottoman Empire, in Russia in 1905, and in Persia the next year. In 1908, workers began to strike in the capital, which kept the authorities on edge.^{[citation needed]}

Situation in Ottoman Macedonia

Starting in the 1890s, chronic intercommunal violence took hold of Ottoman Macedonia in what came known as the Macedonian struggle, as well as in Eastern Anatolia. Terrorist attacks by national liberation groups were regular occurrences. In response to the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903, the Ottoman Empire capitulated to international pressure to implement reforms in Macedonia under Great Power supervision, offending Muslims living in Macedonia and especially army officers. In 1905, another intervention by the Great Powers for reform in Macedonia was greeted with dread amongst the Muslim population.

Throughout this period, the Ottoman Empire's weak economy and Abdul Hamid's distrust of the military meant the army was in constant pay arrears. The Sultan was weary of having the army train with live ammunition anyway, lest an uprising against the order occurred. This sentiment especially applied to the Ottoman navy; once the third largest fleet in 19th century Europe, it was rotting away locked inside the Golden Horn.

The defense of their empire was a matter of great honor within the Ottoman military, but the terrible conditions of their service deeply affected morale for the worse. Mektebli officers, graduates of the modern military schools, were bottlenecked for promotion, as senior alaylı officers didn't trust their loyalties. Those stationed in Macedonia were outraged against the sultan, and believed the only way to save Ottoman presence in the region to join revolutionary secret societies. Many Unionist officers of the Third Army based in Salonika were motivated by the fear of a partition of Ottoman Macedonia. A desire to preserve the state, not destroy it, motivated the revolutionaries. In 1907 a new anti-Hamidian secret society was founded in Salonica known as the Ottoman Freedom Committee merged with the CUP, finally giving the organization of exiles a potent foothold in the Empire. There were also rumors that the Sultan was in poor health on the eve of the revolution.^{[citation needed]}

Revolution

The event that triggered the revolution was a meeting in the Baltic port of

With the newspaper reports of the meeting, the CUP's Monastir (Bitola) branch decided to act. A memorandum was drawn up by Unionists that was distributed to the European consuls which rejected foreign intervention and nationalist activism. They also called for constitutional government and equality amongst Ottoman citizens.^[4]

With no action taken by the Great Powers or the government, the revolt began in earnest in the first week of July 1908.^[5] On July 3 Major Ahmed Niyazi began the revolution by raiding the Resne (Resen) garrison cache of money, arms and ammunition and assembled a force of 160 volunteers to the mountains surrounding the city. From there he visited many villages around the predominantly Muslim Albanian area to recruit for his band and warn of impending European intervention and Christian supremacy in Macedonia. Niyazi would highlight the government's (not the sultan) weakness and corruption as the reason for this crisis, and that a constitutional framework would deliver the systematic reform necessary to negate Western intervention. Niyazi's Muslim Albanian heritage worked to his advantage in this propaganda campaign which also involved settling clan rivalries. When touring Christian Bulgarian and Serbian villages, where he highlighted that the constitution would bring about equality between Christians and Muslims, and was able to recruit Bulgarians into his force.^[4]

Other Unionists, following Niyazi's example, took to the mountains of Macedonia: Ismail Enver Bey in Tikveş, Eyub Sabri in Ohri (Ohrid), Bekir Fikri in Grebene (Grevena), and Salahaddin Bey and Hasan Bey in Kırçova (Kičevo). In each post office the rebels came across, they transmitted their demands to the government in Constantinople (Istanbul): reinstate the constitution and reconvene the parliament otherwise the rebels would march on the capital.^[4]

On July 7, Şemsi Pasha arrived at Monastir. Abdul Hamid II dispatched him from Mitroviçe (Mitrovica) with two battalions to suppress the revolt in Macedonia. An ethnic Albanian, he also recruited a pro-government band of Albanians on the way.^[6] He informed the palace of his arrival in the city at the local telegraph station, and as he walked out of the building he was assassinated by a Unionist fedai, Âtıf Kamçıl. His Albanian bodyguards and the pasha's aide de camp (who was his son) were also CUP members. Tatar Osman Pasha, Şemsi's replacement, was captured soon after. On July 22, Monastir fell to the rebels, and Niyazi proclaimed the constitution to the citizens.^[7] That day Grand Vizier Mehmed Ferid Pasha was sacked for Said Pasha.

Elsewhere, Hayri Pasha, field marshal of the Third Army, was threatened by the committee into a passive cooperation. At this point, the mutiny which originated in the Third Army in Salonica took hold of the Second Army based in Adrianople (Edirne) as well as Anatolian troops sent from Smyrna (Izmir).

The rapid momentum of the Unionist's organization, intrigues within the military, discontent with Abdul Hamid's autocratic rule, and a desire for the Constitution meant the sultan and his ministers were compelled to capitulate. Under pressure of being deposed, on the night of 23-24 July, 1908, Abdul Hamid II issued the İrade-i Hürriyet, reinstating the Constitution and calling an election to great jubilation.

Celebrations were held intercommunally, as Muslims and Christians attended celebrations together in both churches and mosques. Parades were held through out the Empire, with attendants shouting Egalité! Liberté! Justice! Fraternité! Vive la constitution! and Padişahım çok yaşa! (Long live my emperor). Armed bands of Serbian, Bulgarian, and Greek chetas, one time enemies of each other and the government, took part in celebrations before ceremoniously turning in their firearms to the government.^[4] Niyazi, Enver, and the other Unionist revolutionaries were declared "heroes of liberty", and Ahmed Rıza, returning form his exile was declared "father of liberty".

Aftermath

Impact on the Second Constitutional Era

July 24, 1908 started the Ottoman Empire's

These developments caused the gradual creation of a new governing elite. No longer was power exercised by a small governing elite surrounding the Sultan, the Sublime Porte's independence was restored and a new young clique of bureaucrats and officers gradually took control of politics for the CUP.^[14] The parliament confirmed through popular sovereignty both old elites as well as new ones. In 1909 a purge in the army demoted many "Old Turks" while elevating "Young Turk" officers.

The post-revolution CUP undertook a consolidation of itself in order to define its ideology. Those intellectual Unionists that spent years in exile, such as Ahmed Rıza, would be sidelined in favor of the new professional organizers, Mehmed Talât, Doctor Nazım, and Bahaeddin Şakir. The organization's home being Rumeli, delegations were sent to local chapters in Asia and Tripolitania to more firmly attach them to the organizations new headquarters in Salonica. The CUP would dominate Ottoman politics for the next ten years, save for brief interruption from 1912–1913.^[10] 5 of these years would be a dictatorship established in the aftermath of the 1913 coup and Mahmud Shevket Pasha's assassination, during which they drive the empire to fight alongside Germany during World War I and commit genocide against Ottoman Christians.

The revolution also served as a downfall for the millet elites which benefited from the Hamidian system. Dashnaks, previously leading a guerilla resistance in the Eastern Anatolian countryside, became the main representatives of the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire,^[15] replacing the urban centered pre-1908 Armenian amira class, which had been composed of merchants, artisans, and clerics. The Armenian National Assembly used the moment to oust Patriarch Malachia Ormanian for Matthew II Izmirlian. This served to elevate younger Armenian nationalists, overthrowing the previous communal domination by pro-imperialist Armenians.

The elite Bulgarian community of Istanbul were similarly displaced by a nationalist-intellectual class involved with

Two European powers took advantage of the chaos by decreasing Ottoman sovereignty in the Balkans. Bulgaria, de jure an Ottoman vassal but de facto all but formally independent, declared its independence on the 5th of October. The day after, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina which used to be de jure Ottoman territory but de facto occupied by Austria-Hungary. The fall of Abdul Hamid II foiled the rapprochement between Serbia and Montenegro and the Ottoman Empire which set the stage for their alliance with Bulgaria and Greece in the Balkan Wars.

Following the revolution a new found faith in Ottomanism was found in the various millets. Violence in Macedonia ceased as rebels turned in their arms and celebrated with citizens. An area from Scutari to Basra was now acquainted with political parties, nationalist clubs, elections, constitutional rights, and civil rights.^[17]

The revolution and CUP's work greatly impacted Muslims in other countries. The

In the 2010 alternate history novel Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld, the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 fails, igniting a new revolution at the start of World War I.

Historiography

Historian Ronald Grigor Suny states that the revolution had no popular support and was actually "a coup d'état by a small group of military officers and civilian activists in the Balkans".^[18] Hanioğlu states the revolution a watershed moment in the late Ottoman Emire but it was not a popular constitutional movement.^[19]

See also

• Xinhai Revolution

References

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