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The Second Constitutional Era ( ota, ایكنجی مشروطیت دورى; tr, İkinci Meşrutiyet Devri) was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
between the 1908
Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Consti ...
and the 1920 dissolution of the General Assembly, during the empire's twilight years. The absolutist rule of Sultan
Abdulhamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
had been opposed by the Young Turks, an underground movement of reformists which called for the restoration of constitutional monarchy. In 1908, a faction within the Young Turks called the
Committee of Union and Progress The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌سی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...
(CUP) forced Abdulhamid II to restore the liberal constitution of 1876 and the General Assembly in the Young Turk Revolution. Abdul Hamid had previously suspended the parliament and constitution in 1878, two years after they had been introduced. Whereas the short
First Constitutional Era The First Constitutional Era ( ota, مشروطيت; tr, Birinci Meşrutiyet Devri) of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy from the promulgation of the Ottoman constitution of 1876 (, , meaning ' Basic Law' or 'Fundamen ...
lacked political parties, the second era initially featured unprecedented political pluralism within the empire and openly contested
elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
. The period was marked by political instability as opposition groups attempted to challenge the CUP's dominance and its increasingly repressive tendencies. In 1909, the CUP was briefly expelled from Constantinople (
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
) during the
31 March Incident The 31 March Incident ( tr, 31 Mart Vakası, , , or ) was a political crisis within the Ottoman Empire in April 1909, during the Second Constitutional Era. Occurring soon after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, in which the Committee of Union and Pr ...
, a reactionary uprising sparked by a mutiny of soldiers from the city's garrison. In the aftermath of the crisis, Abdulhamid II was deposed and his brother
Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd ( ota, محمد خامس, Meḥmed-i ḫâmis; tr, V. Mehmed or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) reigned as the 35th and penultimate Ottoman Sultan (). He was the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I. He succeeded his half-brother ...
appointed sultan. The second largest party, the Freedom and Accord Party, remained locked in a power struggle with the CUP and following electoral fraud by the CUP in the 1912 general election its military wing launched a successful coup in July 1912. The CUP regained power in a coup the following year and repressed other opposition parties, effectively establishing a
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
led by the "
Three Pashas The Three Pashas also known as the Young Turk triumvirate or CUP triumvirate consisted of Mehmed Talaat Pasha (1874–1921), the Grand Vizier (prime minister) and Minister of the Interior; Ismail Enver Pasha (1881–1922), the Minister of War ...
", Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha, and Cemal Pasha. The empire was in a perpetual state of crisis as it suffered continual territorial losses: Bulgaria declared independence, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and ethnic conflict in Ottoman Macedonia continued unabated. Italy invaded Ottoman Tripolitania in 1911 and the empire lost the vast majority of its remaining European territory when the Balkan League overran Rumelia in 1912. In 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I and the increasingly radicalised CUP conducted ethnic cleansing and genocide against the empire's
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
, Assyrian, and
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
citizens, events sometimes collectively referred to as the
Late Ottoman genocides The late Ottoman genocides is a historiographical theory which sees the concurrent Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian genocides that occurred during the 1910s–1920s as parts of a single event rather than separate events which were initiated by the ...
. Following the Ottoman surrender in 1918, the CUP leadership fled into exile and the Allies occupied Constantinople. The Ottoman parliament angered the Allies by signing the Amasya Protocol with
Turkish revolutionaries The Turkish National Movement ( tr, Türk Ulusal Hareketi) encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resulted in the creation and shaping of the modern Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defe ...
in Ankara and agreeing to a '' Misak-ı Millî'' (National Pact). As plans for the
partition of the Ottoman Empire The partition of the Ottoman Empire (30 October 19181 November 1922) was a geopolitical event that occurred after World War I and the occupation of Constantinople by British, French and Italian troops in November 1918. The partitioning was ...
advanced following the
Conference of London List of conferences in London (chronological): * London Conference of 1830 guaranteed the independence of Belgium * London Conference of 1832 convened to establish a stable government in Greece * London Conference of 1838–1839 preceded the Tr ...
, the Allies forced the dissolution of the assembly, thus bringing the Second Constitutional Era to an end. Many parliamentarians would become members of the Grand National Assembly during Turkey's War for Independence, and ultimately continued their careers in the Republic.


Background

A consequence of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
and the
Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
was popularisation of ideas such as nationalism and nation states, which made multi-cultural countries and empires increasingly difficult to appear legitimate to minority ethnic groups. The Ottoman Empire was no exception to this wave of nationalism, and its Christian subjects would especially start to rise up to demand full independence. These demands for independence by Christians who did not identify with Ottoman rule would therefore turn the Empire's previously multicultural society upside down, creating cycles of violence and suspicion between neighbors. To solve the many problems the Empire was facing the Tanzimat reforms (1839–1876) were undertaken not only to modernize the Ottoman Empire, but also to build a cohesive Ottoman national identity centered around national pride in the House of Osman rather than in an ethno-religious group. Another problem facing the Empire was that its Christian subjects achieved significant economic advancement in contrast to its Muslim subjects due to external patronage from the European powers, which Muslims were not given access to. Therefore, centralization and
economic nationalism Economic nationalism, also called economic patriotism and economic populism, is an ideology that favors state interventionism over other market mechanisms, with policies such as domestic control of the economy, labor, and capital formation, incl ...
were also key goals of Ottomanism and Tanzimat, not only in create equality for all under the law by consolidating previously autonomous sections of society such as abolishing the outdated
Millet system In the Ottoman Empire, a millet (; ar, مِلَّة) was an independent court of law pertaining to "personal law" under which a confessional community (a group abiding by the laws of Muslim Sharia, Christian Canon law, or Jewish Halakha) was ...
, but also to empower the government to redistribute wealth and opportunity to its Muslim subjects.
Abdulhamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
ascended to the throne in 1876 at the height of this period of reform in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. One of his first acts as Sultan was transforming the Ottoman Empire into a
constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
with the introduction of a constitution, thus starting the Empire's first short experience with democracy: the
First Constitutional Era The First Constitutional Era ( ota, مشروطيت; tr, Birinci Meşrutiyet Devri) of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy from the promulgation of the Ottoman constitution of 1876 (, , meaning ' Basic Law' or 'Fundamen ...
. However, in the aftermath of Russian invasion in 1877–1878, following criticism of his handling of the war, Abdulhamid used his constitutional power as Sultan to suspend
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and the constitution. He instead went on to rule as an autocrat (''istibdâd'' as marked by contemporaries, although many expressed longings for his old-fashioned despotism a few years into the new regime), emphasizing the empire's Islamic character and his position as
Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
. To many in the empire, the war against Russia in 1877–78 was traumatic. The Russian army almost captured
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
(İstanbul) and the war also saw the expulsion and massacres of many Balkan Muslims. The resultant
1878 Treaty of Berlin The Treaty of Berlin (formally the Treaty between Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, Italy, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire for the Settlement of Affairs in the East) was signed on 13 July 1878. In the aftermath of the ...
established the independence of many Balkan nations and the loss of the Caucasian vilayets. When the Empire declared bankruptcy in 1881 the Ottoman economy came under the control of the
Ottoman Public Debt Administration The Ottoman Public Debt Administration (OPDA) ( ota, دیون عمومیهٔ عثمانیه واردات مخصصه اداره‌سی, script=Arab, Düyun-u Umumiye-i Osmaniye Varidat-ı Muhassasa İdaresi, or simply as it was popularly known), ...
, an institution controlled by the European powers and designed to manage the Empire's finances. Though the justification of the Hamidian autocracy was so that the empire won't collapse, many found it hypocritical of Abdulhamid to be content with foreign pressure by conceding sovereignty, land, and the economy to western powers. The combination of European control over Ottoman finances and Ottoman Christian domination in the Ottoman economy resulted in much anti-Christian xenophobia in its Muslim subjects. Ottoman Christians, especially
Ottoman Armenians Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (or Ottoman Armenians) mostly belonged to either the Armenian Apostolic Church or the Armenian Catholic Church. They were part of the Armenian millet until the Tanzimat reforms in the nineteenth century equa ...
, started to increasingly feeling insecure in their position as Ottoman subjects after these sentiments manifested in the Hamidian massecres (1894–1896), and started demanding autonomy from the government. It was in this context the Young Turks movement formed as a loose coalition of elements in the empire opposed to Sultan Abdulhamid II's absolutism. Held together by a common belief in
constitutionalism Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...
, they argued that the codification of secular law in the Ottoman Empire would foster a sense of Ottoman nationalism and prevent ethnic conflict, helping the empire to hold on to its remaining Balkan territories.


Young Turk Revolution (1908)

The
Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Consti ...
began with a small insurrection of
Committee of Union and Progress The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌سی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...
(CUP) supporters in Macedonia and spread quickly throughout the empire. The multiethnic vilayets in Macedonia for years faced a collapse of authority and were going through an ethnic conflict known as the
Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...
. This made recruitment to revolutionary societies like the CUP promising to reform the system attractive to army officers stationed in the region. Unable to regain control of the province, Sultan Abdulhamid II announced the restoration of the 1876 constitution, reconvening the parliament on 23 July 1908. After the revolution, power was informally shared between the palace (Abdulhamid), the
Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire. History The name ...
, and the CUP, whose Central Committee was still based in Salonica, and now represented a powerful deep state faction. As in 1876, the revived Ottoman Parliament consisted of two chambers: a Senate (upper house) and a Chamber of Deputies (lower house). The Chamber of Deputies was elected by the people, in the ratio of one member for every 50,000 males of the population over the age of 25 who paid taxes. Senators, on the other hand, were nominated for life by the Sultan, had to be over 40 years of age, and their number could not exceed a third of the membership of the Chamber of Deputies. General elections were to take place every four years. The general population did not, however, vote directly for the Deputy that he desired to represent him in the Parliament. In each of the 15 electoral districts, registered voters were entitled to choose delegates in the proportion of 1 delegate for 500 voters, and these delegates (elected Administrative Councils) had the actual power of choosing the representatives in the Chamber. Moreover, the administration of territories was entrusted to these delegates in the elected Administrative Councils. Thus, these Councils were elected and served not only as an electoral college, but also as a local government in the provinces and districts ( Turkish: vilayets).


Initial reopening (1908–1909)

With the reestablishment of the constitution and
parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, most Young Turk organizations turned into political parties, including the CUP. However, after meeting of the goal reinstating the constitution, in the absence of this uniting factor, the CUP and the revolution began to fracture and different factions began to emerge. The Liberal Young Turk faction lead by
Prince Sabahaddin Prince Sabahaddin de Neuchâtel (born Sultanzade Mehmed Sabâhaddin Bey; 13 February 1879 – 30 June 1948) was an Ottoman sociologist and thinker. Because of his threat to the ruling House of Osman (the Ottoman dynasty), of which he was a m ...
founded the Liberty (Ahrar) Party and later in 1911 the Freedom and Entente Party. The Liberty Party was liberal in outlook, bearing a strong
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
imprint, and closer to the Palace. Although the CUP collaborated with the Liberals, their respective goals contrasted strongly. Liberals favored administrative decentralization and European assistance to implement reforms and also promoted industrialization.
Ibrahim Temo Ibrahim Starova, also Ibrahim Bërzeshta (born ''Ibrahim Ethem Sojliu''; 22 March 1865 – 5 August 1945), better known as Ibrahim Temo, was an Ottoman- Albanian politician, revolutionary, intellectual, and a medical doctor by profession. Temo was ...
and
Abdullah Cevdet Abdullah Cevdet ( ota, عبدالله جودت‎; tr, Abdullah Cevdet Karlıdağ; 9 September 1869 – 29 November 1932) was a Kurdish intellectual and physician in the Ottoman Empire. He was one of the founders of the Committee of Union an ...
, two original founders of the CUP, founded the in February 1909. Ahmet Rıza who returned to the capital from his exile in Paris became president of the Chamber of Deputies, the parliament's lower house, and gradually distanced himself from the CUP as it became more radical. It was after the Young Turk Revolution that the first organized labor disputes turned into strikes in the cities of Adrianople, Constantinople, and
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
. The motivation of these strikes came from dissatisfaction of the Young Turks' unfulfilled promises to improve worker's rights, which led to a ban on most forms of workers strikes and establishment of trade unions. Since the sultan declared that he had never officially dissolved the Ottoman Parliament, the former parliamentarians (those still able to serve) who had gathered three decades before suddenly found themselves representing the people again. The parliament convened after the revolution only briefly and rather symbolically. The only task they performed was to call a new election. The new parliament was elected in the 1908 election and composed of 142
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
, 60
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
, 25 Albanians, 23
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, 12
Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...
(including four
Dashnaks The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
and two
Hunchak The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) ( hy, Սոցիալ Դեմոկրատ Հնչակյան Կուսակցություն; ՍԴՀԿ, translit=Sots’ial Demokrat Hnch’akyan Kusakts’ut’yun), is the oldest continuously-operating Armenian ...
s), 5
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, 4
Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...
, 3
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
and 1
Vlach "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...
. The CUP became the biggest party among a fragmented parliament with only 60 of the 275 seats. Philip Mansel, "Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire" quoted i
Straits: The origins of the Dardanelles campaign
/ref> The CUP, the main driving force behind the revolution, managed to gain the upper hand against the Liberty Party. On 30 January 1909, the minister of the interior, Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha, took the podium to answer an inquiry sponsored by both Muslims and non-Muslims, all but one of whom were from cities in the Balkans. It was about how the government would deal with what these deputies called lacking of the law and order; the rise of assassinations and armed assaults; the roaming of bandits. Ethnic and sectarian violence between various communities in the empire was costing both lives and resources. This was an important event as the newly established system was passing the first test regarding the "proper" parliamentary conduct. There were members of various diplomatic missions among the audience. The new constitution secured the freedom of the press, newspapermen and other guests were observing the proceedings. The first section of the protocol (minister's speech, deputies oppositions) achieved. However arguments began to break out between deputies and soon all decorum was cast aside, the verbal struggle was representation of the ethnic troubles plaguing the empire. The interchanges were performed along the nationalism lines among the non-Muslim deputies, according to their ethnic and religious origins, and of
Ottomanism Ottomanism or ''Osmanlılık'' (, tr, Osmanlıcılık) was a concept which developed prior to the 1876–1878 First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire. Its proponents believed that it could create the social cohesion needed to keep mille ...
as a response to these competing ideologies. On 16 August 1909, the government passed the "Law of Associations", which banned ethnically based political parties. A month later, the government passed the "Law for the Prevention of Brigandage and Sedition", which created "special pursuit battalions" to hunt down guerrillas in Macedonia, made it illegal for private citizens to own firearms and imposed harsh penalties for those who failed to report the activities of guerrillas. The government also expanded the educational system by founding new schools, while at the same time announcing that henceforward Turkish would be the only language of instruction.


31 March Crisis (1909)

Threats to the experiment in constitutional and parliamentary government soon appeared. Nine months into the new parliamentary term, discontent and reactionary sentiment against constitutionalism manifested in the
31 March Incident The 31 March Incident ( tr, 31 Mart Vakası, , , or ) was a political crisis within the Ottoman Empire in April 1909, during the Second Constitutional Era. Occurring soon after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, in which the Committee of Union and Pr ...
. The constitutionalists were able to wrestle back control of the Ottoman government from the reactionaries with Mahmud Şevket Pasha's Action Army ( tr, Hareket Ordusu). The popularly elected National Assembly met in a secret session two days later and voted unanimously for the deposition of Abdulhamid II. They reasoned that the countercoup had been inspired and organized by the Sultan, who had corrupted the troops so that he might restore the old regime. His younger brother,
Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd ( ota, محمد خامس, Meḥmed-i ḫâmis; tr, V. Mehmed or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) reigned as the 35th and penultimate Ottoman Sultan (). He was the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I. He succeeded his half-brother ...
, become the new Sultan. Hilmi Pasha again became grand vizier, but resigned on 5 December 1909 when he was succeeded by Hakki Bey. The constitution would be amended to strengthen the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies at the expense of the unelected Senate and the Sultan's personal powers. The new constitutional amendments also banned all secret societies.


Years of peace (1909–1911)

Parliament was prorogued for three months on the 27th. During the recess, the CUP held a congress at
Salonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
and modified its own rules. The CUP ceased to be a secret association. This was regarded as an expression of confidence in the reformed parliament, which had laid the foundation of the important financial and administrative reforms. Once in power, the CUP introduced a number of new initiatives intended to promote the modernization. The CUP advocated a program of orderly reform under a strong central government, as well as the exclusion of all foreign influence. CUP promoted industrialization and administrative reforms. Administrative reforms of provincial administration quickly led to a higher degree of centralization. In addition, the CUP implemented the secularization of the legal system and provided subsidies for the education of women, and altered the administrative structure of the state-operated primary schools. The new parliament sought to modernize the Empire's communications and transportation networks, trying at the same time not to put themselves in the hands of European conglomerates and non-Muslim bankers. Germany and Italy already owned the paltry
Ottoman railways Ottoman railways may refer to: * Chemins de Fer Ottomans d'Anatolie an Ottoman railway company located in Central Anatolia of the Ottoman Empire. *The Syria Ottoman Railway Company *Baghdad Railway * Hejaz railway *Other railways of the Ottoman Em ...
(5,991 km of single-track railroads in the whole of the Ottoman dominions in 1914) and since 1881 administration of the defaulted Ottoman foreign debt had been in European hands. The Ottoman Empire was virtually an economic colony. During this period clashes arose between Zionists and Palestinian farmers near Nazareth. A Palestinian deputy from Jaffa raised the Zionist issue for the first time in Ottoman parliament.


Years of crisis (1911–1913)

In mid-October, many of the parliament's most esteemed politicians including Hakkı Pasha, Talat, Cavid, Halil Menteşe,
Krikor Zohrab Krikor Zohrab ( hy, Գրիգոր Զոհրապ; 26 June 1861 – 1915) was an influential Armenian writer, politician, and lawyer from Constantinople (now Istanbul). At the onset of the Armenian genocide he was arrested by the Turkish government an ...
,
Vartkes Serengülian Vartkes Serengülian ( hy, Վարդգէս Սէրէնկիւլեան; also known as Hovhannes hy, Յովհաննէս or Gisak) (1871, Erzurum – 1915, Urfa), was an Ottoman Armenian political and social activist, and a member of Ottoman Parl ...
, and Karekin Pastermajian met, where the main discussion was commitment to the Constitution and more cooperation between the CUP and liberals rather than incessant intervention by the CUP in government. When this proposal was rejected, the liberals coalesced around the big tent Freedom and Accord Party, immediately attracting 70 deputies to its ranks. Only 20 days after formation, a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
in Istanbul in December 1911 in which the Liberal Union candidate won was taken as a confirmation of a new political atmosphere. The period of 1911–13 was a highly turbulent time for the Ottoman government in terms of both domestic and foreign affairs. It marked a political power struggle between the CUP and Freedom and Accord, consisting of rapid exchanges of power involving a rigged election, a military revolt, and finally a coup d'état on a background of the disastrous
Libyan Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...
and Balkan Wars.


Savior Officers' revolt and the Great Cabinet

From the summer of 1909 onwards the nature of the rebellions in Macedonia changed. The Christian communities largely ceased their rebellious activities while the Albanians, who were 70% Muslim and until that time had been the most loyal group in Macedonia, now started to rebel against the Ottoman state. Until that time, it had always been assumed by the Unionists that Islam would ensure the loyalty of the Muslim Albanians, so the frequent Albanian revolts came as a surprise. The decision to impose Turkish as the language in schools together with another law announcing that Albanian could only be written in the Arabic alphabet while the majority of Albanians had wished to adopt the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and th ...
. After crushing one Albanian revolt in 1909, another one broke out in March 1910. The uprising had been crushed by the autumn, many Albanian nationalists were executed and a systematic attempt was being made to crush Albanian nationalism by banning Albanian newspapers and private schools. In March 1911, yet another Albanian revolt broke out, but this time, the government chose negotiation by sending the sultan Mehmed V to tour Macedonia in June 1911 and proclaim an amnesty for those Albanian rebels who agreed to lay down their arms. The
Italian invasion of Libya The Italian invasion of Libya occurred in 1911, when Italian troops invaded the Turkish province of Libya (then part of the Ottoman Empire) and started the Italo-Turkish War. As result, Italian Tripolitania and Italian Cyrenaica were establish ...
came as another blow against the country. In the middle of the war against Italy and in the midst of yet another Albanian revolt, the CUP called for early national elections in order to thwart Freedom and Accord Party's ability to better organize and grow. In the general elections held in April 1912, nicknamed the "Election of Clubs" ( tr, Sopalı Seçimler) because of the widespread electoral fraud and violence engaged in by the CUP against Freedom and Accord candidates, the CUP won an overwhelming majority (269 of 275 seats in the Chamber of Deputies). A cabinet of CUP members was formed under Grand Vizier Mehmed Said Pasha. Angered at their loss in the election, the leadership of Freedom and Accord sought extra-legal methods to regain power over the CUP, complaining vocally about electoral fraud. At around this time, a group of military officers, uncomfortable with injustices it perceived within the military, organized itself into an armed organization known as the "
Savior Officers Savior or Saviour may refer to: *A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something Religion * Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule for seven, nine or nineteen years * Maitreya * Messiah, a saviour or li ...
" ( tr, links=no, Halâskâr Zâbitân) and made their presence known to the imperial government. The Savior Officers, quickly becoming partisans of Freedom and Accord, soon created unrest in the capital Istanbul. After gaining the support of Prince Sabahaddin, the Savior Officers published public declarations in newspapers. Finally, after giving a
memorandum A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...
to the Military Council, the Savior Officers succeeded in getting Mehmed Said Pasha (who they blamed for allowing the early elections that led to the CUP domination of the Chamber) and his government of CUP ministers to resign in July. Mehmed Said Pasha was succeeded by the non-partisan government of
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha Ahmed Muhtar Pasha ( ota, احمد مختار پاشا;‎ 1 November 1839 – 21 January 1919) was a prominent Ottoman field marshal and Grand Vizier, who served in the Crimean and Russo-Turkish wars. Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed as ...
(the so-called "Great Cabinet", tr, links=no, Büyük Kabine). With the support of the Savior Officers, Ahmed Muhtar Pasha also dissolved the Chamber, which was still full of CUP members, and called for new elections on 5 August. The eruption of the
Balkan War The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defea ...
in October derailed plans for the elections, which were canceled, and Ahmed Muhtar Pasha resigned as Grand Vizier. The government won passage of a bill conscripting dhimmis into the army. The new Grand Vizier,
Kâmil Pasha Mehmed Kâmil Pasha ( ota, محمد كامل پاشا مصري زاده; tr, Kıbrıslı Mehmet Kâmil Paşa, "Mehmed Kamil Pasha the Cypriot"), also spelled as Kiamil Pasha (1833 – 14 November 1913), was an Ottoman statesman and liberal poli ...
, formed a Freedom and Accord cabinet and began an effort to destroy the vestiges of the CUP remaining after the Savior Officers' revolt. Using his friendly relations with the British, Kâmil Pasha also sat down to end the ongoing First Balkan War diplomatically. However, the heavy Ottoman military upsets during the war continued to sap morale, as rumors that the capital would have to be moved from Istanbul to inland
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
spread. The
Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were establishe ...
had soon advanced as far as Çatalca. At this point, Kâmil Pasha's government signed an armistice with
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
in December 1912 and sat down to draw up a treaty for the end of the war at the London Peace Conference. The Great Powers–the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, and
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
–attempted to arbitrate the conflict, citing the 1878 Treaty of Berlin. The Great Powers gave a note to the Sublime Porte that they wanted the Ottoman Empire to cede
Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...
(Adrianople) to Bulgaria and the Aegean islands under its control to the Great Powers themselves. Because of the losses experienced by the army so far in the war, the Kâmil Pasha government was inclined to accept the " Midye- Enez Line" as a border to the west and, while not outright giving Edirne to Bulgaria, favored transferring control of it to an international commission.


Raid on the Sublime Porte

The Freedom and Accord government with Kâmil Pasha was overthrown in a coup d'état (also known as the Raid on the Sublime Porte, tr, Bâb-ı Âlî Baskını) engineered by CUP leaders Mehmed Talaat and Ismail Enver, who used the pretext of Kâmil Pasha "dishonoring the nation" by allegedly agreeing to give away Edirne to the Bulgarians. On 23 January 1913, Enver Bey burst with some of his associates into the
Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire. History The name ...
while the cabinet was in session, a raid in which the
Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
Nazım Pasha Hüseyin Nazım Pasha ( tr, Hüseyin Nâzım Paşa; 1848 – 23 January 1913) was an Ottoman general, who was the Chief of Staff of the Ottoman Army during the First Balkan War of 1912–13. He was murdered by Yakub Cemil during the 1913 O ...
was killed. A new CUP government was formed, headed by Grand Vizier Mahmud Shevket Pasha. Mahmud Shevket Pasha would be assassinated on 11 June 1913, although he was genial towards the now-opposition Freedom and Accord after the coup. After his death, he was succeeded by Said Halim Pasha, and CUP began to repress Freedom and Accord and other opposition parties, forcing many of their leaders (such as Prince Sabahaddin) to flee to Europe.


One party state (1913–1918)

After the Balkan Wars, Ottoman Empire became an entity with two major constituents; namely Turks and Arabs. In the new framework, the percentage of representatives from Arab provinces increased from 23% (1908) to 27%, Turkomans 14% (1908) to 22% and in total CUP members from 39% (1908) to 67%. In the new consolidated structure minority issues, such as those affecting the Armenians, dominated mainstream politics. Armenian politicians were supporting the CUP, but when the parliament was formed the result was very different from the expected one. The Balkan wars had significantly shifted from a multiethnic and multireligious Ottoman Empire to a Muslim core. The size of the CUP's majority in parliament proved to be a source of weakness rather than strength as minorities became outsiders. The deported Muslims (Turks) from the Balkans were located in the western parts of Anatolia and they brought their own issues. Armenians were expecting more representation through the parliament, but the nature of democracy kept them in a minority position. That was an unexpected result for the Armenians after they had been in a protected position since 1453. In 1913, politics in Istanbul was centered around finding a solution to the demands of Arab and Armenian reformist groups. 19th century politics of Ottoman Empire dealt with the decentralist demands of the Balkan nations. In 1913, the same pattern was originating from the eastern provinces. With most of the Christian population having already left the Empire after the Balkan Wars, a redefinition of Ottoman politics was in place with a greater emphasis on Islam as a binding force. The choice of this policy should also be considered as external forces (
imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
s) were Christians. Taking account of the loss of the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and of
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
for the Ottoman Empire and despite the single-party regime installed by the CUP, the Ottoman ethnic minorities were going to be represented at similar proportions during the 1914–1918 term of the Ottoman Parliament, with 11
Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...
and a dozen
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
being elected as deputies and having served in that capacity. New elections were held in 1914 in a single-party framework, and the CUP gained all constituencies. The effective power lay in the hands of Mehmed Talaat Pasha, the Interior Minister, Enver Pasha, the
Minister of War A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
, and Cemal Pasha, the Minister of the Navy, till 1918. Talaat Pasha became the grand vizier himself in 1917. A fraction within the CUP led the Ottoman Empire to make a secret Ottoman–German Alliance which brought it into
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The Empire's role as an ally of the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
is a significant part of the history of that war. With the collapse of Bulgaria and Germany's capitulation, the Ottoman Empire was isolated and surrendered.


End of an Empire and its constitution (1918–1920)

The last elections were performed under the military
Occupation of Constantinople The occupation of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul'un İşgali; 12 November 1918 – 4 October 1923), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, by British, French, Italian, and Greek forces, took place in accordance with the Armistice of Mudros, which ended Ot ...
by the Allies, they were called under the Amasya Protocol signed on 22 October 1919 between the Ottoman government and the Turkish National Movement, in order to agree on a joint Turkish resistance movement against the Allies. When the new session of the Chamber of Deputies convened on 16 March 1920, it passed the '' Misak-ı Millî'' (National Pact) with the Turkish National Movement, angering the Allies. Several MPs were arrested and deported. The Allies forced sultan Mehmed VI and he dissolved the parliament on 11 April. On 13 October 1918,
Talat Pasha Mehmed Talaat (1 September 187415 March 1921), commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha,; tr, Talat Paşa, links=no was an Ottoman politician and convicted war criminal of the late Ottoman Empire who served as its leader from 1913 t ...
and the rest of the CUP ministry resigned, and the
Armistice of Mudros Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ( tr, Mondros Mütarekesi) ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by th ...
was signed aboard a British battleship in the
Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
at the end of the month. The Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919–20 took place where the leadership of the CUP and selected former officials were court-martialled under charges of subversion of the constitution, wartime profiteering, and the massacres of both
Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...
and
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
. The court reached a verdict which sentenced the organizers of the massacres, Talat, Enver, Cemal and others to death. On 2 November, the
Three Pashas The Three Pashas also known as the Young Turk triumvirate or CUP triumvirate consisted of Mehmed Talaat Pasha (1874–1921), the Grand Vizier (prime minister) and Minister of the Interior; Ismail Enver Pasha (1881–1922), the Minister of War ...
(Talaat, Enver, and Cemal) escaped from Constantinople into exile. The last elections for the Ottoman Parliament were held in December 1919. The newly elected 140 members of the Ottoman Parliament, composed in their sweeping majority of candidates of " Association for Defense of Rights for Anatolia and Rumelia (''Anadolu ve Rumeli Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti'')", headed by
Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...
, who himself remained in
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
, opened the fourth (and last) term of the Parliament on 12 January 1920. Despite being short-lived and the exceptional conditions, this last assembly took a number of important decisions that are called '' Misak-ı Milli'' (National Pact). It had signed the Amasya Protocol with the Turkish National Movement in Ankara on 22 October 1919, in which the two groups of agreed to unite against the Allies occupying the country and call for these elections. At the Protocol, the Ottoman government was represented by Minister of the Navy
Salih Hulusi Pasha Salih (; ar, صَالِحٌ, Ṣāliḥ, lit=Pious), also spelled Saleh (), is an Arab prophet mentioned in the Quran who prophesied to the tribe of Thamud in ancient Arabia, before the lifetime of Muhammad. The story of Salih is linked to the ...
, and the Turkish National Movement was represented by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,
Rauf Orbay Hüseyin Rauf Orbay (27 July 1881 – 16 July 1964) was an Ottoman-born Turkish naval officer, statesman and diplomat of Abkhazian origin. Biography Hüseyin Rauf was born in Constantinople in 1881 to an Abkhazian family. As an officer i ...
, and Bekir Sami Kunduh in their title of Delegation of Representatives (''Heyeti Temsiliye''). On the morning of 16 March, British forces, including the
Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
, began to occupy government buildings and arrested five parliament members. An Indian Army operation, the Şehzadebaşı raid, resulted in 5
Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...
soldiers from the 10th Infantry Division being killed when troops raided their barracks. On 18 March, the Ottoman parliamentarians came together in a last meeting. A black cloth covered the pulpit of the Parliament as reminder of its absent members and the Parliament sent a letter of protest to the Allies, declaring the arrest of five of its members as unacceptable. In practical terms, the meeting of 18 March, was the end of the Ottoman parliamentarary system and of the Parliament itself, which had previously served as symbol of a generation's quest for "eternal freedom" (''hürriyet-i ebediye'') for which men had sacrificed themselves. The dissolution of the Ottoman Parliament had left the Sultan as the sole tangible authority in the Empire. The Sultan announced his own version of the declaration of the Parliament's dissolution on 11 April. About 100 Ottoman politicians were sent to exile in
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
(see
Malta exiles The Malta exiles ( tr, Malta sürgünleri) were the purges of Ottoman intellectuals by the Allied forces. The exile to Malta occurred between March 1919 and October 1920 of politicians, high ranking soldiers (mainly), administrators and intellectual ...
). More than a hundred of the remaining members soon took the passage to Ankara and formed the core of the new assembly. On 5 April, the sultan Mehmed VI Vahdeddin, under the pressure of the Allies, closed the Ottoman parliament officially.


See also

*
First Constitutional Era The First Constitutional Era ( ota, مشروطيت; tr, Birinci Meşrutiyet Devri) of the Ottoman Empire was the period of constitutional monarchy from the promulgation of the Ottoman constitution of 1876 (, , meaning ' Basic Law' or 'Fundamen ...
*
Committee of Union and Progress The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌سی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...


References


Bibliography

* * * *


External links


Short history of elections under the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey
b
Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association
* Incomplete list of Ottoman deputies in 1908–1912 term – in Turkish * List of Ottoman deputies in April–August 1912 term �
in English
or in Turkish * Incomplete list of Ottoman deputies in 1914–1918 term – in Turkish * Incomplete list of Ottoman deputies in January–March 1920 (last) term; official closure April 1920; – in Turkish {{Abdul Hamid II 20th century in the Ottoman Empire Politics of the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Thrace Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Albania Young Turks Reform in the Ottoman Empire