The revolution took place in Ottoman Rumeli. 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.
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.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II was brought to the throne after a palace coup by the Young Ottomans over threw 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.
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 Young Turks were exiled, however by between 1906–1908 many soldiers and officers stationed in the Balkans were inducted into the Committee of Union and Progress.[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 wished for a federation of nations under an Ottoman monarch, as exemplified in Prince Sabahaddin's movement, though a coup attempt in 1903 quashed this faction.
A congress in December 1907 saw Rıza, Sabahaddin, and Karekin Pastermadjian of the Dashnak Party pledge to overthrow the regime by all means necessary. They also set a date for their revolution in August 1908, though a spontaneous one happened before August anyway.[citation needed]
Causes
Economic issues
By the 20th century, the Hamidian system seemed bankrupt. Crop failures caused a famine in 1905, and wages 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. Another intervention in 1905 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 shrinking state 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. Officers 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
Flag of the Young Turks: Adalet, İttihat, Uhuvvet, Müsavat, Hürriyet, meaning "Justice, Unity, Brotherhood, Equality, Freedom"
The event that triggered the Revolution was a meeting in the Baltic port of Reval between Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Nicholas II of Russia on 9-10 June, 1908. Though these imperial powers had experienced relatively few major conflicts between them over the previous hundred years, an underlying rivalry, otherwise known as "the Great Game", had exacerbated the situation to such an extent that resolution was sought. The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 brought shaky British-Russian relations to the forefront by solidifying boundaries that identified their respective control in Persia (eastern border of the Empire) and Afghanistan. It was rumored that another reform package would be imposed on the Ottoman Empire which would detach Macedonia.
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 in Tikveş, Eyub Sabri in Ohri (Ohrid), Bekir Fikri in Grebene (Grevena), and Salahaddin 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".
Greek demonstration in Monastir in favour of the constitution
July 24, 1908 started the Ottoman Empire's Second Constitution Era.[8] There after, a number of decrees are issued, which defined freedom of speech, press and organizations, the dismantlement of intelligence agencies, and a general amnesty to political prisoners. Importantly, the CUP did not overthrow the government and nominally committed itself to democratic ideals and constitutionalism.[9] Between the revolution and the 31 March Incident, the CUP's emerged victorious in a power struggle between the palace (Abdul Hamid II) and the liberated Sublime Porte. Until the December election, the CUP dominated the empire as what Şükrü Hanioğlu deemed a comité de salut public.[10]
The 1908 Ottoman general election took place during November and December 1908. The candidates backed by the CUP won 60 seats in the parliament. The Senate of the Ottoman Empire reconvened for the first time in over 30 years on 17 December 1908 with the living members like Hasan Fehmi Pasha from the First Constitutional Era. The Chamber of Deputies' first session was on 30 January 1909.
While the Young Turk Revolution had promised organizational improvement, once instituted, the government at first proved itself rather disorganized and ineffectual. Although these working-class citizens had little knowledge of how to control a government, they imposed their ideas on the Ottoman Empire. The CUP had Said Pasha removed from the premiership in less than two weeks for Kâmil Pasha. His quest to revive the Sublime Porte of the Tanzimat proved fruitless when CUP soon censored him with a no-confidence vote in parliament,[12][13] thus he was replaced by Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha who was more in-line with the committee's ways.
Abdul Hamid maintained his throne by conceding its existence as a symbolic position, but in April 1909 attempted to seize power (see 31 March Incident) by stirring populist sentiment throughout the Empire. The Sultan's bid for a return to power gained traction when he promised to restore the caliphate, eliminate secular policies, and restore the Sharia-based legal system. On 13 April 1909, army units revolted, joined by masses of theological students and turbaned clerics shouting, "We want Sharia", and moving to restore the Sultan's absolute power. The CUP once again assembled a force in Macedonia to march on the capital and restored parliamentary rule after crushing the uprising on 24 April 1909. The deposition of Abdul Hamid II in favor of Mehmed V followed, and the palace ceased to be a significant player in Ottoman politics.
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. Ahmed Rıza and the external committeemen 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 that more firmly attached 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]
The revolution also served as a downfall for the millet elites which benefited from the Hamidian system. The Dashnaks, previously outlawed, became the main representative of the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire,[15] replacing the 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. The elite Bulgarian community of Istanbul were similarly displaced by a nationalist-intellectual class involved with IMRO, as was the Albanian Hamidian elite.[16] Arab and Albanian elites, which were favored under the Hamidian regime, found many privileges lost under the CUP. In some communities, such as the Jews (cf. Jews in Islamic Europe and North Africa and Jews in Turkey), reformist groups emulating the Young Turks ousted the conservative ruling elite and replaced them with a new reformist one.[16] Social institutions like notable families and houses of worship lost influence to the burgeoning world of party politics. Political clubs, committees, and parties were now the main actors in politics.[16] Though these non-Turkish nationalists cooperated with the Young Turks against the sultan, they would turn on each other in the Second Constitutional Era over the question of Ottomanism, and ultimately autonomy and separatism.
The memory is so intense that to this day, I cannot think of it unmoved. I think of it as a final embrace of love between the simple peoples of Turkey before they should be led to exterminate each other for the political advantage of foreign powers or their own leaders
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.
The revolution continued to destabilize the subservient Sharifate of Mecca as several claimed the title until November 1908, when Hussein bin Ali Pasha came to power.
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 Persian community in Istanbul founded the Iranian Union and Progress Committee. The leaders of the Young Bukhara movement were deeply influenced by the Young Turk Revolution and saw it as an example to emulate. Indian Muslims imitated the CUP oath administered to recruits of the organization. Discontent in the Greek military saw a secret revolutionary organization explicitly modeled from the CUP which overthrew the government in the Goudi Coup, bringing Eleftherios Venizelos to power.[17]
In popular culture
Postcard for the new constitution in Ottoman Turkish and French
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]
Bedross Der Matossian (2014). Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire. Stanford University Press. ISBN978-0-8047-9263-9.
Benbassa, Esther (1990), Un grand rabbin sepharde en politique, 1892‐1923 [A great sephardic Rabbi in politics, 1892–1923] (in French), Paris, pp. 27–28((citation)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
Erickson, Edward (2013). Ottomans and Armenians: A Study in Counterinsurgency. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN978-1137362209.
Lévy-Aksu, Noémi; Georgeon, François (2017). The Young Turk Revolution and the Ottoman Empire: The Aftermath of 1908. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Kieser, Hans-Lukas (26 June 2018), Talaat Pasha: Father of Modern Turkey, Architect of Genocide, Princeton University Press (published 2018), ISBN978-0-691-15762-7
McMeekin, Sean (2016), The Ottoman Endgame: war, revolution, and the making of the modern Middle East, 1908–1923, New York, New York: Penguin Random House, ISBN9781594205323
Unal, Hasan (1998). "Ottoman policy during the Bulgarian independence crisis, 1908–9: Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria at the outset of the Young Turk revolution". Middle Eastern Studies. 34 (4): 135–176. doi:10.1080/00263209808701247. hdl:11693/51943.
CUP 
Left-wing of IMRO 
Dashnak Committee
Ottoman Imperial Government
Ahmed Niyazi
Abdul Hamid II .svg)
