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114-660: Meşveret (Ottoman Turkish: lit.   ' Consultation ' ) was a bimonthly magazine which existed between 1895 and 1898. Published in Paris the magazine was the first official organ of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and was subtitled as “the media organ of the Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress". Its motto was ordo et progrès ( French : Order and progress ). The first issue of Meşveret appeared on 1 December 1895. Ahmet Rıza , exiled leader of

228-604: A constitution and a parliament upon his ascension to the throne in 1876, but suspended both after defeat in the 1877-1878 Russo Turkish War . From 1878 to 1908, Abdul Hamid ruled the empire as a personal dictatorship. Critically though, the empire was still in decline. It was in massive debt to European creditors to the point where its finances were controlled by Western bankers, and nationalist movements by non-Muslim minorities continued making inroads. Therefore, those opposed to his regime, called Young Turks , hoped to overthrow Abdul Hamid II for one of his brothers in order to save

342-537: A coup d'état , which failed. They later founded the Private Enterprise and Decentralization League , which called for a more decentralized and federalized Ottoman state in opposition to Rıza's centralist vision. After the congress, Rıza formed a coalition with the Activists and founded the Committee of Progress and Union ( CPU , Osmanlı Terakki ve İttihat Cemiyeti ). This unsuccessful attempt to bridge

456-402: A İttihadçı or Komiteci , which means İttihadist (Unionist) and Committeeman respectively. Its ideology is known as İttihadçılık , or İttihadism (Unionism). The Central Committee informally referred to itself as the "Sacred Committee" ( Cemiyet-i mukaddese ) or the " Kaaba of Liberty" ( Kâbe-i hürriyet ). The Committee of Ottoman Union ( İttihad-ı Osmanî Cemiyeti ) was established as

570-748: A centralized and unitary Turkish-dominated state. The CUP consolidated its power at the expense of the Freedom and Accord Party in the 1912 " Election of Clubs " and in the 1913 Raid on the Sublime Porte , while also growing increasingly splintered, radical and nationalistic due to Turkey's defeat in the First Balkan War and attacks on Balkan Muslims . The CUP seized full power following Grand Vizier Mahmud Şevket Pasha 's assassination in June 1913, with major decisions ultimately being decided by

684-563: A consequence of the Italian invasion, İbrahim Hakkı Pasha 's Unionist government collapsed and two factions formed within the CUP: the right-wing New Party , and the left-wing Progress Party . Union and Progress was forced into a coalition government with some minor parties under Mehmed Said Pasha . Another blow against the CUP came in mid-November, when all of the opposition parties coalesced around

798-659: A delegation of seven high-ranking Unionists known as the Committee of Seven, including Talât, Ahmet Cemal , and Mehmed Cavid to monitor the government. After the revolution, power was informally shared between the palace (Abdul Hamid), the liberated Sublime Porte , and the CUP, whose Central Committee was still based in Salonica, and now represented a powerful deep state faction. The CUP's continued reliance on komitecilik quickly earned ire from genuine democrats and prompted accusations of authoritarianism. An early victory of

912-739: A failed coup-attempt in 1896 which started a period infighting among émigré Young Turk communities in Europe. The CUP's cause revived by 1906 with a new " Macedonian " cadre of bureaucrats and Ottoman army contingents based in Ottoman Macedonia which were fighting ethnic insurgents in the Macedonian Struggle . In 1908 the Unionists revolted in the Young Turk Revolution , and forced Abdul Hamid to re-instate

1026-527: A group of medical students of the Imperial Military School of Medicine . Ahmet Rıza , being an avid follower of Auguste Comte and his theories on progressivism , changed the name of the early club to the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( Ottoman Turkish : اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی , romanized :  İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti ). Between 1906 and 1908 it was known as the Committee of Progress and Union, but changed its name back to

1140-606: A lack of co-ordination with heavy losses. Following reports that the Ottoman army had at most 165,000 troops to oppose the 400,000 of the League army together with news that morale in the army was poor due to Edirne's surrender to Bulgaria on 26 March, the pro-war regime finally agreed to an armistice on 1 April 1913 and signed the Treaty of London on 30 May, acknowledging the loss of all of Rumelia except for Constantinople. News of

1254-573: A more accurate and faithful translation of İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti into English would be "The Society of Union and Progress". They especially wished to model their movement of the Jacobin club and thought of themselves as such . In the West, the CUP was conflated with the wider Young Turks movement and its members were called Young Turks, while in the Ottoman Empire a member was known as

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1368-553: A new big tent party known as Freedom and Accord , which immediately attracted 70 deputies to its ranks. When it came time for general elections in April 1912 , held in the midst of the war with Italy and one of many Albanian revolts , the Union and Progress Party and Dashnak campaigned for the elections under an electoral alliance. Alarmed at the success of Freedom and Accord and increasingly radicalised, Union and Progress won 269 of

1482-501: A rejection, and following the expected rejection, invaded Ottoman Tripolitania . The Unionist officers in the army were determined to resist the Italian aggression, and the parliament had succeeded in passing the "Law for the Prevention of Brigandage and Sedition", a measure ostensibly intended to prevent insurgency against the central government, which assigned that duty to newly created paramilitary formations. These later came under

1596-539: A secret constitutionalist organization called the Ottoman Freedom Committee ( Osmanlı Hürriyet Cemiyeti ; OFC) was formed in Salonica. It had ten founders, among whom were Mehmet Talât , regional director of Post and Telegraph services in Salonica; Dr. Midhat Şükrü (Bleda) , director of a municipal hospital, Mustafa Rahmi (Arslan) , a merchant from the well known Evranoszade family, and first lieutenants İsmail Canbulat and Ömer Naci . Most of

1710-474: A secret society on 2 June 1889 by Ibrahim Temo , Dr. Mehmed Reşid , Abdullah Cevdet , and İshak Sükuti , all of whom were medical students of the Imperial Military School of Medicine in Constantinople. While they held many contradicting Enlightenment derived beliefs, they were united by the necessity of a constitution to prevent further decline of the empire. Sultan Abdul Hamid II promulgated

1824-718: A series of assassinations and sent threats to senior officers. At this point, the mutiny which originated in the Third Army in Salonica took hold of the Second Army based in Adrianople (modern Edirne ) as well as Anatolian troops sent from İzmir . Under pressure of being deposed, on 24 July 1908 Abdul Hamid capitulated and promulgated the İrade-i Hürriyet , which announced the Constitution to be reinstated. Multi-ethnic parades and celebrations were held throughout

1938-732: A war against the Empire in an alliance known as the Balkan League . On 28 September 1912, the Ottoman army conducted military maneuvers on the Bulgarian border, to which Bulgaria responded by mobilizing. On 4 October, the Committee organized a pro-war rally in Sultanahmet Square . On 8 October, Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, starting the First Balkan War , with the rest of its allies joining in during

2052-623: A willingness to commit acts of terrorism to highlight the Armenian plight (see Ottoman Bank Takeover and Abdul Hamid II assassination attempt in Yıldız ). The Dashnaks signed the alliance with the hope that decentralizing reforms could be conceded to Ottoman Armenians once the Young Turks took power, even though the CPU's core mantra was centralization. Their ambiguous relationship can be traced back

2166-516: The Millet system : a system of traditional rights and obligations imposed on ethnic groups which isolated the nations from each other. They wished instead for multi-ethnic Ottoman society to function under rational, centralized, and republican principles. Conscription was reformed to apply to all Ottoman citizens, instead of just Muslims that weren't enrolled in Madrasas . This caused an uproar from

2280-660: The Armenian Revolutionary Federation assassinated several of them (including Talât and Cemal) in Operation Nemesis in revenge for their genocidal policies. Many CUP members were court-martialed and imprisoned in war-crimes trials with support from the Allied powers . However, most former Unionists were able to join the burgeoning Turkish nationalist movement led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , ultimately continuing their political careers in

2394-713: The Grand Vizier Mehmed Said Pasha resigned. Sultan Mehmed V then appointed a new cabinet supported by the Officers and Freedom and Accord. On 5 August 1912, Mehmed V called for early elections. However, with the election underway in October, the outbreak of the Balkan Wars led to it being interrupted. Fresh elections were eventually held in 1914 . The CUP and ARF's alliance broke down when only 10 of its 23 candidates won their seats due to

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2508-723: The Liberty Party and later in 1911 the Freedom and Accord Party . Most of the Old Unionists soon distanced themselves from a CUP which was a very different organization than what it was originally founded as. Ibrahim Temo and Abdullah Cevdet , two original founders of the CUP, established the Ottoman Democratic Party in February 1909. Ahmet Rıza returned to the capital from Paris. He was welcomed as

2622-569: The Ottoman Empire in April 1912. The ruling Committee of Union and Progress won 269 of the 275 seats in the Chamber of Deputies , whilst the opposition Freedom and Accord Party only won six seats, a victory widely deemed fraudulent and won through intimidation. The election became known as the "Election of Clubs " (Sopalı Seçimler) to history, when Rıza Tevfik (Bölükbaşı) , who was running for office as an Accordist in Edirne , revealed how he

2736-533: The " Sacrifices of the Şeref " (Şeref Kurbanları ) and was the biggest exile event in Abdul Hamid's reign. Following the failure of the Ottoman Union's plots in the mid-1890s, the organization's Constantinople section turned inoperable and the headquarters moved to Paris. Young Turk émigré communities were established in Paris, London, Geneva, Bucharest, and British occupied Egypt . In exile though

2850-611: The "Father of Liberty" ( hürriyetçilerin babası) and unanimously elected president of the Chamber of Deputies , the parliament's lower house, and in 1910 renounced his membership from the CUP as the radical Macedonians took over. Despite the period of post-revolutionary euphoria felt throughout the empire, what constitutionalism and reform meant for each group meant different things, and pessimism would soon set in with unfulfilled expectations. Many non-Turkish CUP members would also soon renounce their membership, as ethnic nationalist organizations which were once allies would cut ties. Much to

2964-498: The 1876 Constitution , ushering in an era of political plurality. During the Second Constitutional Era, the CUP at first influenced politics from behind the scenes, and introduced major reforms to continue the modernization of the Ottoman Empire. The CUP's main rival was the Freedom and Accord Party , a conservative party which called for the decentralization of the empire, in opposition to the CUP's desire for

3078-460: The 275 seats in parliament through electoral fraud and violence, which led to the election being known as the "Election of Clubs " ( Turkish : Sopalı Seçimler ), leaving the Freedom and Accord just six seats. Although they won ten seats from the Union and Progress lists, Dashnak terminated the alliance as they expected more reforms from the CUP as well as more support for their candidates to be elected. In May 1912, Miralay Sadık separated from

3192-564: The Belgian government was also pressured to deport the group a couple years later. A congress in December 1896 saw Murat elected as chairman over Rıza and the headquarters moved to Geneva, causing a schism in the society between Rıza's supporters in Paris and Murat's supporters in Geneva. After the Ottoman Empire's triumph over Greece in 1897 Sultan Abdul Hamid used the prestige he gained from

3306-501: The Bulgarian army (see First Battle of Çatalca ). Edirne was a symbolic city, as it was an important city in Ottoman history, serving as the Empire's third capital for nearly one hundred years, and together with Salonica represented Europe's Islamic heritage. Muhtar Pasha's government resigned on the 29th of October following total military defeat in Rumelia for Kâmil Pasha 's return, Freedom and Accord's leader and keen on destroying

3420-553: The CUP and organized a group of pro-Freedom and Accord officers in the army calling themselves the Saviour Officers Group , which demanded the immediate dissolution of the Unionist dominated parliament. The fraudulent electoral result of the "Election of Clubs" had badly hurt the popular legitimacy of the CUP, and faced with widespread opposition and Mahmud Şevket Pasha's resignation as Minister of War in support of

3534-466: The CUP candidates of a "disregard for Islamic principles and values" and of "attempting to restrict the prerogatives of the sultan-caliph ", despite the fact that many Freedom and Accord members were quite progressive in their own lives and dealings. In return, the CUP, seeing that its previous policy of secular Ottomanism (Ottoman nationalism) was failing, turned to a similar line of Islamist rhetoric as Freedom and Accord in order to drum up support among

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3648-581: The CUP captured almost every seat in the Chamber of Deputies, but the discord surrounding the new constitutional order resulted in a reliably Unionist parliamentary group only 60 deputies (out of 275) strong despite its leading role in the revolution. Other parties represented in parliament included the Armenian Dashnak and Hunchak parties (with four and two members respectively) and the main opposition, Sabahaddin's Liberty Party. A sign of how

3762-454: The CUP once and for all. With the loss of Salonica to Greece the CUP was forced to relocate its Central Committee to Istanbul, but by mid-November the new headquarters was shut down by the government and its members were forced into hiding. Grand Vizier Kâmil Pasha and his War Minister Nazım Pasha wished to ban the CUP, so the CUP launched a preemptive strike: a coup d'état known as the Raid on

3876-476: The CUP over Abdul Hamid happened on 1 August, when Abdul Hamid was forced to assign ministries according to the Central Committee's will. Four days later, the CUP told the government that the current Grand Vizier (at this point a de jure prime ministerial title) Mehmed Said Pasha was unacceptable to them, and had Kâmil Pasha appointed Grand Vizier. Kâmil later proved to be too independent for

3990-491: The CUP power worked occurred in February 1909, when Ali Haydar, who had just been appointed ambassador to Spain, went to the Sublime Porte to discuss his new appointment with Hilmi Pasha, only be to be informed by the Grand Vizier he needed to confer with a man from the Central Committee who was due to arrive shortly. The murder of the anti-Unionist journalist Hasan Fehmi on 6 April was widely seen as an assassination by

4104-471: The CUP. Facing a vote of no confidence, he was forced to resign. He was replaced by Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha who was more partial towards the committee. Moral was high amongst Ottomans following revolution, but in the lead up to the election, dissatisfaction of the Young Turks' unfulfilled promises to improve worker's rights lead to a major worker strike wave across the empire. The CUP initially supported

4218-504: The CUP. His funeral turned into a demonstration against the committee when a crowd of 50,000 assembled in Sultanahmet Square and eventually in front of the parliament. These events served to be the backdrop of the 31 March incident . Days afterward, discontent against the CUP and disappointment from broken promises culminated in an uprising by reactionaries and liberals. A mob revolted in Constantinople that Abdul Hamid II took advantage of, securing his absolutism once again. The members of

4332-574: The Central Committee, and in the future worked closely with the Ministry of War and Ministry of Interior. A great many officers, most of whom Unionist, including Enver, his younger brother Nuri , Mustafa Kemal, Süleyman Askerî , and Ali Fethi (Okyar) all departed to Libya to fight the Italians. With many of the Unionist officers in Libya, this weakened the power of the CUP and the army at home. As

4446-453: The Committee of Union and Progress, was the cofounder and editor of the magazine which was published in Paris to support the policies of the Committee. The other founders included Albert Fua, Aristidi Efendi and Halil Ganem. The latter was also a regular contributor. They were part of the Osmanlı İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti (Ottoman Turkish: Committee of the Ottoman Union and Progress ), one of

4560-694: The Dashnaks and IMRO's left wing, and cordial relations with the Hunchaks . On 22 December 1907, in the Second Congress of Ottoman Opposition , Rıza, Sabahaddin, and the Dashnaks were finally able to put their differences aside and signed an alliance, declaring that Abdul Hamid had to be deposed and the regime replaced with a representative and constitutional government by any means necessary, without foreign interference. The Dashnak Party ( Dashnaktsutyun , or Armenian Revolutionary Federation , ARF)

4674-449: The Empire; with his assassination, the CUP took full control over the country. The power vacuum in the army created by Şevket's death was filled by the committee. Any remaining opposition to the CUP, especially Freedom and Accord, was suppressed and their leaders exiled. All provincial and local officials reported to " Responsible Secretaries " chosen by the party for each Vilayet . Mehmed V appointed Said Halim Pasha , an Egyptian royal who

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4788-486: The French authorities to take steps to reduce criticisms published in the magazine and also, to ban the periodicals and newspapers published by the Ottoman exiles in Paris. The Ottomans labelled the magazine as "the most dangerous publication of the Young Turks." Upon Sultan's request Ahmet Rıza was detained by the French authorities. Meşveret ceased publication in 1898 after producing a total of thirty issues. The final issue

4902-536: The Hamidian regime for a constitutional one. During the countercoup, massacres against Ottoman Armenians in Adana occurred that was facilitated by members of the local CUP branch, straining the alliance between the CUP and Dashnak. The committee made up for this by nominating Cemal as governor of Adana. Cemal restored order, providing compensation to victims and bringing (light) justice to the perpetrators, thus mending

5016-464: The Liberty Party that took part in the uprising lost control of the situation when the sultan accepted the mob's demands, again suspending the constitution and shuttering the parliament. The uprising was localised in the capital, so MPs and other Unionists were able to flee and organise. Talât was able to escape to Aya Stefanos ( Yeşilköy ) with 100 deputies to organise a counter government. In

5130-549: The Ministry of Military Schools launched an investigation that recommended expelling nine leaders from the medicine school but the palace pardoned them as they viewed the Unionists as a harmless student movement. Soon however, some members of Ottoman Union started fleeing to Europe, where they congregated in colonies. In 1894, Selanikli Mehmet "Doctor" Nazım was sent by Ottoman Union to recruit an influential Young Turk émigré based in Paris: Ahmed Rıza Bey . Rıza soon led

5244-567: The Muslims of the Empire; it accused Freedom and Accord of "weakening Islam and Muslims" by trying to separate the Ottoman sultan 's office from the Caliphate. Although this accusation was almost identical to the one leveled by Freedom and Accord at the CUP itself, it was highly effective. Freedom and Accord retorted by claiming that the CUP, in its previous attempt to amend the constitution ,

5358-576: The OFC founders also joined the Salonica Freemason lodge Macedonia Risorta , as Freemason lodges proved to be safe havens from the secret police of Yıldız Palace . Army officers İsmail Enver and Kazım Karabekir would found the Monastir (modern Bitola ) branch of the OFC, which turned out to be a potent source of recruits for the organization. Unlike the mostly bureaucrat recruits of

5472-582: The Ottoman Empire but chose not to overthrow Abdul Hamid choosing instead to monitor situation from the sidelines. This was because most of its members were mostly junior officers and bureaucrats and held little to no skill in statecraft, while the organization itself held little power outside of Rumelia . Besides, only a small fraction of the army's lower ranking officer corps were loyal to the committee, and total membership numbered around approximately 2,250. The CUP decided to continue its clandestine nature by keeping its membership secret but sent to Constantinople

5586-459: The Ottoman Empire had it that during the summit a secret Anglo-Russian agreement was signed to partition the Ottoman Empire. Though this story was not true, the rumour led the CUP's Monastir branch –which had recruited many army officers– to act. Enver and Ahmed Niyazi fled to the Albanian hinterlands to organise militias in support of a constitutionalist revolution. The Unionists then carried out

5700-565: The Ottoman Empire into a one party state of Union and Progress, known in history as the Three Pashas Triumvirate . Members of Said Halim Pasha's cabinet , the triumvirate consisted of Talât who returned to the Interior Ministry , Enver who became War Minister , and Cemal who became Naval Minister and de facto ruler of Syria , all of whom soon became Pashas. Some historians claim that Halil (Menteşe)

5814-711: The Ottoman dynasty Damat Mahmud Pasha and his sons Sabahaddin and Lütfullah fled to Europe to join the Young Turks. However, Prince Sabahaddin believed that embracing the Anglo-Saxon values of capitalism and liberalism would alleviate the Empire's problems such as separatism from non-Muslim minorities such as the Armenians . In 1902 the First Congress of Ottoman Opposition , which included Rıza's Unionists, Sabahaddin's supporters, Armenian Dashnaks and Vergazmiya Hunchaks , and other Greek and Bulgarian groups,

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5928-600: The Paris section of a united organization of dissidents operating in Europe and those in Constantinople: the Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress ( Osmanlı İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti ) (CUP), which was centered around the organ Meşveret and its French supplemental. The CUP became the preeminent faction of the Young Turks once it absorbed other opposition groups and established contact with exiled intelligentsia, Freemasons, and cabinet ministers, to

6042-449: The Republic of Turkey as members of Atatürk's Republican People's Party following the Turkish War of Independence . Atatürk and the Republican People's Party expanded on reforms introduced by Union and Progress and continued one-party rule in Turkey until 1946 . The CUP was first established as the Committee of the Ottoman Union ( Ottoman Turkish : İttihad-ı Osmanî Cemiyeti ) in Constantinople (now Istanbul ) on 6 February 1889 by

6156-496: The Salonica OFC branch, OFC recruits from Monastir were officers of the Third Army . The Third Army was engaging Greek , Bulgarian , and Serbian insurgent groups (which were also engaging each other) in what was known as the Macedonian conflict , and its officers believed a constitution and drastic reform would bring peace and maintain Ottoman authority in a region that was in seemingly perpetual intercommunal conflict. These officers feared that foreign influence would increase in

6270-465: The Sublime Porte on 23 January 1913. During the coup Kâmil Pasha was forced to resign as Grand Vizier at gunpoint and a Unionist officer Yakub Cemil killed Nazım Pasha. The coup was justified under the grounds that Kâmil Pasha was about to "sell out the nation" by agreeing to a truce in the First Balkan War and giving up Edirne. The intention of the new leadership, dominated by Talât, Enver, Cemal, under Şevket Pasha's premiership (who reluctantly accepted

6384-438: The Sultan's powers in favor of parliament and the Sublime Porte. The years after the 31 March Crisis were much less free compared to the euphoric start of the Second Constitutional Era. Censorship and restrictions on gatherings were implemented in a context of increasing polarization between the CUP and its opposition. During this time the party began a nationalist turn, with many of its leaders frustrated by ethnic politics. This

6498-425: The Three Pashas and Halil, éminence grises such as Dr. Nazım , Bahattin Şakir , Ziya Gökalp , and the party's secretary general Midhat Şükrü at times also dominated the Central Committee without formal positions in the Ottoman government. The CUP regime was less hierarchically totalitarian than future European dictatorships. Instead of relying on strict and rigid chains of command the regime functioned through

6612-454: The Young Turks would be racked by expat infighting. Rıza was an avowed positivist , and advocated for a Turkish nationalist and secularist agenda. Even though he denounced revolution, he had a more conservative and Islamist rival in Mehmet Murat Bey of Mizan fame. Rıza also had to deal with the " Activist " faction of the CUP that did push for a revolution. Other CUP branches often acted autonomously with their own ideological currents, to

6726-538: The balancing of factions through massive corruption and kickbacks. Individual governors were allowed much autonomy, such as Cemal Pasha's reign of Syria and Mustafa Rahmi 's governorship of the Aydin vilayet . Loyalty to the committee was seen more valuable than competence. This lack of rule of law, lack of respect to the constitution, and extreme corruption worsened as the regime aged. Ottoman general election, 1912 Mehmed Said Pasha CUP Mehmed Said Pasha CUP Early general elections were held in

6840-495: The committee's dismay, the instability during the revolution resulted in more territorial loses for the Empire, which would not be reversed due to the European powers refusing to uphold the status quo set by the Treaty of Berlin . Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia , Crete announced a union with Greece , and Bulgaria declared independence . As a result, the CUP organized a boycott against Austro-Hungarian made goods. The CUP succeeded in reestablishing democracy and constitutionalism in

6954-414: The control of the Special Organisation ( Ottoman Turkish : تشکیلات مخصوصه , romanized :  Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa ), which was used to conduct guerrilla operations against the Italians in Libya. Those who had once served as fedâiin assassins during the years of underground struggle were often assigned as leaders of the Special Organisation. The ultra-secretive Special Organisation answered to

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7068-405: The divide amongst the Young Turks instead deepened the rivalry between Sabahaddin's group and Rıza's CPU. The 20th century began with Abdul Hamid II's rule secure and his opposition scattered and divided. Despite all these setbacks for the CPU and Young Turks, the cause for liberty ( hürriyet ) was effectively revived under a new cadre in Salonica (modern Thessaloniki ) by 1907. In September 1906,

7182-474: The empire through constitutionalism: either the crown prince Mehmed Reşad (Mehmed V) or former Sultan Murad V . Under the guise of a banquet, the Committee of Ottoman Union held its first meeting in Midhat Pasha 's vineyard outside Edirnekapı , Constantinople. It was decided at this meeting that the society would be modeled from the Italian Carbonari and be structured into cells. They met every Friday in different places, where they held seminaries discussing

7296-432: The empire. With the reestablishment of the constitution and parliament , a general election was called for December of that year, prompting most Young Turk organizations to turn into political parties, including the CUP. After meeting of the goal reinstating the constitution, in the absence of this uniting factor, the Young Turks began to formally establish proper parties in place of their émigré factions. Sabahaddin founded

7410-426: The exiled Old Unionists. For now this merger reoriented the committee from an intellectual opposition group into a secret revolutionary organization. Intending to emulate other revolutionary nationalist organisations like the Dashnak Party or IMRO , an extensive cell based organisation was constructed. The CPU's modus operandi was " Komitecilik" (Committeemanship), or rule by revolutionary conspiracy. Joining

7524-433: The failure to rescue Rumelia by the CUP prompted the organization of a countercoup by Kâmil Pasha that would overthrow the CUP and bring Freedom and Accord back into power. Kâmil Pasha was put under house arrest on 28 May, but the conspiracy continued and aimed to assassinate Grand Vizier Mahmud Şevket Pasha and major Unionists. On 11 June, Şevket Pasha was assassinated. He had represented the last independent personality in

7638-449: The fatherland and Islam at all times; and to follow orders from the Central Committee to kill anyone whom the Central Committee wanted to see killed, including one's own friends and family. The penalty for disobeying orders from the Central Committee or attempting to leave the CPU was death. To enforce its policy, the Unionists had a select group of especially devoted party members known as fedâi , or self-sacrificing volunteers, whose job

7752-455: The government for their role in foiling the countercoup, and maneuvered Cavid into the Finance Ministry in June, becoming the first CUP affiliated minister in the government. Two months later, Talât was appointed minister of interior . CUP and the Dashnak held a strong alliance throughout the Second Constitutional Era , with their cooperation dating back to the Second Congress of Ottoman Opposition of 1907; as both were united in overthrowing

7866-418: The group became the internal center of the CPU in the Ottoman Empire. Talât became secretary general of the internal CPU, while Bahattin Şakir became secretary general of its external department. After the Young Turk Revolution , this cadre known as the " Macedonians ", consisting of Talât , Şakir , Dr. Mehmet Nazım , Enver , Ahmed Cemal , Midhat Şükrü , and Mehmed Cavid supplanted Rıza's leadership of

7980-419: The membership of the OFC was only accessible for Muslims, mostly Albanians and Turks, with some Kurds and Arabs also becoming members, but neither Greeks nor Serbs nor Bulgarians were accepted or approached. Its first seventy members were exclusively Muslims. After 1907, non-Muslims were able to become members of the OFC. Under Talât's initiative, the OFC merged with Rıza's Paris-section CPU in September 1907, and

8094-403: The military, Mahmud Şevket Pasha joined forces with Unionist and constitutionalist officers to form the " Action Army " ( Turkish : Hareket Ordusu ) and began a march on Constantinople. Some lower ranking Unionist officers within the formation included Enver, Niyazi, and Cemal, as well as Mustafa İsmet (İnönü) and Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) . Upon the Army of Action arriving at Ayastefanos, it

8208-589: The more recognizable Committee of Union and Progress during the Young Turk Revolution . The word cemiyet has many translations. It is a loanword from the Arabic ( جمعية, jām‘ia ) and a classical translation would be "committee" or "society" or "organization". As the Young Turks greatly admired the French Revolution and the radical political clubs and societies that were founded over its course,

8322-415: The name Mehmed V , committing to the role of a constitutional monarch and figurehead of the future CUP party-state. While the CUP survived the failed countercoup, their influence was now checked by Mahmud Şevket Pasha, who became the most powerful person in the Ottoman Empire. Şevket Pasha, representing the military, started butting heads with the CUP as he represented the only opposition to them other than

8436-474: The officers, Said Pasha's Unionist government resigned on 9 July 1912. It was replaced by Ahmed Muhtar Pasha's "Great Cabinet" that deliberately excluded the CUP by being made up of older ministers, many of which were associated with the Ancien Régime. On 5 August 1912, Muhtar Pasha's government shuttered the Unionist dominated parliament and called for snap elections which would never happen due to

8550-539: The organization was noticeably absent from intellectual circles and army units based in Anatolia and the Levant , Smyrna ( İzmir ) being an exception. Under this umbrella name, one could find ethnic Albanians, Arabs, Armenians, Aromanians, Bulgarians, Serbians, Jews, Greeks, Turks, and Kurds, united by the common goal of overthrowing Abdul Hamid II's despotic regime. During this time, the CPU cultivated close relations with

8664-707: The outbreak of the Second Balkan War , the Ottomans attacked Bulgaria and, on 21 July 1913, Colonel Enver retook Edirne from Bulgaria, further increasing his status as a national hero. By the terms of the Treaty of Bucharest in September 1913, the Ottomans regained some of the land lost in Thrace during the First Balkan War. The new regime was a dictatorship dominated by a triumvirate that turned

8778-708: The outbreak of war in the Balkans. For the moment, the CUP had become isolated, driven from power, and risked being banned by the government. With the CUP out of power, in the lead up to the elections, the party challenged Muhtar Pasha's government to a jingoistic game of pro-war populism against the Balkan states by utilizing its still powerful propaganda network. Unbeknownst to the CUP, the Sublime Porte , and most international observers, Bulgaria , Serbia , Montenegro , and Greece were already preparing themselves for

8892-727: The party's Central Committee . A triumvirate of the CUP leader Talât Pasha with Enver Pasha and Cemal Pasha took control of the country, and sided with Germany in World War I . With the help of their paramilitary, the Special Organization , the Unionist régime enacted policies resulting in the destruction and expulsion of the empire's Armenian , Pontic Greek , and Assyrian citizens in order to Turkify Anatolia. Following Ottoman defeat in World War I in October 1918, CUP leaders escaped into exile in Europe, where

9006-458: The point where European observers started calling them the "Young Turk Party". The CUP supported Kâmil Pasha 's coup attempt during height of the diplomatic crisis caused by the Hamidian massacres . With Kâmil's defeat, a wave of arrests and exiles caused chaos for the organization inside the Ottoman Empire. In August 1896, card-carrying Unionist ministers conspired a coup d'état to overthrow

9120-464: The point where the committee resembled more of an umbrella organization. Meşveret (Rıza) called for the reinstatement of the constitution but without revolution, as well as a more centralized Turkish-dominated Ottoman Empire sovereign of European influence . Under pressure from the palace, French authorities banned Meşveret and deported Rıza and his Unionists in 1896. After settling in Brussels ,

9234-548: The precursor groups of the CUP. The magazine functioned as the official media outlet of this group. Notable contributors of Meşveret included Mizancı Murat Bey , Şerafeddin Mağmumi and Abdullah Cevdet who used the pseudonym “Bir Kürd” (A Kurd in English). Another leading figure who published articles in the magazine was Süleyman Nazif during his exile years in Paris from 1897. Yusuf Akçura also contributed to Meşveret when he

9348-423: The public. However, neither the pledge for more transparency nor the pledge to discontinue initiation ceremonies were fully achieved. The committee continued to influence politics in the backrooms and through the occasional assassination (see Ahmet Samim ), inviting criticism from many politicians that the committee was opaque and authoritarian rather than a force of democracy. By the end of 1909, Union and Progress

9462-466: The region if the conflict was left unsolved. The Great Powers already imposed a reform package in 1903 that allowed international inspectors and gendarme to assist with governance in the region. This made joining imperially biased revolutionary secret societies especially appealing to the officers. This widespread sentiment led the senior officers to turn a blind eye to the fact that many of their junior officers had joined secret societies. Initially

9576-472: The relations between the two committees. In its 1909 congress in Salonica , the Committee of Union and Progress was formally transformed from a conspiracy group into a mass politics organization. A separate parliamentary group from the committee was created, known as the Union and Progress Party ( Ottoman Turkish : إتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌ سی , romanized :  İttihad ve Terakki Fırkası ), whose membership

9690-542: The revolutionary committee was by invitation only, and those who did join had to keep their membership secret. Recruits would undergo an initiation ceremony, where they swore a sacred oath with the sacred book of their religion in the right hand and a sword, dagger, or revolver in the left hand. They swore to unconditionally obey all orders from the Central Committee ; to never reveal the CPU's secrets and to keep their own membership secret; to be willing to die for

9804-458: The role), was to break the truce and renew the war against Bulgaria. The CUP once again did not take over the government, instead opting for the creation of a national unity government; only four Unionist ministers were appointed into the new government. The immediate aftermath of the coup resulted in a much more severe state of emergency than previous governments had ever implemented. Cemal in his new capacity as military commander of Constantinople

9918-431: The small Ottoman Democratic Party after the 31 March Incident. Martial Law was implemented in the wake of the counter-coup, which would continue until the demise of the empire, save for a brief interruption in 1912. Şevket positioned himself as the Constantinople martial law governor. The Liberty Party's reluctant support for the counter revolution meant that the party was banned. The Unionists expected more influence in

10032-399: The strikes to gain more popular support, but soon assisted the government in controlling organized labor by supporting factory owners in their disputes with their workers and sending gendarme and soldiers to crack down on railroad strikes. By October workers unions and labor injunctions were declared illegal (see Socialism in the Ottoman Empire ). In the Ottoman general election of 1908

10146-581: The sultan, but the plot was leaked to the palace. Prominent statesmen were exiled to Fezzan , Tripolitania , Acre and Benghazi . Another plot was hatched the year after where Unionist cadets of the Military Academy planned to assassinate the Minister of Military Schools. Authorities were tipped off, and a major arrest operation was carried out. 630 people were arrested; 78 of them were sent to Tripolitania. This exile incident went down in history

10260-657: The traditionally exempted non-Muslim communities and the Ulema . The Bulgarians wished for segregated units with Christian commanders and priests, which was struck down by the Committee. Other laws were introduced with assimilation in mind: The Law of Public Education banned all languages in school except for Turkish as the language of instruction. This led to the Albanian Revolt of 1910 . The Law of Associations banned minority interest parties. An extensive set of constitutional amendments were signed into law that weakened

10374-629: The two main parties competing in the election, the CUP and Freedom and Accord, were largely secular in their political outlook, issues such as the Islamic religious piety of their candidates became sensationalised campaign topics. Seeing the potent amount of political capital to be gained by appealing to religion, as the Muslim vote was the most important in the Empire, both parties consistently accused one another of various other supposed offenses against Islamic tradition. Freedom and Accord members accused

10488-423: The victory to coax the exiled Young Turks network back into his fold. After expelling Rıza from the CUP, Murat accepted the amnesty offer, as well as Cevdet and Sükuti. A wave of extraditions, more amnesties, and buy-outs, weakened an opposition organization already operating in exile. Though moral was low, Ahmet Rıza, who returned to Paris, was the sole leader of the exiled Young Turks network. In 1899, members of

10602-477: The week. The Ottoman Empire and Italy concluded their war so that the Empire could focus on the Balkan states with the Treaty of Ouchy , in which Tripolitania was annexed and the Dodecanese were occupied by Italy. This proved too little and too late to salvage Rumelia ; Albania , Macedonia , and western Thrace was lost, Edirne was put under siege , and Constantinople was in serious risk of being overrun by

10716-495: The works of Young Ottoman thinkers such as Namık Kemal and Ziya Pasha , drafted regulations, and read banned philosophy and literature. The society gained support from civilian and military students from other colleges around Constantinople. Abdul Hamid II first became aware of the society's activities in July 1890. From that date on, members of the society were under surveillance and some would be arrested and interrogated. In 1894

10830-497: The year before, when they cooperated in establishing cells in Trabzon and Erzurum . Although Ahmet Rıza eventually pulled out of the tripartite agreement and this alliance played no critical role in the upcoming revolution, the CPU and the Dashnaks continued a contentious alliance throughout the Second Constitutional Era up until 1914. Sultan Abdul Hamid II persecuted the Young Turks in an attempt to hold on to absolute power, but

10944-497: Was a fourth member of this clique. Scholar Hans-Lukas Kieser asserts that this state of rule by a triumvirate is only accurate for the year 1913–1914, and that Talât increasingly became a more central figure within the Union and Progress party state, especially once he also became Grand Vizier in 1917. Alternatively, it is also accurate to call the Unionist regime a clique or even an oligarchy , as many prominent Committeemen held some form of de jure or de facto power. Other than

11058-462: Was a successor to the Liberty Party of Prince Sabahaddin , which was banned following the 31 March Incident , and served to consolidate anti-Unionist opposition into one party. Founded in November 1911, the December by-election gave the newborn party a great deal of confidence. The CUP had hoped early elections would thwart the new party's momentum. The early elections, to be held in April 1912,

11172-464: Was an Armenian Marxist–socialist political party stemming from Narodnik tradition which was demanding for autonomy and reform for Armenia, while their Hunchak (Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, SDHP) brothers were positioned more towards their left, and more willing to call for separatism. Both parties took inspiration from committee organizations from the Balkans, leading to the creation of well organized fedayi cells to defend Armenian peasentry, and

11286-425: Was both an organization and a party with 850,000 members and 360 branches spread across the country. In 1910 Ahmed Rıza nominated the CUP for a Nobel Peace Prize "...for its advocacy to bring peace in the Ottoman Empire." In the summer of 1909, the CUP (and Şevket) introduced several laws designed to settle the question of Ottomanism through an egalitarian approach. The Unionists hoped these reforms would dismantle

11400-525: Was covertly trying to "denounce" and abolish ritual fasting during the month of Ramadan and the five daily prayers . The CUP went to the polls in an electoral alliance with most Armenian political organizations, including the Armenian Revolutionary Federation . The Hunchaks deviated from the ARF, and formed an alliance with Freedom and Accord on 7 February 1912. The CUP won an overwhelming majority in parliament, winning all but 6 seats in parliament, which

11514-694: Was dated 7 May. However, its French version continued to appear. Ahmet Rıza attempted to restart Meşveret in Geneva , but his efforts were not fruitful due to the Sultan's pressure. The magazine was replaced by another periodical entitled Osmanlı which was based in Geneva. Committee of Union and Progress The organization began as a liberal reform movement, and the autocratic government of Sultan Abdul Hamid II ( r.  1876–1909 ) persecuted it because of its calls for constitutional government and reform. Most of its members were exiled and arrested after

11628-550: Was forced to reinstate the Ottoman constitution , which he had originally suspended in 1878, after threats to overthrow him by the organization now known as the CUP in the 1908 Young Turk Revolution . The revolution was spontaneous, and was sparked by a summit in July 1908 in Reval, Russia (modern Tallinn , Estonia ) between King Edward VII of the United Kingdom and the emperor Nicholas II of Russia. Popular rumour within

11742-616: Was held in Paris. It was defined by the question of whether to invite foreign intervention for regime change in Constantinople to better minority rights; a majority which included Sabahaddin and his followers as well as the Armenians argued for foreign intervention, a minority which included Rıza's Unionists and the Activist Unionists were against violent change and especially foreign intervention. With this majority, Prince Sabahaddin, Ismail Qemali , and Rexhep Pasha Mati plotted

11856-677: Was held in the middle of the Italo-Turkish War and the Yemeni revolt. The Italian capture of Libyan coastal cities made the Tripolitanian deputies restless, and increased scrutiny towards the CUP was pronounced. The lead up to the election saw partisanship heighten between the CUP and its opponents. The CUP platform represented centralist tendencies, whilst Freedom and Accord promoted a more decentralised agenda, including supporting allowing education in local languages. Although

11970-653: Was intended to mobilize the resources of the empire for an all-out effort to turn the tide. On 3 February 1913 the war resumed. In the Battle of Şarköy , the new government staked a daring operation in which XX Army Corps was to make an amphibious landing at the rear of the Bulgarians at Şarköy while the Straits Composite Force was to break out of the Gallipoli peninsula. The operation failed due to

12084-603: Was largely attributed to voter intimidation and fraud. Therefore, this election was the first fraudulent election in Turkish history. The manner of the CUP's victory led to the formation of the Savior Officers , a group aligned with the Freedom and Accord Party, whose aim was to restore constitutional government. After gaining support from the army in Macedonia , the officers demanded government reforms. Under pressure,

12198-465: Was living in Paris. Meşveret employed the French calendar not the Islamic calendar reflecting its positivist leaning. From 7 December 1895 the magazine published a French supplement entitled Mechvéret supplément français . Meşveret was published on a bimonthly basis. The magazine supported the adoption of a constitution in the Ottoman Empire and the abduction of Sultan Abdul Hamid who demanded

12312-582: Was loosely affiliated with the committee, to serve as Grand Vizier until Talât replaced him in 1917. A courts marshal sentenced to death 16 Freedom and Accord leaders, including Prince Mehmed Sabahaddin who was sentenced in absentia, as he already fled to Geneva in exile. After surrendering in the First Balkan War, the CUP became fixated on retaking Edirne, while other important issues like economic collapse, reform in Eastern Anatolia, and infrastructure were largely ignored. On 20 July 1913, following

12426-475: Was open to the public. Though officially unrelated to the CUP, it was very much an instrument of the Central Committee, and the two organizations merged in 1913. Also at the congress Pan-Turkism was introduced in its party program for an eventual union with the other Turkic populations in the world. The committee pledged to discontinue komitecilik characteristics such as initiation ceremonies and other conspiratorial practices and vowed to be more transparent with

12540-527: Was responsible for arresting many and heavily stifling opposition. At this point the Unionists were no longer concerned with their actions being considered constitutional. The pro-war regime immediately withdrew the Empire's delegation from the London conference on the same day it took power. The first task of the new regime was to found the National Defense League on 1 February 1913 which

12654-549: Was secretly agreed there that Abdul Hamid would be deposed. Constantinople was taken back within a few days and order was restored through many courts marshals and executions, and the constitution was reinstated for the third and final time. Abdul Hamid II was deposed via a fatwa issued by the Shaykh-al-Islam and a unanimous vote of the Ottoman Parliament. Abdul Hamid's younger brother replaced him and took

12768-672: Was seen in the expanding influence of Hüseyin Cahid who propegated for the supremacy of the Turkish nation ( millet-i hâkime ), which drew backlash from the Armenian press and consternation from their Dashnak allies. In February 1910 several parties splintered from the Union and Progress Party, including the People's Party , Ottoman Committee of Alliance , and the Moderate Liberty Party . In September 1911, Italy submitted an ultimatum containing terms clearly meant to provoke

12882-568: Was taken and beaten by Unionist thugs while campaigning in Komotini . The elections were announced in January 1912, making them the first early election in Turkish history. They were called after the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) lost a by-election to the new Freedom and Accord Party in Istanbul the month before, their candidate losing by a just 1 vote. The Freedom and Accord Party

12996-505: Was to assassinate any CPU members who disobeyed orders, disclosed its secrets, or were suspected of being police informers. The CPU professed to be fighting for the restoration of the Constitution , but its internal organisation and methods were intensely authoritarian, with its cadres expected to strictly follow orders from the "Sacred Committee". The committee had a secret presence in towns throughout European Turkey . By comparison,

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