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194-741: The rule of Sultan Abdulhamid II 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 (CUP) forced Abdulhamid II to restore the liberal constitution of 1876 and the General Assembly in the Young Turk Revolution. Abdulhamid II had previously suspended

388-544: A bicameral legislature with senatorial appointments made by the sultan. The first ever election in the Ottoman Empire was held in 1877. Crucially, the constitution gave Abdul Hamid the right to exile anyone he deemed a threat to the state. The delegates to the Constantinople Conference were surprised by the promulgation of a constitution, but European powers at the conference rejected

582-403: A confessional community (a group abiding by the laws of Muslim sharia , Christian canon law , or Jewish halakha ) was allowed to rule itself under its own laws. Despite frequently being referred to as a " system ", before the nineteenth century the organization of what are now retrospectively called millets in the Ottoman Empire was not at all systematic. Rather, non-Muslims were simply given

776-499: A millet system of this form existed since early Ottoman times. Recent scholarship has cast doubt on this idea, showing that it was rather a later political innovation, which was introduced in the rhetorical garb of an ancient tradition. The Ottoman state used religion rather than ethnicity to define each millet , and people who study the Ottoman Empire do not define the Muslims as being in a millet . The Ottoman Turkish version of

970-672: A Christian administration is demanded in Turkish Armenia, as in Lebanon. Today a version of religion-based legal pluralism resembling the millet system still persists in varying forms in some post-Ottoman countries like Iraq , Syria , Jordan , Lebanon , Israel , the Palestinian Authority , Egypt , and Greece (for religious minorities), which observe the principle of separate personal courts and/or laws for every recognized religious community and reserved seats in

1164-596: A Greek expedition sailed to Crete to overthrow Ottoman rule on the island. This act was followed by the Greco-Turkish War , in which the Ottoman Empire defeated Greece, but as a result of the Treaty of Constantinople , Crete was taken over en depot by the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. Prince George of Greece was appointed ruler and Crete was effectively lost to the Ottoman Empire. The ʿAmmiyya ,

1358-491: A Muslim fell under their sharia -based law. Later, the perception of the millet concept was altered in the 19th century by the rise of nationalism within the Ottoman Empire. Although the Ottoman administration of non-Muslim subjects was not uniform until the 19th century and varied according to region and group, it is possible to identify some common patterns for earlier epochs. Christian and Jewish communities were granted

1552-668: A Sufi lodge for the Madani order of Shadhili Sufism in Istanbul, which he commissioned as part of the Ertuğrul Tekke mosque . The relationship of the sultan and the sheik lasted for 30 years, until the latter's death in 1903. Millet (Ottoman Empire) In the Ottoman Empire , a millet ( Turkish: [millet] ; Ottoman Turkish : ملت ) was an independent court of law pertaining to "personal law" under which

1746-430: A consequence of the separation by Church affiliation, as was required by 19th century Ottoman law. Syriac Catholics The Syriac Catholic community was recognized as its own millet in 1829. Chaldeans The Chaldean Catholic community was recognized as its own millet in 1844. Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox community in the Ottoman Empire was for long not recognized as its own millet , but part of

1940-803: A constitutional committee which, taken together, make up the Basic Laws of the Greek Orthodox Millet . Until the 19th century, there was a single Armenian millet which served all ethnic Armenians irrespective of whether they belonged to the Armenian Apostolic Church , the Armenian Catholic Church , or the Armenian Protestant Church (which was formed in the 19th century). Besides a religious role, this millet also played

2134-583: A crisis. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), a Young Turks organization that was especially influential in the Rumelian army units, undertook the Young Turk Revolution in the summer of 1908. Upon learning that the troops in Salonica were marching on Istanbul (23 July), Abdul Hamid capitulated. On 24 July an irade announced the restoration of the suspended constitution of 1876 ;

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2328-422: A few months before his brother Mehmed V , the reigning sultan. He was buried in Istanbul. In 1930, his nine widows and thirteen children were granted $ 50 million from his estate after a lawsuit that lasted five years. His estate was worth $ 1.5 billion. Abdul Hamid was the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire to hold absolute power. He presided over 33 years of decline, during which other European countries regarded

2522-640: 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 and

2716-531: A large degree of autonomy. Tax collection, education, legal and religious affairs of these communities were administered by their own leaders. This enabled the Ottomans to rule over diverse peoples with "a minimum of resistance". The Jewish community, in particular, prospered under Ottoman rule, and its ranks were swelled with the arrival of Jews who were expelled from Spain. At the same time, non-Muslims were subject to several forms of discrimination and excluded from

2910-541: A large portion of the empire's revenues were handed over to the Public Debt Administration for the benefit of (mostly foreign) bondholders (see Kararname of 1296 ). The 1885 union of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia was another blow to the Empire. The creation of an independent and powerful Bulgaria was viewed as a serious threat to the Empire. For many years Abdul Hamid had to deal with Bulgaria in

3104-579: A number of other European countries. Abdul Hamid ascended the throne after his brother Murad was deposed on 31 August 1876. At his accession, some commentators were impressed that he rode practically unattended to the Eyüp Sultan Mosque , where he was presented with the Sword of Osman . Most people expected Abdul Hamid II to support liberal movements, but he acceded to the throne at a critical time . Economic and political turmoil, local wars in

3298-558: A person's private business in which the state should not interfere. However, all such proposals have been defeated. Greece recognizes only a Muslim minority, and no ethnic or national minorities, such as Turks , Pomaks , or Bulgarians . This is the result of several international treaties as the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations of 1923 and of the Treaty of Lausanne of 1924, when

3492-620: A political and cultural role. Namely, it bundled together all Armenian and some other groups, showcasing a shift from religious identity towards national identity. As a result of this, a type of hegemony emerged in which all groups that were under this millet had to conform to the norms imposed by the leader of the millet , who was appointed by the Sultan. This had a cultural, political, linguistic, and religious effect on all of these groups. Only later did separate Catholic millets emerge. Non-Armenians from churches which were theologically linked to

3686-513: 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 and Balkan Wars . From the summer of 1909 onwards the nature of the rebellions in Macedonia changed. The Christian communities largely ceased their rebellious activities while

3880-462: 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

4074-790: A protector at the Porte in the person of the French ambassador. In this way the Roman Catholic millet was established at the start of the Tanzimat reforms. In a 1910 book William Ainger Wigram used the term melet in application to the Persian Sasanian Empire , arguing that the situation there was similar to the Ottoman millet system and no other term was readily available to describe it. Some other authors have also adopted this usage. The early Christians there formed

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4268-432: A revolt in 1889–90 among Druze and other Syrians against excesses of the local sheikhs, similarly led to capitulation to the rebels' demands, as well as concessions to Belgian and French companies to provide a railroad between Beirut and Damascus . Most people expected Abdul Hamid II to have liberal ideas, and some conservatives were inclined to regard him with suspicion as a dangerous reformer. Despite working with

4462-497: A significant degree of autonomy within their own community, without an overarching structure for the millet as a whole. The notion of distinct millets corresponding to different religious communities within the empire would not emerge until the eighteenth century. Subsequently, the millet system was justified through numerous foundation myths linking it back to the time of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (r. 1451–81), although it

4656-554: A system based on the Ottoman millet , in which personal status is based on a person's belonging to a religious community. The state of Israel – on the basis of laws inherited from Ottoman times and retained both under British rule and by independent Israel – reserves the right to recognise some communities but not others. Thus, Orthodox Judaism is officially recognised in Israel, while Reform Rabbis and Conservative Rabbis are not recognised and cannot perform marriages. Israel recognised

4850-596: 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

5044-517: A third time, on 15 October 1917, as a guest of Mehmed V .) German officers such as Baron von der Goltz and Bodo-Borries von Ditfurth were employed to oversee the organization of the Ottoman Army . German government officials were brought in to reorganize the Ottoman government's finances. The German emperor was also rumored to have counseled Abdul Hamid in his controversial decision to appoint his third son as his successor. Germany's friendship

5238-739: A treaty for the end of the war at the London Peace Conference . The Great Powers–the British Empire , France , Italy , and Russia –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 (Adrianople) to Bulgaria and the Aegean islands under its control to the Great Powers themselves. Because of

5432-878: A verdict which sentenced the organizers of the massacres, Talat, Enver, Cemal and others to death. On 2 November, the Three Pashas (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 , who himself remained in Ankara , opened

5626-857: A way that did not antagonize the Russians or the Germans. There were also key problems regarding the Albanian question resulting from the Albanian League of Prizren and with the Greek and Montenegrin frontiers, where the European powers were determined that the Berlin Congress 's decisions be carried out. Crete was granted "extended privileges", but these did not satisfy the population, which sought unification with Greece . In early 1897

5820-582: Is closely linked to Islamic rules on the treatment of non−Muslim minorities living under Islamic dominion ( dhimmi ). The Ottoman term specifically refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to personal law under which minorities were allowed to rule themselves (in cases not involving any Muslim) with fairly little interference from the Ottoman government . People were bound to their millets by their religious affiliations (or their confessional communities ), rather than their ethnic origins, according to

6014-446: Is now understood that no such system existed in the fifteenth century. Heads of millets, or milletbaşı ( Ethnarch ), usually had absolute secular and ecclesiastical power over their communities, being answerable only to the Sultan. During the 19th century rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire , as a result of the Tanzimat reforms (1839–76), the term was used for legally protected ethno-linguistic minority groups , similar to

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6208-714: The Hamidiye Alayları ("Hamidian Regiments"). The Hamidiye and Kurdish brigands were given free rein to attack Armenians – confiscating stores of grain, foodstuffs, and driving off livestock – confident of escaping punishment as they were subject only to court-martial. In the face of such violence, the Armenians established revolutionary organizations: the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (Hunchak; founded in Switzerland in 1887) and

6402-462: The 1875 insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina , the ongoing war with Serbia and Montenegro , and the feeling aroused throughout Europe by the cruelty used in stamping out the 1876 Bulgarian rebellion , Abdul Hamid promulgated a constitution and a parliament. Midhat Pasha headed the commission to establish a new constitution, and the cabinet passed the constitution on 6 December 1876, allowing for

6596-414: The 31 March Incident . The constitutionalists were able to wrestle back control of the Ottoman government from the reactionaries with Mahmud Şevket Pasha 's Action Army ( Turkish : 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

6790-640: The Action Army , which marched on Constantinople. Şevket Pasha's chief of staff was captain Mustafa Kemal . The Action Army stopped first in Aya Stefanos , and negotiated with the rival government established by deputies who escaped from the capital, which was led by Mehmed Talat . It was secretly decided there that Abdul Hamid must be deposed. When the Action Army entered Istanbul, a fatwa

6984-753: The Arabic milla , had three basic meanings in Ottoman Turkish: religion, religious community and nation. The first sense derives from Quranic usage and is attested in Ottoman administrative documents into the 19th century. Benjamin Braude has argued that before the Tanzimat reforms, the word millet in the sense of religious community denoted the Muslim religious community or the Christians outside of

7178-562: The Arabic alphabet while the majority of Albanians had wished to adopt the Latin alphabet . 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,

7372-675: The Archbishopric of Ohrid , autonomous Orthodox Churches under the tutelage of the Ecumenical Patriarch, were taken over by the Greek Phanariots during the 18th century, in 1766 and 1767 respectively. By the 19th century the Orthodox Christian millet was dominated by Greeks, which were worried of Bulgarian and Romanian autocephalism. Over the course of 1860–1862, a series of laws were produced by

7566-706: The Armenian millet under the Armenian Patriarch. This meant that the Syriac Orthodox were subject to the hegemony of the Armenians linguistically, culturally, politically, and religiously. During the Tanzimat reforms (1839–78), the Syriac Orthodox were granted independent status with the recognition of their own millet in 1873. Under the millet system the Jews were organized as a community on

7760-858: The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (the ARF or Dashnaktsutiun, founded in 1890 in Tiflis ). Unrest ensued and clashes occurred in 1892 at Merzifon and in 1893 at Tokat . Abdul Hamid put these revolts down with harsh methods. As a result, 300,000 Armenians were killed in what became known as the Hamidian massacres . News of the massacres was widely reported in Europe and the United States and drew strong responses from foreign governments and humanitarian organizations. Abdul Hamid

7954-413: The Balkan War 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 , 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

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8148-467: The British Foreign Secretary , Lord Salisbury on 13 April 1878. It is no longer possible for the Armenians and the Turks to live together. Only a Christian administration can provide the equality, justice and the freedom of conscience. A Christian administration should replace the Muslim administration. Armenia (Eastern Anatolia) and Kilikya, are the regions where the Christian administration should be founded... The Turkish Armenians want this... That is,

8342-415: The Caliph 's supremacy. During his rule, Abdul Hamid refused Theodor Herzl 's offers to pay down a substantial portion of the Ottoman debt (150 million pounds sterling in gold) in exchange for a charter allowing the Zionists to settle in Palestine . He is famously quoted as telling Herzl's Emissary, "as long as I am alive, I will not have our body divided; only our corpse they can divide." Pan-Islamism

8536-435: The Church of the East (later known as the Nestorian Church after the Nestorian schism ). The Church of the East's leader, the Catholicos or Patriarch of the East , was responsible to the Persian king for the Christians within the Empire. This system of maintaining the Christians as a protected religious community continued after the Islamic conquest of the Sassanids, and the community of Nestorian Christians flourished and

8730-402: The Committee of Union and Progress was also foiled in 1896 . His ascendancy finally ended in a revolution in 1908, and his reign for good ended with the 31 March Incident . These conspiracies were primarily driven by members of inside the Ottoman government, due to dissatisfaction with autocracy. Journalists had to contend with a strict censorship regime, while the intelligentsia chafed under

8924-424: The Druze and Baháʼí as separate communities, which the Ottomans and British had not – due mainly to political considerations. Also, the state of Israel reserves the right to determine to which community a person belongs, and officially register him or her accordingly – even when the person concerned objects to being part of a religious community (e.g., staunch atheists of Jewish origin are registered as members of

9118-514: The French Revolution had extended to the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. Each millet became increasingly independent with the establishment of its own schools, churches, hospitals and other facilities. These activities effectively moved the Christian population outside the framework of the Ottoman political system. The Ottoman millet system (citizenship) began to degrade with increasing identification of religious creed with ethnic nationality. The interaction of ideas of French revolution with

9312-450: The Hamidian massacres (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 , they argued that the codification of secular law in the Ottoman Empire would foster a sense of Ottoman nationalism and prevent ethnic conflict, helping

9506-478: The Ministry of Justice and developed rail and telegraph systems. The telegraph system was expanded to incorporate the furthest parts of the Empire. Railways connected Constantinople and Vienna by 1883, and shortly afterward the Orient Express connected Paris to Constantinople. During his rule, railways within the Ottoman Empire expanded to connect Ottoman-controlled Europe and Anatolia with Constantinople as well. The increased ability to travel and communicate within

9700-477: The Ottoman Caliphate . Given the great diversity of ethnicities in the Ottoman Empire, he believed that Islam was the only way to unite his people. Pan-Islamism encouraged Muslims living under European powers to unite under one polity. This threatened several European countries: Austria through Bosnian Muslims ; Russia through Tatars and Kurds ; France and Spain through Moroccan Muslims; and Britain through Indian Muslims. Foreigners' privileges in

9894-444: The Ottoman Constitution of 1876 uses the word " millet ", as do the Arabic and Persian versions; despite this, at the time the usage of the Arabic word " milla " was declining in favour of the word " ummah ". The Armenian, Greek, and Jewish residents did not use the word " millet " and instead described themselves as "nations" ( French : nation , Armenian: ազգ (azg), Greek: Έθνος (ethnos), and Ladino: nasyon ). The lack of use of

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10088-478: The Young Turks movement. Ethnic minorities started organizing their own national liberation movements . Armenians especially suffered from massacres and pogroms at the hands of the Hamidiye regiments. Of the many assassination attempts during Abdul Hamid's reign, one of the most famous is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation 's Yıldız assassination attempt of 1905. In 1908, the Committee of Union and Progress forced him to recall parliament and reinstate

10282-415: The general elections held in April 1912 , nicknamed the "Election of Clubs" ( Turkish : 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

10476-422: The millet concept (excepting the Armenian case, until the modern era). The millets had a great deal of power – they set their own laws and collected and distributed their own taxes. All that was required was loyalty to the Empire. When a member of one millet committed a crime against a member of another, the law of the injured party applied, but the ruling Islamic majority being paramount, any dispute involving

10670-406: The millet system created a strain of thought (a new form of personal identification) which made nationality synonymous with religion under the Ottoman flag. It was impossible to hold the system or prevent Clash of Civilizations when the Armenian national liberation movement expressed itself within the Armenian church. Patriarch Nerses Varjabedyan expressed his position on Ottoman Armenians to

10864-418: The war with Serbia and Montenegro , the result of Russo-Turkish war , and the feeling aroused throughout Europe by Abdul Hamid's government in stamping out the Bulgarian rebellion all contributed to his apprehension regarding enacting significant changes. His push for education resulted in the establishment of 18 professional schools; and in 1900, Darülfünûn-u Şahâne , now known as Istanbul University ,

11058-445: The Şehzadebaşı raid , resulted in 5 Ottoman Army 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,

11252-454: The " Regulation of the Armenian Nation " (Turkish: Nizâmnâme−i Millet−i Ermeniyân ): a constitution for the Armenian Orthodox Gregorian nation ( millet ) of that time. This document was drawn up by Armenian intelligentsia, which sought to curb the powers of the Armenian Patriarch and nobility. It created an Armenian National Assembly. These two reforms, which were theoretically perfect examples of social change by law, caused serious stress on

11446-427: The 1856 Imperial Reform edict, the Armenian Protestant Millet was the first millet to have a constitution sanctioned by the government, which was based on the principle of representative and lay control. Debate for a constitution among the Gregorian Armenians would be influenced by the Protestant Armenians'. The Armenian Gregorian Millet received a constitution on March 29, 1863, after several years of tensions within

11640-468: The 1890s, Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Aromanian militant groups started fighting Ottoman authorities, and each other, in the Macedonian conflict . Using the İdare-i Örfiyye , a clause in the defunct Ottoman constitution comparable to declaring a state of siege , the government suspended civil rights in the Ottoman Balkans . İdare-i Örfiyye was also soon declared in Eastern Anatolia to more effectively prosecute fedayi . The statute persisted under

11834-454: The 19th century, the millets had a great deal of power – they set their own laws and collected and distributed their own taxes. The Tanzimat reforms aimed to encourage Ottomanism among the subject nations and stop the rise of secessionist nationalist movements. within the Ottoman Empire. The reforms tried to integrate non-Muslims and non-Turks more thoroughly into the Ottoman society with new laws and regulations, but failed. In 1856, during

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12028-424: The 275 seats. 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

12222-461: 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

12416-409: The Alliance forces led by the German Captain Guido von Usedom at the Battle of Langfang during the Seymour Expedition , in 1900, and besieged the trapped Alliance forces during the Siege of the International Legations . It was only on the second attempt, in the Gasalee Expedition , that the Alliance forces managed to get through to battle the Chinese Muslim troops at the Battle of Peking . Wilhelm

12610-412: The Americans, inasmuch as no interference with their religion would be allowed under American rule. As the Moros have never asked more than that, it is not surprising, that they refused all overtures made, by Aguinaldo's agents, at the time of the Filipino insurrection. President McKinley sent a personal letter of thanks to Mr. Straus for the excellent work he had done, and said, its accomplishment had saved

12804-409: The Armenian Church (by virtue of being non-Chalcedonians ) were under the authority of the Armenian Patriarchate, although they maintained a separate hierarchy with their own Patriarchs; these groups included the Syriac Orthodox and the Copts . Armenian Catholics and Armenian Protestants in 1850 (with British backing) separated from the Armenian Gregorian Millet to become their own millets. After

12998-455: The Armenian community between Loussavorial and Khavarials and with the Porte . Assyrian or Eastern Syriacs Assyrians are referred to as 'Asuri' in the Turkish vernacular. Assyrians split by Christian sect were thus treated as separate ethnic groups for the Ottoman government. The Church of the East largely identifies as Assyrian, but the liturgical language is called Syriac, hence multiple 'millets' for Syriac speaking Assyrians arose as

13192-511: The Armenian desire for reform, led western European powers to take a more hands-on approach with the Turks. Abdul Hamid survived an attempted stabbing in 1904 as well. Abdul Hamid did not believe that the Tanzimat movement could succeed in helping the disparate peoples of the empire achieve a common identity, such as Ottomanism . He adopted a new ideological principle, Pan-Islamism ; since, beginning in 1517, Ottoman sultans were also nominally Caliphs, he wanted to promote that fact and emphasized

13386-411: The Armenians; the Eastern Orthodox perceived American Protestants, who had over 100 missionaries established in Anatolia by World War I , as weakening their own teaching. These religious activities, subsidized by the governments of western nations, were not devoid of political goals, such in the case of candlestick wars of 1847, which eventually led in 1854 to the Crimean War . Tension began among

13580-466: The Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians), and Bulgarians (Bulgar). The Ecumenical Patriarch was recognized as the highest religious and political leader ( millet-bashi , or ethnarch ) of all Eastern Orthodox subjects of the Sultan, though in certain periods some major powers, such as Russia (under the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca ), or Britain claimed the rights of protection over the Ottoman Empire's Orthodox subjects. The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć and

13774-457: The Balkans, and the Russo-Turkish War threatened the Empire's very existence. Abdul Hamid worked with the Young Ottomans to realize some form of constitutional arrangement. This new form could help bring about a liberal transition with an Islamic provenance. The Young Ottomans believed that the modern parliamentary system was a restatement of the practice of consultation, or shura , that had existed in early Islam. In December 1876, due to

13968-626: The Balkans, overrunning the Catholic populations of Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, and Hungary. The Melkite Catholics gained their autonomy as a religious community in 1848 by Sultan Abdulmecid . Bruce Masters claims that Melkite Catholics insisted that they had a millet of their own, that would grant them "sense of distinctiveness". In the Orient, the 16th century saw the Maronites of Lebanon,

14162-737: The Bilu, a group of young Russian Jews who were pioneers in the Zionist movement, proposed negotiating with the Sultan to allow a millet like settlement which would allow them greater independence in Palestine. After the Fall of Constantinople , the only Latin Catholic group in the Sultan's domain were the Genoese who lived in the Byzantine capital. Over the next decades, Turkish armies pushed into

14356-498: 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 spread. The Bulgarian Army had soon advanced as far as Çatalca . At this point, Kâmil Pasha's government signed an armistice with Bulgaria in December 1912 and sat down to draw up

14550-708: 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 led by the " Three Pashas ", 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

14744-635: 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 in Ankara and agreeing to a Misak-ı Millî (National Pact). As plans for the partition of the Ottoman Empire advanced following the Conference of London , the Allies forced the dissolution of the assembly, thus bringing

14938-558: 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 , and the CUP, whose Central Committee was still based in Salonica, and now represented

15132-471: The CUP was briefly expelled from Constantinople ( Istanbul ) during the 31 March incident , 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 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

15326-487: 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 led by Mehmed Sabahaddin founded the Liberty Party and later in 1911 the Freedom and Accord Party . The Liberty Party was liberal in outlook, bearing a strong British imprint, and closer to

15520-557: The Catholic and Orthodox monks in Palestine with France channeling resources to increase its influence in the region from 1840. Repairs to shrines were important for the sects as they were linked to the possession of keys to the shrines. Notes were given by the protectorates, including the French, to the Ottoman capital about the governor; he was condemned as he had to defend the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by placing soldiers inside

15714-652: 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 , started to increasingly feeling insecure in their position as Ottoman subjects after these sentiments manifested in

15908-449: The European powers, which Muslims were not given access to. Therefore, centralization and economic nationalism 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 , but also to empower the government to redistribute wealth and opportunity to its Muslim subjects. Abdulhamid II ascended to

16102-610: The Great Powers' insistence (especially the United Kingdom's), the treaty was revised at the Congress of Berlin so as to reduce the great advantages Russia gained. In exchange for these favors, Cyprus was ceded to Britain in 1878. There were troubles in Egypt, where a discredited khedive had to be deposed. Abdul Hamid mishandled relations with Urabi Pasha , and as a result, Britain gained de facto control over Egypt and Sudan by sending its troops in 1882 to establish control over

16296-461: The Jewish religious community, a practice derived ultimately from the fact that the millet ultimately designated a person's ethnicity more than a person's beliefs). Israeli secularists such as Shulamit Aloni and Uri Avnery often protested and called for abolition of this Ottoman remnant, and its replacement by a system modeled on that of the United States where religious affiliation is considered

16490-755: The Latins of Palestine, and most of the Greek islands, which once held Latin Catholic communities, come under Turkish rule. Papal response to the loss of these communities was initially a call to the crusade, but the response from the European Catholic monarchs was weak: French interest, moreover, lay in an alliance with the Turks against the Habsburgs . Furthermore, the Catholics of the Ottoman world received

16684-445: 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 and a dozen Greeks 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

16878-581: The Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey until the 1940s. Educated Muslim women resented the Salafist Hatts that mandated veils be worn outside the home and to be accompanied by men, though these decrees were mostly ignored. The national humiliation of the Macedonian conflict , together with the resentment in the army against the palace spies and informers, at last brought matters to

17072-536: The Ottoman Empire served to strengthen Constantinople's influence over the rest of the Empire. Abdul Hamid introduced legislation against the slave trade via the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1880 and the Kanunname of 1889 . Abdul Hamid took stringent measures regarding his security. The memory of the deposition of Abdul Aziz was on his mind and convinced him that a constitutional government

17266-611: The Ottoman Empire went to war with the Russian Empire . Abdul Hamid's biggest fear, near dissolution, was realized with the Russian declaration of war on 24 April 1877. In that conflict, the Ottoman Empire fought without help from European allies. Russian chancellor Prince Gorchakov had by that time effectively purchased Austrian neutrality with the Reichstadt Agreement . The British Empire, though still fearing

17460-620: The Ottoman Empire, despite being Muslim, mainly kept to themselves and maintained their separate identity, even having their own courts, in which they would tolerate no outside influence. The Orthodox Christians were included in the Rum Millet ( millet-i Rûm ) or the " Roman nation ", and enjoyed a certain autonomy. It was named after Roman ("Byzantine") subjects of the Ottoman Empire, but Orthodox Greeks , Bulgarians , Albanians , Georgians , Arabs , Aromanians , Megleno-Romanians , Romanians , and Serbs were all considered part of

17654-610: The Ottoman Empire, which were an obstacle to effective government, were curtailed. At the very end of his reign, Abdul Hamid finally provided funds to start construction of the strategically important Constantinople-Baghdad Railway and the Constantinople-Medina Railway , which would ease the trip to Mecca for the Hajj ; after he was deposed, the CUP accelerated and completed construction of both railways. Missionaries were sent to distant countries preaching Islam and

17848-421: The Ottoman Empire. This view is supported by Donald Quataert . In contrast, Michael Ursinus writes that the word was used to refer to non-Muslim subjects of the Ottoman Empire even before that time. The term was used inconsistently prior to the 19th century. The systematic use of millet as designation for non-Muslim Ottoman communities dates from the reign of Sultan Mahmud II ( r.  1808–1839 ) in

18042-672: The Ottoman Empire. Abdul Hamid and his close advisors believed the Empire should be treated as an equal player by these great powers. In the Sultan's view, the Ottoman Empire was a European empire that was distinguished by having more Muslims than Christians. Over time, the hostile diplomatic attitudes of France (the occupation of Tunisia in 1881) and Great Britain (the 1882 establishment of de facto control in Egypt ) caused Abdul Hamid to gravitate towards Germany. Abdul Hamid twice hosted Kaiser Wilhelm II in Istanbul, on 21 October 1889 and on 5 October 1898 . (Wilhelm II later visited Constantinople

18236-421: The Ottoman Empire. Norman Stillman explains that the prosperity of medieval Jews was closely tied to that of their Muslim governors. Stillman notes that during the time between the 9th and 13th centuries when Jewish culture blossomed, "medieval Islamic civilization was at its apogee". Given their rampant persecution in medieval Europe, many Jews looked favorably upon millet . In the late 19th century such groups as

18430-668: The Ottoman fleet (the world's third-largest fleet during the reign of his predecessor Abdul Aziz ) inside the Golden Horn indirectly caused the loss of Ottoman overseas territories and islands in North Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean Sea during and after his reign. Financial difficulties forced him to consent to foreign control over the Ottoman national debt . In a decree issued in December 1881,

18624-552: The Ottoman political and administrative structure. The Ottoman System lost important domestic powers under the Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire . Many foreigners resident in the Empire were not subject to its laws, but rather those of their homelands. In addition, European powers became formal Protectors of certain groups in the empire: Russia of Eastern Orthodox groups, France of Roman Catholics, and Great Britain of Jews and other groups. Russia and Britain competed for

18818-458: The Ottoman ruling elite. Armenians formed three millets under the Ottoman rule. A wide array of other groups such as Catholics , Karaites , and Samaritans was also represented. The large number of Circassians in the Ottoman Empire was mainly due to the Crimean War . During the war and following years, many Circassians fled the conquest of their homeland by Russia . Circassians in

19012-518: The Ottoman system and especially the status of non-Muslims". Other authors interpret the millet system as one form of non-territorial autonomy and consider it as such a potentially universal solution to the modern issues of ethnic and religious diversity. According to Taner Akçam , the Ottoman state was "... based on the principle of heterogeneity and difference rather than homogeneity and sameness, [which] functioned in an opposite way to modern nation-states." The term millet , which originates from

19206-654: 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 and Abdullah Cevdet , two original founders of the CUP, founded the Ottoman Democratic Party  [ tr ] in February 1909. Ahmet Rıza who returned to

19400-733: The Philippines, ordering them not to join the Moro Rebellion and submit to American suzerainty and American military rule. The Sultan obliged the Americans and wrote the letter, which was sent to Mecca, whence two Sulu chiefs brought it to Sulu. It was successful, since the "Sulu Mohammedans ... refused to join the insurrectionists and had placed themselves under the control of our army, thereby recognizing American sovereignty." Despite Abdul Hamid's "pan-Islamic" ideology, he had readily acceded to Straus's request for help in telling

19594-764: The Russian threat to the British presence in India , did not involve itself in the conflict because of public opinion against the Ottomans, following reports of Ottoman brutality in putting down the Bulgarian uprising. Russia's victory was quick; the conflict ended in February 1878. The Treaty of San Stefano , signed at the end of the war, imposed harsh terms: the Ottoman Empire gave independence to Romania , Serbia, and Montenegro; it granted autonomy to Bulgaria; instituted reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and ceded parts of Dobrudzha to Romania and parts of Armenia to Russia, which

19788-823: 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 . A consequence of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars 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

19982-494: The Sultan, who had corrupted the troops so that he might restore the old regime. His younger brother, Mehmed V , 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. Parliament

20176-561: The Sultanate's autonomy in its internal affairs and governance , was then violated by the Americans , who then invaded Moroland, causing the Moro Rebellion to break out in 1904, with war raging between the Americans and Moro Muslims and atrocities committed against Moro Muslim women and children, such as the Moro Crater Massacre . The Triple Entente – the United Kingdom, France and Russia – had strained relations with

20370-869: The Sulu Muslims to not resist America, since he felt no need to cause hostilities between the West and Muslims. Collaboration between the American military and Sulu Sultanate was due to the Ottoman Sultan persuading the Sulu Sultan. John P. Finley wrote: After due consideration of these facts, the Sultan, as Caliph caused a message to be sent to the Mohammedans of the Philippine Islands forbidding them to enter into any hostilities against

20564-514: The Tanzimat era, Sultan Abdulmejid I enacted the Hatt-ı Hümayun (modern Turkish Islahat Fermânı ; "Firman of the Reforms"), which proclaimed freedom of religion and civil equality of all religious communities. It further granted the authorities in each millet greater privileges and self-governing powers, but also required oaths of allegiance to the Sultan. In March 1863, the Sultan enacted

20758-686: The United States at least twenty thousand troops in the field. President McKinley did not mention the Ottoman role in the pacification of the Sulu Moros in his address to the first session of the Fifty-sixth Congress in December 1899, since the agreement with the Sultan of Sulu was not submitted to the Senate until 18 December. The Bates Treaty, which the Americans signed with the Moro Sulu Sultanate, and which guaranteed

20952-482: The Young Turks driven out of the capital, Abdul Hamid appointed Ahmet Tevfik Pasha in his place, and once again suspended the constitution and shuttered the parliament. But the Sultan controlled only Constantinople, while the Unionists were still influential in the rest of the army and provinces. The CUP appealed to Mahmud Shevket Pasha to restore the status quo. Shevket Pasha organized an ad hoc formation known as

21146-427: 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

21340-423: 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. 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

21534-483: 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 ). With the reestablishment of the constitution and parliament , most Young Turk organizations turned into political parties, including

21728-425: The age of two. The two were brought up in the same household, where they spent their childhood together. Unlike many other Ottoman sultans, Abdul Hamid II visited distant countries. In the summer of 1867, nine years before he ascended the throne, he accompanied his uncle Sultan Abdul Aziz on a visit to Paris (30 June – 10 July 1867), London (12–23 July 1867), Vienna (28–30 July 1867), and capitals or cities of

21922-540: The basis of religion, alongside the other millets ( e.g. Eastern Orthodox millet , Armenian millet , etc.). They were the most geographically spread group within the empire. Ottoman Jews enjoyed privileges similar to Christians in the Ottoman Empire. In the framework of the millet they had a considerable amount of administrative autonomy and were represented by the Hakham Bashi ( Turkish : Hahambaşı حاخامباشی), who held broad powers to enact, judge, and enforce

22116-463: The big tent Freedom and Accord Party , immediately attracting 70 deputies to its ranks. Only 20 days after formation, a by-election 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

22310-816: The bureaucracy, extension of the Rumelia Railway and the Anatolia Railway , and construction of the Baghdad Railway and the Hejaz Railway . Systems for population registration, sedentarization of tribal groups , and control over the press were part of a unique imperialist system in fringe provinces known as borrowed colonialism . The farthest-reaching reforms were in education, with many professional schools established in fields such as law, arts, trades, civil engineering, veterinary medicine, customs, farming, and linguistics, along with

22504-457: 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 . The motivation of these strikes came from dissatisfaction of

22698-554: The censors' clumsy restrictions. Starting around 1890, Armenians began demanding implementation of the reforms promised to them at the Berlin Conference . To prevent such measures, in 1890–91 Abdul Hamid gave semi-official status to the bandits who were already actively mistreating the Armenians in the provinces. Made up of Kurds and other ethnic groups such as Turcomans , and armed by the state, they came to be called

22892-402: The central government and to keep their power in check. Many clerics in the millet system pushed back against these reforms as they believed it was meant to weaken the millets and the power these clerics had built for themselves. These millets , refusing to give up any autonomy, slowed down the attempted reforms and their impact on the equality of religious communities. Before the turn of

23086-404: The constitution as a too-radical change; they preferred the 1856 constitution ( Islâhat Hatt-ı Hümâyûnu ) or the 1839 Gülhane edict ( Hatt-ı Şerif ), and questioned whether a parliament was necessary to act as an official voice of the people. In any event, like many other would-be reforms of the Ottoman Empire, it proved nearly impossible. Russia continued to mobilize for war, and early in 1877

23280-465: The constitution in the Young Turk Revolution . Abdul Hamid II attempted to reassert his absolutism a year later, resulting in his deposition by pro-constitutionalist forces in the 31 March incident , though the role he played in these events is disputed. Hamid Efendi was born on 21 September 1842 either in Çırağan Palace , Ortaköy , or at Topkapı Palace , both in Constantinople . He was

23474-778: The country and call for these elections. At the Protocol, the Ottoman government was represented by Minister of the Navy Salih Hulusi Pasha , and the Turkish National Movement was represented by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , Rauf Orbay , 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 , began to occupy government buildings and arrested five parliament members. An Indian Army operation,

23668-638: The crisis, Ottoman rule in the Balkans and its international prestige were severely diminished, and the Empire lost its economic sovereignty as its finances came under the control of the Great Powers through the Ottoman Public Debt Administration . In 1878, Abdul Hamid consolidated his rule by suspending both the constitution and the parliament, purging the Young Ottomans  [ tr ] , and curtailing

23862-677: The declaration of the Parliament's dissolution on 11 April. About 100 Ottoman politicians were sent to exile in Malta (see Malta exiles ). 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. Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II ( Ottoman Turkish : عبد الحميد ثانی , romanized :  Abd ul-Hamid-i s̱ānī ; Turkish : II. Abdülhamid ; 21 September 1842 – 10 February 1918)

24056-406: The early 19th century, when official documentation came to reiterate that non-Muslim subjects were organized into three officially sanctioned millets : Greek Orthodox , Armenian , and Jewish . The bureaucrats of this era asserted that the millet system was a tradition dating back to the reign of Sultan Mehmed I ( r.  1413–1421 ). Many historians have accepted this claim and assumed that

24250-574: 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 (the so-called "Great Cabinet", Turkish: 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

24444-411: 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 (5,991 km of single-track railroads in

24638-407: 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 " (Turkish: Halâskâr Zâbitân ) and made their presence known to

24832-567: The empire as the " sick man of Europe ". Abdul Hamid II was a skilled carpenter and personally crafted some high-quality furniture, which can be seen at the Yıldız Palace , Şale Köşkü , and Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul. He was also interested in opera and personally wrote the first-ever Turkish translations of many classic operas. He also composed several opera pieces for the Mızıka-yı Hümâyun (Ottoman Imperial Band/Orchestra, established by his grandfather Mahmud II who had appointed Donizetti Pasha as its Instructor General in 1828), and hosted

25026-431: 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 , Assyrian , and Greek citizens, events sometimes collectively referred to as the Late Ottoman genocides . Following the Ottoman surrender in 1918,

25220-445: The empire to hold on to its remaining Balkan territories. The Young Turk Revolution began with a small insurrection of Committee of Union and Progress (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 . This made recruitment to revolutionary societies like

25414-457: The empire, and selected wrestlers were invited to the palace. Abdul Hamid personally tried the sportsmen, and good ones remained in the palace. He was also skilled at drawing, having drawn the sole known portrait of his fourth wife, Bidar Kadın . He was extremely fond of Sherlock Holmes novels, and awarded their author, Arthur Conan Doyle , the Order of the Medjidie , 2nd-Class, in 1907. Bilgi University professor Suraiya Farooqi stated that

25608-427: The empire." Abdul Hamid's new attitude did not save him from the suspicion of intriguing with the state's powerful reactionary elements, a suspicion confirmed by his attitude toward the counter-revolution of 13 April 1909, known as the 31 March Incident , when an insurrection of the soldiers backed by a conservative upheaval in some parts of the military in the capital overthrew Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha 's government. With

25802-442: 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

25996-439: The famous performers of Europe at the Opera House of Yıldız Palace, which was restored in the 1990s and featured in the 1999 film Harem Suare (it begins with a scene of Abdul Hamid watching a performance). One of his guests was the French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt , who performed for audiences. Abdul Hamid was also a good wrestler at Yağlı güreş and a "patron saint" of the wrestlers. He organized wrestling tournaments in

26190-474: The first local modern law school in 1898. A network of primary, secondary, and military schools extended throughout the Empire. German firms played a major role in developing the Empire's railway and telegraph systems. Ironically, the same education institutions that the Sultan sponsored proved to be his downfall. Large sections of the pro-constitutionalist Ottoman intelligentsia sharply criticized and opposed him for his repressive policies, which coalesced into

26384-406: 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

26578-413: 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

26772-477: 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 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

26966-417: The hands of Mehmed Talaat Pasha , the Interior Minister, Enver Pasha , the Minister of War , 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 . The Empire's role as an ally of the Central Powers is a significant part of

27160-402: The history of that war. With the collapse of Bulgaria and Germany's capitulation , the Ottoman Empire was isolated and surrendered. The last elections were performed under the military Occupation of Constantinople 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

27354-406: 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 to the Military Council, the Savior Officers succeeded in getting Mehmed Said Pasha (who they blamed for allowing

27548-431: 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

27742-438: The laws among the Jews in the Ottoman Empire and often sat on the Sultan's divan . The Jewish millet received a constitution in 1865. The Jews, like the other millet communities of the Ottoman Empire, were still considered "People of the book" and protected by the Sharia Law of Islam. However, while the Jews were not viewed in the eyes of the law as equals of Muslims, they were still treated relatively well at points during

27936-509: 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. The Freedom and Accord government with Kâmil Pasha was overthrown in a coup d'état (also known as the Raid on the Sublime Porte, Turkish : Bâb-ı Âlî Baskını ) engineered by CUP leaders Mehmed Talaat and Ismail Enver , who used

28130-400: 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

28324-410: 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

28518-407: The next day, further irades abolished espionage and censorship, and ordered the release of political prisoners. On 17 December, Abdul Hamid reopened the General Assembly with a speech from the throne in which he said that the first parliament had been "temporarily dissolved until the education of the people had been brought to a sufficiently high level by the extension of instruction throughout

28712-544: The non-Muslim deputies, according to their ethnic and religious origins, and of Ottomanism 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

28906-429: The old millet categories were used for the exchange between Greece and Turkey of the Greek Orthodox population in Turkey and Moslems in Greece. The categories were also used to establish the protection of the two remaining recognized minorities, the "Muslims of Western Thrace" (Turks, Pomaks, and Roms) and the "Greek Orthodox of Istanbul". In 1924, upon the League of Nations ' demand, a bilateral Bulgarian-Greek agreement

29100-441: The parliament and constitution in 1878, two years after they had been introduced. Whereas the short First Constitutional Era lacked political parties, the second era initially featured unprecedented political pluralism within the empire and openly contested elections . The period was marked by political instability as opposition groups attempted to challenge the CUP's dominance and its increasingly repressive tendencies. In 1909,

29294-409: The parliament's most esteemed politicians including Hakkı Pasha , Talat , Cavid , Halil Menteşe , Krikor Zohrab , Vartkes Serengülian , 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

29488-414: 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,

29682-419: The parliament. Some legal systems which developed outside the Ottoman Empire, such as those in India , Iran , Pakistan , and Bangladesh , display similar characteristics. In Egypt for instance, the application of family law – including marriage, divorce, alimony , child custody, inheritance, and burial – is based on an individual's religious beliefs. In the practice of family law, the State recognizes only

29876-403: 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

30070-435: The power of the Sublime Porte . He ruled as an absolute monarch for three decades. Ideologically an Islamist , the sultan asserted his title of Caliph to Muslims around the world. His paranoia about being overthrown, like his uncle and brother , led to the creation of secret police organizations and a censorship regime. The Ottoman Empire's modernization and centralization continued during his reign, including reform of

30264-451: 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 while the cabinet was in session, a raid in which the Minister of War Nazım Pasha 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

30458-419: The reformist Young Ottomans while still crown prince and appearing to be a liberal leader, he became increasingly conservative after taking the throne. In a process known as İstibdad , Abdul Hamid reduced his ministers to acting as secretaries and concentrated much of the Empire's administration into his own hands. Default in the public funds, an empty treasury, the 1875 insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina ,

30652-426: The rest of the CUP ministry resigned, and the Armistice of Mudros was signed aboard a British battleship in the Aegean Sea 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 and Greeks . The court reached

30846-428: 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 , 60 Arabs , 25 Albanians , 23 Greeks , 12 Armenians (including four Dashnaks and two Hunchaks ), 5 Jews , 4 Bulgarians , 3 Serbs and 1 Vlach . The CUP became the biggest party among a fragmented parliament with only 60 of

31040-429: The same millet despite their differences in ethnicity and language and despite the fact that the religious hierarchy was dominated by the Greeks. Nevertheless, ethnonyms never disappeared and some form of ethnic identity was preserved as evident from a Sultan's Firman from 1680, that lists the ethnic groups in the Balkans as follows: Greeks ( Rum ), Albanians ( Arnaut ), Serbs ( Sirf ), "Vlachs" ( Eflak , referring to

31234-425: 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 ( imperialists ) were Christians. Taking account of the loss of the Balkans and of Libya for

31428-442: The son of Sultan Abdulmejid I and Tirimüjgan Kadın ( Circassia , 20 August 1819 – Constantinople, Feriye Palace , 2 November 1853), originally named Virjinia. Following his mother's death, he became the adoptive son of his father's legal wife, Perestu Kadın . Perestu was also the adoptive mother of Abdul Hamid's half-sister Cemile Sultan , whose mother Düzdidil Kadın had died in 1845, leaving her motherless at

31622-413: The state recognized multiple different religious groups in exchange for some control over religious identification and the enforcement of orthodoxy. Notably, Ethnarchs principally conversed with the Foreign Ministry , as if they represented foreign nations, but after 1878 it was through the Justice Ministry . Historian Johann Strauss wrote that the term "seems to be so essential for the understanding of

31816-535: The sultan's "tastes were distinctly Verdi " despite his political rule being "conservative". It was rumored that Abdul Hamid always carried a pistol on his person at all times. In addition to locking the Ottoman Navy in the Golden Horn, he also did not allow the army to train with live ammunition. Abdul Hamid practiced traditional Islamic Sufism . He was influenced by the Libyan Shadhili Madani Sheikh, Muhammad Zafir al-Madani, whose lessons he attended in disguise in Unkapani before he became sultan. After he ascended

32010-452: The surveillance of intelligence agencies. It was in this context that a broad opposition movement to the sultan emerged, known as the Young Turks to European observers. Most Young Turks were ambitious military officers, constitutionalists, and bureaucrats of the Sublime Porte . With state policy fostering an Islamist Ottomanism, Christian minority groups also began to turn against the government, going so far as to advocate for separatism. By

32204-410: The temple because of the "candlestick wars", eliminating the change of keys. Successive Ottoman governments had issued edicts granting primacy of access to different Christian groups which vied for control of Jerusalem's holy sites. Under the original design, the multi-faced structure of the millet system was unified under the House of Osman . The rise of nationalism in Europe under the influence of

32398-407: The three " heavenly religions ": Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Muslim families are subject to the Personal Status Law , which draws on Sharia . Christian families are subject to canon law , and Jewish families are subject to Jewish law . In cases of family law disputes involving a marriage between a Christian woman and a Muslim man, the courts apply the Personal Status Law. Israel, too, keeps

32592-425: The throne in 1876 at the height of this period of reform in the Ottoman Empire . One of his first acts as Sultan was transforming the Ottoman Empire into a constitutional monarchy with the introduction of a constitution , thus starting the Empire's first short experience with democracy: the First Constitutional Era . However, in the aftermath of Russian invasion in 1877–1878 , following criticism of his handling of

32786-476: The throne, Abdul Hamid asked al-Madani to return to Istanbul. Al-Madani initiated Shadhili gatherings of remembrance ( dhikr ) in the newly commissioned Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque ; on Thursday evenings he accompanied Sufi masters in reciting dhikr. He also became a close religious and political confidant of the sultan. In 1879, the sultan forgave the taxes of all of the Caliphate's Madani Sufi lodges (also known as zawiyas and tekkes ). In 1888, he even established

32980-418: The two provinces. Cyprus, Egypt, and Sudan ostensibly remained Ottoman provinces until 1914, when Britain officially annexed them in response to the Ottoman participation in World War I on the side of the Central Powers . Abdul Hamid's distrust of the reformist admirals of the Ottoman Navy (whom he suspected of plotting against him and trying to restore the constitution) and his subsequent decision to lock

33174-409: The wake of Young Ottoman coups , he promulgated the Ottoman Empire's first constitution during the Tersane Conference , a sign of the progressive thinking that marked his early rule . But his enthronement came in the context of the Great Eastern Crisis , which began with the Empire's default on its loans, uprisings by Christian Balkan minorities, and a war with the Russian Empire . At the end of

33368-423: The war, Abdulhamid used his constitutional power as Sultan to suspend parliament 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 . To many in the empire, the war against Russia in 1877–78

33562-450: The way other countries use the word nation . During this era, the status of these groups, their relation to the central government, and their self-governance, were codified into constitutions , elevating the power of the laity at the expense of clergy. The word millet comes from the Arabic word millah (ملة) and literally means "nation". Abdulaziz Sachedina regards the millet system as an example of pre-modern religious pluralism , as

33756-410: 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. In mid-October, many of

33950-486: The word " millet " among the Christian and Jewish minorities reflected in versions of the Ottoman Constitution in their respective languages: The French version of the Ottoman Constitution used the word " communauté " in the place of " millet ", and so the others used words modeled after or based on the French: հասարակութիւն ( hasarakut'iwn ) in Armenian, общност/община ( obstina ) in Bulgarian, κοινότης ( koinotēs ) in Greek, and komunita in Judaeo-Spanish. The millet system

34144-414: Was a considerable success. After the Greco-Ottoman war , many Muslims celebrated the Ottoman victory as their victory. Uprisings, lockouts, and objections to European colonization in newspapers were reported in Muslim regions after the war. But Abdul Hamid's appeals to Muslim sentiment were not always very effective, due to widespread disaffection within the Empire. In Mesopotamia and Yemen , disturbance

34338-452: Was able to send missionaries far past the Empire's borders, reaching as far as China and India . In 1839 and 1856, reforms were attempted with the goal of creating equality between the religious communities of the Ottoman Empire. In the course of these reforms, new millets emerged, notably for Eastern Catholic and Protestant Christian communities. The heads of each millet and clerics in them were also to have their internal rule reviewed by

34532-408: Was also paid an enormous indemnity. After the war, Abdul Hamid suspended the constitution in February 1878 and dismissed the parliament, after its only meeting, in March 1877. For the next three decades, Abdul Hamid ruled the Ottoman Empire from Yıldız Palace . As Russia could dominate the newly independent states, the Treaty of San Stefano greatly increased its influence in Southeastern Europe . At

34726-413: Was called the "Bloody Sultan" or "Red Sultan" in the West. On 21 July 1905, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation attempted to assassinate him with a car bomb during a public appearance, but he was delayed for a minute, and the bomb went off too early, killing 26, wounding 58 (four of whom died during their treatment in hospital), and destroying 17 cars. This continued aggression, along with the handling of

34920-424: Was conveyed into captivity at Salonica (now Thessaloniki ), mostly at the Villa Allatini in the city's southern outskirts. In 1912, when Salonica fell to Greece, he was returned to captivity in Constantinople. He spent his last days studying, practicing carpentry, and writing his memoirs in custody at Beylerbeyi Palace in the Bosphorus , in the company of his wives and children. He died there on 10 February 1918,

35114-409: Was endemic; nearer home, a semblance of loyalty was maintained in the army and among the Muslim population only by a system of deflation and espionage . In 1898, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay asked United States Minister to the Ottoman Empire Oscar Straus to request that Abdul Hamid, in his capacity as caliph , write a letter to the Sulu Muslims , a Moro subgroup, of the Sulu Sultanate in

35308-459: Was established. He also created a large system of primary, secondary, and military schools throughout the empire. 51 secondary schools were constructed in a 12-year period (1882–1894). As the goal of the educational reforms in the Hamidian era were to counter foreign influence, these secondary schools used European teaching techniques while instilling in students a strong sense of Ottoman identity and Islamic morality. Abdul Hamid also reorganized

35502-432: 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

35696-414: 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. After the Balkan Wars , Ottoman Empire became an entity with two major constituents; namely Turks and Arabs. In the new framework,

35890-431: Was ingratiating itself to gain German assistance, an order imploring Chinese Muslims to avoid assisting the Boxers was issued by the Ottoman Khalifa and reprinted in Egyptian and Muslim Indian newspapers. Abdul Hamid II made many enemies in the Ottoman Empire. His reign featured several coup d'état plans and many rebellions. The Sultan triumphed in a challenge by Kâmil Pasha of absolute rule in 1895. A large conspiracy by

36084-421: Was issued condemning Abdul Hamid, and the parliament voted to dethrone him. On 27 April, Abdul Hamid's half-brother Reshad Efendi was proclaimed as Sultan Mehmed V . The Sultan's countercoup, which had appealed to conservative Islamists against the Young Turks' liberal reforms, resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands of Christian Armenians in the Adana province, known as the Adana massacre . Abdul Hamid

36278-403: 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

36472-529: Was not a good idea. Because of this, information was tightly controlled and the press rigidly censored. A secret police ( Umur-u Hafiye ) and a network of informants was present throughout the empire, and many leading figures of the Second Constitutional Era and Ottoman successor states were arrested or exiled. School curricula were closely inspected to prevent dissidence. Ironically, the schools that Abdul Hamid founded and tried to control became "breeding grounds of discontent" as students and teachers alike chafed at

36666-462: Was not altruistic; it had to be fostered by railway and loan concessions. In 1899, a significant German wish, the construction of a Berlin-Baghdad railway , was granted. Kaiser Wilhelm II also requested the Sultan's help when he had trouble with Chinese Muslim troops. During the Boxer Rebellion , the Chinese Muslim Kansu Braves fought the German Army, routing them and the other Eight Nation Alliance forces. The Muslim Kansu Braves and Boxers defeated

36860-415: Was prorogued for three months on the 27th. During the recess, the CUP held a congress at Salonica 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

37054-418: Was signed, known as the Politis–Kalfov Protocol , recognizing the " Greek Slavophones " as Bulgarians and guaranteeing their protection. On 2 February 1925, the Greek parliament, claiming pressure from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , which threatened to renounce the Greek–Serbian Alliance of 1913 , refused to ratify the agreement; the refusal lasted until 10 June 1925. Under the 1927 Mollov-Kafantaris Agreement ,

37248-400: Was so alarmed by the Chinese Muslim troops that he requested that Abdul Hamid find a way to stop the Muslim troops from fighting. Abdul Hamid agreed to Wilhelm's demands and sent Hasan Enver Pasha (no relation to the Young Turk leader ) to China in 1901, but the rebellion was over by that time. Because the Ottomans did not want conflict with the European nations and because the Ottoman Empire

37442-525: Was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire , from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a period of decline with rebellions (particularly in the Balkans ), and presided over an unsuccessful war with the Russian Empire (1877–78), the loss of Egypt and Cyprus from Ottoman control, followed by a successful war against the Kingdom of Greece in 1897 , though Ottoman gains were tempered by subsequent Western European intervention. Elevated to power in

37636-443: Was traumatic. The Russian army almost captured Constantinople (İstanbul) and the war also saw the expulsion and massacres of many Balkan Muslims. The resultant 1878 Treaty of Berlin 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 , an institution controlled by

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