The Era of the Young Turks

The Era of the Young Turks 1908-1918

Funny lessons • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxPVyieptwA • http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=241598&title=Seinfeld_History_Lesson

Key question • To what extent had the Ottoman Empire modernized before the outbreak of WWI? • What had changed? What had stayed the same? • What were the biggest challenges in the empire in 1913?

Response to the European alliance system • Russia, France and Britain the traditional rivals/threats to Ottoman interests • Triple Entente  a potential agreement on the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire? • Germany an interesting ally • Military reform an absolute necessity

Young Turks • Three protest groups: • Exiles of Ottoman “liberals” (émigrés) • CUP; students, civil servants and military officers (mostly in Istanbul) – secret societies ( limited sources) • Ottoman 3rd army • Goals: • Restoration of the Constitution (= limit sultan’s power) – particular focus on the Parliament • Preservation of the empire

Abdul Hamid and the military • Economic trouble  affected military equipment and salaries • Disaffection among officers  secret protest groups • Ottoman 3rd army in Salonika; loyal to and proud of the Ottoman empire and its army – opposed to Abdul Hamid’s neglect, opposed to territorial losses in Europe

Revolution • Revolt in the summer of 1908; 3rd army threatened to march on Istanbul  Abdul Hamid agreed to restore the constitution • Fall 1908: Elections to the new parliament • Spring 1909: Counterrevolution (common soldiers and theological students) – supported by Abdul Hamid • 3rd army marched on Istanbul, crushed counterrevolution, supported the parliamentary government • Chamber (parliament) deposed Abdul Hamid, replaced by Mehmet V

1909-13 • CUP (mid-level army officers and civil servants) vs. everybody else • Period marked by intellectual freedom • Expansion of education • Improvement of military • Slimmed down the bureaucracy ( loss of support) • CUP gradually gained full control • 1913: Virtual dictatorship under Enver, Talat and Jamal Pashas (military coup)

Ottomanism • Millet system abolished; equal representation of all subjects • Islamic foundation preserved by the sultan-caliph

Territorial losses • Bulgaria declared independence • Bosnia annexed by Austria-Hungary • Crete joined Greece • Italy invaded Tunisia • Albania declared independence • Two Balkan wars; 1912-13 • 141,617 square km and 4.2 mill people lost in Europe

http://mixile.tripod.com/MacedoniaBulgaria/id25.html

A new outlook • Ottomanism not well received among the minority peoples of the empire • New awareness of the significance of the Turkish core of the empire • Nationalism among Balkan peoples, Arabs (nahdah) and Turks (Pan-Turkism, Turkism)

Arab provinces under CUP • CUP purged the provincial administrations (local notable families) and put their own people in charge (often Turks)  social and political order in the Arab provinces upset • The Arab elite saw CUP as a Turkifying government • “Arabism”; no organized political movement, but a growing cultural and political idea/concept

Arabism • Literary clubs, reform societies, clandestine organizations in Istanbul and Arab provinces • Program: • Arabic to be recognized as an official language • Arab administrators in Arab areas of the empire • Greater political autonomy for Arab provinces • Replacement of CUP regime • Party of Ottoman Administrative Decentralization • Arab Paris Congress of 1913  Aim: Decentralized Ottoman rule, not independence

Different orientations • Al-Husri: Syrian Arab, educator, worked within the Ottoman educational system. “Ottomanism” = European concepts; territorial patriotism, constitutional government, secular citizenship • Arslan: Lebanese Druze, journalist and poet. “Ottomanism”= preservation and revival of Islam as the core of the empire, Pan-Islamism

CUP responses • CUP incorporated leading Arabists in the administration of the empire  Arab dissidence “muffled” • Few advocates

The Era of the Young Turks