A crisis
Having carried out a coup, the Young Turks at first preferred not to take official power into their own hands. Almost the entire central and local government apparatus was retained. Only the most compromised officials were removed from the administration and the representatives of the court, most hated by the people, were arrested. At the same time, the Sultan himself, who was recently presented by the Young Turks as the main culprit of the country's calamities, a “bloody tyrant and despot,” was quickly whitewashed and made a victim of a bad environment, intrigues of courtiers and dignitaries (the old concept of a “good king and bad boyars”). Apparently, the Young Turks believed that Abdul-Hamid II would accept the loss of power. In addition, they liquidated the Sultan's secret police and disbanded an army of thousands of informers.
At the same time, the Young Turks were actively strengthening their organizational base. In many cities of the Ottoman Empire, departments of the Unity and Progress movement were created (a party of the same name was created in October). The Sultan tried to resist. Already on August 1, 1908, Sultan Abdul-Hamid II issued a decree, which noted the right of the supreme power to appoint not only the great vizier (vizier), but also the military and naval ministers. The Sultan tried to regain control of the military. The Young Turks rejected this decree. The Sultan was forced to give up the right to appoint security officials. He also appointed Kamil Pasha, who had a reputation as an Anglophile, as great vizier. This suited the Young Turks, who at that time were guided by Britain. The new government came under the complete control of the Young Turks. Under their pressure, the costs of maintaining the Sultan's court were sharply cut and the staff of the courtiers was sharply reduced. How the funds were wasted in the Port are well illustrated by these figures: 270 out of 300 adjutants and 750 out of 800 cooks were deprived of the Sultan. After that, the monarchy in the Ottoman Empire began to be decorative.
The Young Turks did not undertake any radical measures that could really strengthen the Ottoman Empire. So, at the party congress held in October 1908, the acute agrarian issue was bypassed, that is, the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population were not taken into account. The most acute national question, which undermined the foundations of the empire, was still resolved in the spirit of Ottomanism. Thus, the Ottoman Empire approached the First World War as an extremely weak, agrarian power, within which there were many contradictions.
Moreover, Turkey was destabilized by major foreign policy defeats. In 1908, the Bosnian crisis began. Austria-Hungary decided to use the internal political crisis in the Ottoman Empire to develop its external expansion. On October 5, 1908, Vienna announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (previously, the question of the ownership of Bosnia and Herzegovina was in a "frozen" state). At the same time, taking advantage of the acute crisis in the Ottoman Empire, the Bulgarian prince Ferdinand I announced the annexation of Eastern Rumelia and declared himself king. Bulgaria became officially independent (the Third Bulgarian Kingdom was created). Eastern Rumelia was created after the Berlin Congress of 1878 and was an autonomous Turkish province. In 1885, the territory of Eastern Rumelia was annexed to Bulgaria, but remained under the formal suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire.
Turkey suffered two foreign policy defeats at once. The leaders of the Young Turks opposed the aggression of Austria-Hungary, organized a boycott of Austrian goods. The troops stationed in the European part of Turkey began to be put on alert. The press launched an information war against Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, they were accused of aggression and a desire to start a war. In a number of cities, rallies were held to protest against the actions of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria.
Demonstration at Sultanahmet Square in Constantinople during the Young Turkish Revolution
Counter-revolution and overthrow of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II
Prosultan forces decided that the moment was convenient to seize power. The Young Turk were accused of being responsible for the failure in foreign policy. On October 7, 1908, a crowd of thousands under the leadership of the mullahs moved to the Sultan's palace, demanding the abolition of the constitution and the "restoration of Sharia". At the same time, speeches in support of the Sultan were held in other places. The instigators of these protests were arrested.
The struggle did not end there. The Sultan and his entourage still hoped to take revenge. They could hope for the support of 20,000 people. the guards division in the capital and other units, as well as the reactionary clergy, who could raise the crowd. An election to the Chamber of Deputies was held in the country. The Young Turks won the majority - 150 out of 230 seats. Ahmed Riza-bey became the chairman of the chamber. The sessions of the chamber began on November 15, 1908 and almost immediately became the arena of struggle between the Young Turks and their opponents. The Young Turks tried to keep control of the government. At the same time, they lost support among the masses. The non-Turkish peoples of the empire realized that they were planning to solve the national problems of the Young Turks on the basis of the great-power doctrine of Ottomanism, continuing the policy of the Ottoman sultans. The revolution brought nothing to the peasants. As they were in bondage, they remained. Macedonian peasants, suffering from a three-year crop failure, refused to pay taxes. Famine broke out in several areas of Eastern Anatolia.
The general discontent led to a new explosion. Soon a pretext for an uprising was found. On April 6, 1909, in Istanbul, an unknown, dressed in an officer's uniform, killed a well-known political enemy of the Ittihadists, journalist and editor of the Akhrar party (Liberals, the party of Prince Sabaheddin, formerly one of the Young Turkic groups) Hassan Fehmi Bey. Istanbul was filled with rumors that the journalist was killed on the orders of the Young Turks. On April 10, Fahmi Bey's funeral turned into 100 thousand. demonstration of protest against the policies of the Young Turks. The Sultan's supporters did not spare gold and, with the help of fanatics from the clergy and officers dismissed by the Young Turks, organized a conspiracy.
On the night of April 12-13, a military mutiny began. It was started by the soldiers of the Istanbul garrison, led by NCO Hamdi Yashar. Ulema with green banners and retired officers immediately joined the rebels. Quite quickly, the rebellion swept the European and Asian parts of the capital. Massacres began against the officers of the Young Turks. The Istanbul center of the Ittihadists was destroyed, as were the Young Turkish newspapers. The telegraph communication of the capital with other cities of the empire was interrupted. The hunt for the leaders of the Young Turkish Party began, but they managed to escape to Thessaloniki, where they created a second center of government for the country. Soon, almost all the capital's units were on the side of the rebels, the fleet also supported the Sultan's supporters. All government buildings were occupied by the Sultan's supporters.
The conspirators moved to parliament and forced the Young Turkish government to collapse. The rebels also demanded to observe Sharia law, expel the leaders of the Young Turks from the country, remove from the army officers who graduated from special military schools and return to the service officers who did not have special education and received a rank as a result of long service. The Sultan immediately accepted these demands and announced an amnesty to all the rebels.
In a number of cities of the empire, this uprising was supported and bloody clashes took place between the supporters and opponents of the Sultan. But on the whole, Anatolia did not hold the counter-revolution. Radical monarchists, reactionary clergy, big feudal lords and the big comprador bourgeoisie did not delight the people. Therefore, the retaliatory actions of the Young Turks who settled in Thessaloniki were effective. The Central Committee of Unity and Progress, which met almost continuously, decided: "All units of the army stationed in European Turkey were ordered to immediately move to Constantinople." Thessaloniki and Adrianople army corps became the core of the 100-thous. "Army of Action" loyal to the Young Turks. The Ittihadists were supported by the Macedonian and Albanian revolutionary movements, which still hoped for revolutionary changes in the country and did not want the victory of the counter-revolution. Local Young Turk organizations in Anatolia also supported the Young Turk government. They began to form volunteer units that joined the Army of Action.
The Sultan tried to start negotiations, but the Young Turks were uncompromising. On April 16, the Young Turkish forces launched an offensive against the capital. The Sultan again tried to start negotiations, calling the April 13 events a "misunderstanding." The Young Turks demanded guarantees of the constitutional structure and freedom of the parliament. On April 22, the fleet went over to the side of the Young Turks and blockaded Istanbul from the sea. On April 23, the army began an assault on the capital. The most stubborn battle broke out on 24 April. However, the resistance of the rebels was broken, and on April 26 the capital was under the control of the Young Turks. Many were hanged by the rebels. About 10 thousand people were sent into exile. On April 27, Abdul-Hamid was deposed and defrocked as caliph. He was escorted to the vicinity of Thessaloniki, to Villa Allatini. Thus, the 33-year reign of the "bloody sultan" ended.
A new sultan, Mehmed V Reshad, was elevated to the throne. He became the first constitutional monarch in the history of the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan retained the formal right to appoint the Grand Vizier and Sheikh-ul-Islam (the title of the highest official on Islamic issues). Real power under Mehmed V belonged to the central committee of the Unity and Progress party. Mehmed V did not possess any political talents, the Young Turks were in complete control of the situation.
Franz Joseph and Ferdinand seize Turkish lands from the helpless sultan. Cover of Le Petit Journal, October 18, 1908.
Young Turkish regime
Having defeated the old "dragon", the young Young Turkish "dragon", in fact, continued his policy. The modernization was superficial. Taking power into their own hands, the Turkish national liberals quickly broke with the masses, forgot populist slogans and very quickly established such a dictatorial and corrupt regime that they even surpassed the feudal-clerical sultan's monarchy.
Only the first actions of the Young Turks were useful to society. The influence of the court camarilla was eliminated. The former sultan's personal funds were requisitioned in favor of the state. The sultan's power was severely limited, and the rights of parliament were expanded.
However, parliament almost immediately passed a law on the press, which placed the entire press under the full control of the government, and a law on associations, which placed the activities of social and political organizations under the public supervision of the police. The peasants received nothing, although earlier they were promised to liquidate the ashar (natural tax) and the ransom system. Large feudal land tenure and the brutal exploitation of peasant farms were fully preserved. The Ittihadists only carried out a series of partial reforms aimed at the development of capitalism in agriculture (this did not alleviate the plight of the masses, but led to the development of the economy), but these reforms were also interrupted by the war. The situation of the workers was no better. A law was passed on strikes, practically forbidding them.
At the same time, the Young Turks took seriously the problem of modernizing the armed forces. The military reform was carried out on the recommendations and under the supervision of the German General Colmar von der Goltz (Goltz Pasha). He has already participated in the process of modernizing the Turkish army. Since 1883, Golts was in the service of the Ottoman sultans and was in charge of military educational institutions. The German general accepted the Constantinople military school with 450 students and in 12 years increased their number to 1700, and the total number of cadets in Turkish military schools increased to 14 thousand. As an assistant to the chief of the Turkish General Staff, Golts drafted a draft law that transformed the manning of the army and issued a number of basic documents for the army (draft rules, mobilization regulations, field service, internal service, garrison service and serf warfare). Since 1909, Goltz Pasha became vice-chairman of the Supreme Military Council of Turkey, and from the beginning of the war - the adjutant of Sultan Mehmed V. In fact, Goltz led the leadership of the military operations of the Turkish army until his death in April 1916.
Goltz and the officers of the German military mission did a lot to strengthen the power of the Turkish army. German companies began to supply the Turkish army with the latest weapons. In addition, the Young Turks reorganized the gendarmerie and police. As a result, the army, police and gendarmerie became powerful strongholds of the Young Turk dictatorship.
Colmar von der Goltz (1843-1916)
The national question took on an extremely acute character in the Ottoman Empire. All hopes of the non-Turkish peoples for a revolution were finally dashed. The Young Turks, who began their political path with calls for "unity" and "brotherhood" of all the peoples of the Ottoman Empire, once in power, continued the policy of brutally suppressing the national liberation movement. In ideology, the old doctrine of Ottomanism was replaced by no less rigid concepts of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Islamism. Pan-Turkism as a concept of the unity of all Turkic-speaking peoples under the supreme domination of the Ottoman Turks was used by the Ittihadists to instill radical nationalism and substantiate the need for external expansion, the revival of the former greatness of the Ottoman Empire. The concept of pan-Islamism was needed by the Young Turks to strengthen the influence of the Ottoman Empire in countries with Muslim populations and to fight the Arab national liberation movement. The Young Turks began a campaign of forcible denigration of the population and began to ban organizations associated with non-Turkish ethnic goals.
Arab national movements were suppressed. Opposition newspapers and magazines were closed, and leaders of Arab national socio-political organizations were arrested. In the fight against the Kurds, the Turks used weapons more than once. Turkish troops in 1910-1914 the uprisings of the Kurds in the regions of Iraqi Kurdistan, Bitlis and Dersim (Tunceli) were severely suppressed. At the same time, the Turkish authorities continued to use the wild mountain Kurdish tribes to fight other peoples. The Turkish government relied on the Kurdish tribal elite, which received large revenues from punitive operations. The Kurdish irregular cavalry was used to suppress the national liberation movement of the Armenians, Lazes and Arabs. Kurdish punishers were used and suppressed uprisings in Albania in 1909-1912. Istanbul several times sent large punitive expeditions to Albania.
The Armenian issue was not resolved either, as the world community and the Armenian community expected. The Young Turks not only prevented the long-overdue and expected reforms aimed at settling administrative, socio-economic and cultural issues in Western Armenia, but continued the policy of genocide. The policy of inciting hatred between Armenians and Kurds continued. In April 1909, the Cilician massacre took place, the massacre of the Armenians of the vilayets of Adana and Aleppo. It all started with spontaneous clashes between Armenians and Muslims, and then grew into an organized massacre, with the participation of local authorities and the army. About 30 thousand people became victims of the massacre, among whom were not only Armenians, but also Greeks, Syrians and Chaldeans. On the whole, during these years the Young Turks prepared the ground for a complete solution of the “Armenian question”.
In addition, the national question in the empire was aggravated by the final loss of European territory during the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. Hundreds of thousands of Balkan Muslims (muhajirs - "settlers") left for Turkey in connection with the loss of territories in Eastern and Southern Europe by the Ottoman Empire. They settled in Anatolia and Western Asia, which led to a significant predominance of Muslims in the Ottoman Empire, although in the middle of the 19th century, non-Muslims, according to some estimates, made up about 56% of its population. This massive resettlement of Muslims prompted the Ittihadists a way out of the situation: replacing Christians with Muslims. During the war, this resulted in a terrible massacre that claimed millions of lives.
Arrival of the Balkan Muhajirs to Istanbul. 1912 g.
Italo-Turkish War. Balkan Wars
Before its entry into the First World War, the Ottoman Empire experienced a serious shock as a result of the Tripolitan (Libyan or Turkish-Italian War) and Balkan wars. Their emergence was provoked by the internal weakness of Turkey, which the neighboring states, including those previously part of the Ottoman Empire, looked at as booty. During the ten-year period of the Young Turks' rule in the country, 14 governments were replaced, in the camp of the Ittihadists there was a constant internal party struggle. As a result, the Young Turks were unable to solve economic, social and national issues, to prepare the empire for war.
Italy, re-created in 1871, wanted to become a great power, expand its small colonial empire, and looked for new markets. The Italian invaders spent a long time preparing for war, starting to conduct diplomatic preparations for the invasion of Libya at the end of the 19th century, and military ones from the beginning of the 20th century. Libya was presented to Italians as a country with lots of natural resources and a good climate. There were only a few thousand Turkish soldiers in Libya who could be supported by the local irregular cavalry. The local population was hostile towards the Turks and friendly towards the Italians, initially seeing them as liberators. Therefore, the expedition to Libya was seen in Rome as an easy military trip.
Italy enlisted the support of France and Russia. Italian politicians planned that Germany and Austria-Hungary also would not oppose and defend the interests of the Turkey they patronized. Italy was an ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary on the basis of a treaty of 1882. True, Berlin's attitude to the actions of Rome was hostile. The Ottoman Empire has long been associated with Germany by military-technical cooperation, close economic ties and acted in the mainstream of German policy. Nevertheless, Russian diplomats were knowingly joking about the German emperor: if the Kaiser had to choose between Austria-Hungary and Turkey, he would choose the first, if the Kaiser had to choose between Italy and Turkey, he would still choose the first. Turkey found itself in complete political isolation.
On September 28, 1911, the Italian government sent an ultimatum to Istanbul. The Turkish government has been accused of keeping Tripoli and Cyrenaica in disarray and poverty and interfering with Italian businesses. Italy announced that it is going to "take care of the protection of its dignity and its interests" and will begin the military occupation of Tripoli and Cyrenaica. Turkey was asked to take measures so that the event would pass without incidents and withdraw its troops. That is, the Italians became insolent beyond measure, not only were going to occupy foreign lands, but also offered the Ottomans to help them in this matter. The Young Turkish government, realizing that Libya could not be defended, through Austrian mediation announced its readiness to surrender the province without a fight, but with the condition that formal Ottoman rule in the country be preserved. Italy refused, and on September 29 declared war on Turkey.
The Italian fleet has landed troops. Italian 20 thous. the expeditionary force easily occupied Tripoli, Homs, Tobruk, Benghazi and a number of coastal oases. However, an easy walk did not work out. Turkish troops and Arab cavalry destroyed a significant part of the original occupation corps. The combat capability of the Italian troops was extremely low. Rome had to bring the number of the occupying army to 100 thousand. people, which was opposed by several thousand Turks and about 20 thousand Arabs. The Italians could not control the entire country, with only a few coastal ports on solid ground. Such a semi-regular war could drag on for a long time, causing exorbitant expenses for Italy (instead of the wealth of the new colony). So, instead of the initially planned budget of 30 million liras per month, this "trip" to Libya cost 80 million liras per month for a much longer period of time than anticipated. This caused serious problems in the country's economy.
Italy, in order to force Turkey to conclude peace, stepped up the actions of its fleet. A number of ports in the Ottoman Empire were bombed. On February 24, 1912, in the battle of Beirut, two Italian armored cruisers (Giuseppe Garibaldi and Francesco Feruccio) attacked under the command of Rear Admiral di Rivel without loss, destroyed two Turkish warships (the extremely outdated battleship Auni Allah and the destroyer) as well as several unarmed transports. With this, the Italian fleet eliminated the phantom threat from the Turkish fleet to the Italian convoys and ensured for itself complete supremacy at sea. In addition, the Italian fleet attacked the Turkish fortifications in the Dardanelles, and the Italians occupied the Dodecanese archipelago.
Italian cruisers firing at Turkish ships off Beirut
The situation inside the country has also sharply deteriorated. The political opponents of the Young Turks organized a coup in July 1912. It was led by the Freedom and Accord party (Hurriyet ve Itilaf), which was formed in 1911, and included many former Ittihadists. It was also supported by the majority of national minorities, who were cruelly persecuted by the Young Turks. Taking advantage of the setbacks in the war with Italy, the Itilafists began widespread propaganda and achieved a change of government. In August 1912, they also achieved the dissolution of parliament, where the Young Turks were in the majority. At the same time, an amnesty was announced to the political opponents of the Ittihadists. The Ittihadists were subjected to repression. The Young Turks were not going to give in and again moved to Thessaloniki, preparing for a retaliatory strike. In October 1912, the new government was headed by the Itilafist Kamil Pasha.
Turkey was finally forced to surrender by the war in the Balkans. In August 1912, another uprising began in Albania and Macedonia. Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece decided to seize the advantageous moment and push Turkey further. The Balkan countries mobilized their armies and started the war. The reason for the war was Istanbul's refusal to grant autonomy to Macedonia and Thrace. September 25 (October 8) 1912 Montenegro declared war on the Port. On October 5 (18), 1912, Serbia and Bulgaria declared war on Turkey, the next day - Greece.
On October 5, 1912, a preliminary secret was signed in Ouchy (Switzerland), and on October 18, 1912, in Lausanne, an official peace treaty was signed between Italy and the Porte. The vilayets of Tripolitania (Trablus) and Cyrenaica (Benghazi) became autonomous and received rulers appointed by the Ottoman Sultan in agreement with the Italians. In fact, the terms of the agreement were approximately the same as those offered by Turkey at the beginning of the war. As a result, Libya became an Italian colony. True, the colony did not become a "gift". Italy had to carry out punitive operations against the Libyan rebels, and this struggle continued until the expulsion of the Italian troops in 1943. The Italians promised to return the Dodecanese Islands, but kept them under their control until the end of World War II, after which they went over to Greece.
The war in the Balkans also ended in complete collapse for Turkey. The Ottoman army suffered one defeat after another. In October 1912, Turkish troops retreated to the Chatalca line, near Istanbul. On November 4, Albania declared independence and entered the war with Turkey. On December 3, the Sultan and the government requested an armistice. A conference was held in London, but the negotiations fell through. The great powers and the victorious countries demanded big concessions, in particular the granting of autonomy to Albania, the elimination of Turkish rule on the islands in the Aegean Sea, the cession of Edirne (Adrianople) to Bulgaria.
The government agreed to peace on such terms. This caused violent protests in the capital and the province. The Young Turks immediately organized a counter-coup. On January 23, 1913, ittihadists, led by Enver Bey and Talaat Bey, surrounded the building of the High Port and burst into the hall where the government meeting was taking place. During the clash, Minister of War Nazim Pasha and his adjutants were killed, the great vizier, Sheikh-ul-Islami, the ministers of the interior and finance were arrested. Kamil Pasha resigned. A Young Turkish government was formed. Mahmud Shevket Pasha, who was formerly the Minister of War under the Young Turks, became the Grand Vizier.
Having regained power, the Young Turks tried to achieve a turning point in the hostilities in the Balkans, but failed. On March 13 (26), Adrianople fell. As a result, the Porta went on to sign the London Peace Treaty on May 30, 1913. The Ottoman Empire lost almost all European possessions. Albania declared itself independent, but its status and borders were to be determined by the great powers. European possessions The ports were mainly divided between Greece (part of Macedonia and the region of Thessaloniki), Serbia (part of Macedonia and Kosovo) and Bulgaria (Thrace with the Aegean coast and part of Macedonia). In general, the agreement had a lot of serious contradictions and soon led to the Second Balkan War, but this time between the former allies.
Turkey, in a way, was in the position of the Russian Empire, it was in no case allowed to fight. The Ottoman Empire could still exist for some time, brutally suppressing national movements, relying on the police, gendarmerie, punitive irregular troops and the army. Gradually carry out reforms, modernize the country. Entering the war meant suicide, which, in fact, ultimately happened.
Firing back Turkish infantry near Kumanov
