The Turkish Revolution of 1908

This series has nine easy 5-minute installments. This first installment: How the Ottoman Elites Controlled Their Empire.

Introduction
Among the revolutions which ended the Ottoman Empire and resulted modern Turkey, the 1908 revolution was pivotal. In July of 1908 “The Young Turks” wrested a constitution from its unwilling Sultan. Less than a year after his surrender, the Sultan, in April of 1909, tried to regain his power by force. He failed and was deposed. His son was then made Sultan in his place but with only a mere fraction of the former autocratic power. The “Young Turks” ruled the Ottoman Empire. Then they made the fatal mistake of joining Germany in World War I.

An account of the revolution is here given by an eyewitness, Edwin Pears, a distinguished English authority upon Turkey. Then comes the Young Turks’ official viewpoint as given by one of their leaders, the former Turkish “Chargé d’ Affaires” at Washington, A. Rustem Bey de Bilinski. Then we give the pronouncement of that eminent European scholar and noted friend of humanity, Arminius Vambéry. Though a Hungarian and a professor at Budapest University, and as such committed to the views of the Austro-Hungarian government which seized Turkish territory, nevertheless Professor Vambéry speaks with a moderation and justice which must command respect.

The selections are from:

• Turkey in Revolution by Edwin Pears.
• Ministerial Address by A. Rustem Bey.
• Article in The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 20 by Arminius Vambery published in 1914.

For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Summary of daily installments:

We begin with Edwin Pears (1835-1919). He lived in Istanbul for fourty years studying and writing of the Turkkish peoples.

Time: 1908
Place: Istanbul

The arbitrary power of Abdul Hamid has definitely come to an end. During thirty years he had put the screw on all ranks of his subjects, until it seemed that the régime of oppression could not cease except with his death. His arbitrary government may be said to date from February, 1878, while the Conference of the Powers was sitting, in December January, 1876-1877. With the dispersal by force of its members he commenced the system of personal government which continued till the middle of July, 1908. Then, with a sudden explosion, the whole régime was blown into space.

Abdul Hamid had begun his régime of arbitrary rule by appointing Ministers who were left without power. After a while, and somewhat ostentatiously, he put under them assistants who were known to be hostile to their chiefs. The Ministers themselves became mere clerks. In a conversation ten years ago, one of them remarked that the system of corruption then universally prevalent would never cease until the Sultan was changed. On my replying that the reputation of the heir to the throne did not inspire confidence, his answer was, “We shall get back the government of the country into the hands of the Ministers, instead of its being in those of the Palace clique.” In order to reconcile the Ministers to their undignified position, they were allowed to fill their pockets at the expense of the state, and corruption increased in every department. Then the results of misgovernment and arbitrary rule began to show themselves everywhere. Custom house duties were divided between the Exchequer and the officials. Mining concessions were heavily paid for in bribes both at the Palace and at the Ministry of Mines. Legal decisions were bought and sold or were obtained by favor. The Valis, or Governors, paid for being appointed, and contributed a portion of their salaries to the Palace gang which kept them in place. In return no inconvenient questions were asked as to their extortion in the provinces. Public meetings were forbidden in the capital or in the provinces, and this to such an extent that no wedding festivity or dinner party could take place without the permission of the authorities and the scrutiny of the list of invited guests. The attempt was made even to prevent evening parties and balls at wealthy European houses, and when, with the aid of the Embassies, this demand was resisted, agents of the Government were stationed around the houses to forbid the entrance of Turkish subjects. In every newspaper office not a line was permitted to be printed until it had passed the censor. No mention was ever allowed to be made of political events in Egypt, a country which, if a historian had only to depend for his sources of information upon files of Turkish newspapers, would be considered by him to be still under the direct rule of the Sultan, as it was before 1879. The word “Armenia” was not permitted to be printed. “There is no such place,” said the chief censor. “Macedonia” was tabooed also, and this to such an extent that in the translation into Turkish of St. Paul’s message, “Come over into Macedonia and help us,” it was difficult to obtain permission to print the phrase, which the censor claimed should have substituted for it the names of the three provinces into which Macedonia is now divided. Theatrical performances were censored with equal severity. “Hamlet” was forbidden because it spoke of killing the king: so also were “Julius Caesar” and a host of French historical plays. Everyone remembers the hideous massacres of the Armenians, the greatest crime of the reign, in which probably the victims did not fall short of 100,000; but few English readers realize the inconvenience and loss of trade caused to British and other European merchants and the cruel wrong done to the Armenians by the strict execution of an order which has been in force for ten years for bidding any of them to journey from one place to another in Turkey.

To secure the execution of the Sultan’s orders, a great number of spies had gradually come into existence. They belonged to every rank in life. Small fry only received a matter of £3 a month; one man, a foreigner, is known to have obtained £90 a month. Out of the Budget of Turkey no less a sum than £1,200, 000 had to be set aside last year for this army of spies. They worried the souls of Ottoman subjects, Moslem and Christian alike. Upon the reports furnished by these men and a spy must find out something in order to justify his existence. Thousands of men belonging to every class of the community were haled for secret examination to the Palace or before the police authorities. In very few cases were those arrested sent for trial. In the majority they were dealt with arbitrarily. Some were sent to prison for long terms and cruelly treated. A large number, especially of I may remark in passing that this form of punishment for the most notable of the discontented was a great mistake on the part of Abdul Hamid, because it came to pass in time that in every province of the Empire exiles were found of ability and energy above the average, and full of a sentiment of hostility toward the Government. They became the missionaries of revolution. In some of the provinces, as in Erzeroum, the exiles were so numerous and so superior to the Governor and other officials that they practically became the rulers of the province.

A. Rustem Bey begins here. Arminius Vambery begins here.

More information here and here and below.