II.

CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD

It is the period in which the sultan's powers and administration were regulated by the constitution for
the second time in the Ottoman Empire. Despite II. Abdulhamid's policy of repression after the end of
the First Constitutional Monarchy, some secret political activities continued within the state and
societies were established. Since the founders of these societies had different ideas for the salvation of
the state, there was no unity among them.

Some of the intellectuals are of the opinion that the Constitutional Monarchy should be declared again
and a constitutional order should be adopted in order to prevent the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Some intellectuals, on the other hand, favored the creation of an Islamic union that would unite all
Muslims in the world in order to be strong. Another group of intellectuals had the idea of uniting all
Turks in the world under one government.

In an environment where such different ideas were adopted, the intellectuals who were in favor of the
constitutional administration established a secret society under the name of Union and Progress. The
aim of the Unionists was to make Abdülhamit II accept the constitutional rule.

At that time, Britain and Russia had agreed on the separation of Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire.
The Union and Progress association, which learned about this situation, took action.

Losing the control of Macedonia in the face of the developments, Abdülhamit II had to announce that
elections would be held on 23 July 1908. Elections were held in a short time and Parliament was opened
on 17 December 1908.

The Committee of Union and Progress weighed heavily in the elections and elected deputies from many
electoral districts.

Along with the Second Constitutional, the sultan's powers were limited with the amendment made on
the 1876 constitution in 1909. The sultan's power to veto laws is limited. It has been stated that the press
cannot be censored.

However, this constitution could not be properly implemented due to internal turmoil, wars, and the
attitude of the Committee of Union and Progress.

Later, the Committee of Union and Progress deposed Abdulhamid as a result of the March 31
uprising, and the Second Constitutional Monarchy did not provide the expected benefit.

The Second Constitutional Monarchy could not prevent the collapse of the State. In those years, the
state suffered great blood loss due to events such as Bulgaria's declaration of independence, Greece's
capture of Crete, and Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Establishment of the Committee of Union and Progress and its Rising to Power:

The most important event that occurred in the last period of the Ottoman Empire was the
establishment of the Committee of Union and Progress.
The birth of this society is a result of the political, social, cultural and economic conditions of the
period. The society grew and developed in a short time and seized power.

Against the oppression period that started with Abdülhamit's dissolution of the Ottoman Parliament in
1878, some intellectuals chose the path of struggle by organizing secretly.
Almost everyone benefited from the atmosphere of freedom that emerged after the declaration of the
Second Constitutional Monarchy, and those who were not Unionists or constitutionalists started to
organize by publishing newspapers and magazines.

The founders of the society were named as Young Turks. This movement, which spread in a short
time in Harbiye and Mulkiye, experienced difficulties due to the pressure of Abdülhamit, and the
administrators of the society fled abroad and worked there.

The Committee of Union and Progress, located in Paris, later became an organization with two
centers, namely Paris and Thessaloniki. This new formation has emerged stronger than the previous
period, both in terms of ideas and in terms of revolutionism.

After this union, the society embarked on a great uprising in Macedonia and made Abdülhamit accept
the Second Constitutional Monarchy. After the dethronement of Abdülhamit II with the 31 March
Incident, the society became influential in power with the Bab-ı Ali Raid.

The Unionists engaged in an intense legislative activity, and by making new arrangements, they
shaped the political and legal structure of the Second Constitutional Period to a large extent.
The Sultan's powers over the legislative and executive powers were abolished from the Constitution
and the Government was made responsible only to the Assembly.

Amendments were made to the articles of the Constitution, the powers of the Sultan over the
legislative and executive powers were abolished from the Constitution and the Government was made
responsible only to the Assembly.

Ottomanism:

The spread of the idea of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire with the effect of the 1789 French
Revolution and the fact that non-Muslims living in the Ottoman lands started to establish their own
states caused a serious depression for the Ottoman Empire.

As a result of the innovation movements initiated in the Ottoman Empire, a new generation of young
people who knew the West closely and knew a foreign language was raised. The idea of Ottomanism
is the product of this young generation. This young cadre, organized under the name of Young
Ottomans, is of the opinion that equal rights should be given to the Ottoman strata, these rights should
be guaranteed by laws, and the transition to the Constitutional rule.

According to this trend, the Ottoman elements will be equal before the law, and no one will live under
the constitutional guarantee of the state without any privilege due to their language, religion or race.
Everyone will adopt the Ottoman upper identity in this system and will begin to serve the interests of
this state.

Islamism:
It is a movement that attaches importance to Islam in the country and Muslims all over the world, tries
to achieve unity among all Muslims, and seeks the social ties of the state in religious unity. The
pioneer of the Islamist movement of ideas, II. Abdülhamit, and during his reign, this idea was tried to
develop in domestic administration and foreign policy.

In the emergence of the idea of Islamism, the deterioration of the relations of non-Muslims to Muslims
living in the Ottoman lands, many Muslims died by torture in the Balkans during the 1877-78
Ottoman-Russian War, most of them had to leave their possessions and flee to Anatolia, factors such
as the involvement of European states in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire and the occupation
of the lands where Muslims lived by Christians played a role.

Islamism has not been successful in the face of nationalism movements.

Turkism:

The Turkism movement, which started as a cultural movement, later became a political movement.
The Turkism movement, which thought that the ideas of Ottomanism and Islamism would not be
sufficient to solve the problems of the Ottoman Empire, saw the liberation of the state in the
development of Turkish nationalism based on race.

According to those who adopt the Turkism movement, the state; however, it stands on the basis of a
society whose language, religion, lineage and ideal are one. For this, the Turks living on the Ottoman
lands should be brought to national consciousness.

It is possible to list the factors that led to the emergence of the Turkism intellectual movement as
follows:

a) The spread of the nationalist movement among the Christian subjects living in the Ottoman lands,
with the encouragement of the Western states, and as a result of the revolts.
b) The non-Turkish Muslim communities started to leave the Ottoman Empire as a result of the
propaganda of the western states.
c) As a result of the independent status of the states where the Christian population lived, the Muslims
living in these states were forced to migrate to Anatolia and the reaction aroused by the disaster these
people faced.
d) Europe's pressure on Turks and their propaganda against them.
e) Turkish intellectuals who learn foreign languages and go to Europe should be aware of the studies
of Europeans on Turks.

With the collapse of Ottomanism and Islamism, Turkism came to the fore. After the Balkan Wars,
Turkism began to find supporters much more effectively.

Westernism:
Apart from these three currents of ideas, the Westernism trend, which was defended by Turkish
intellectuals who adopted the ideas and systems that emerged in the West, emerged. Westerners could
not form unity among themselves.

A group of westerners led by Celal Nuri defended the thesis that only the technology of the west
should be taken, not its culture. The group led by Abdullah Cevdet, on the other hand, accepts that
Western civilization is a single civilization and advocates taking this civilization as it is. This
movement was limited to a small circle and did not find many supporters.

Decentralization

Decentralization was defended by some people in the Ottoman state. Chief among them was Prince
Sabahattin. However, the power of the center (palace) was very important in the Ottoman Empire. The
view of decentralization did not find a place for itself.