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Young Turks,
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Turkish JÖNTÜRKLER, coalition of various reform
groups (including Jews) that led a revolutionary
movement against the authoritarian regime of Ottoman sultan Abdülhamid II,
which culminated in the establishment of a constitutional government. After
their rise to power, the Young Turks introduced programs that promoted the
modernization of the Ottoman Empire and a new spirit of Turkish nationalism.
Their handling of foreign affairs, however, resulted in the dissolution
of the Ottoman state . |
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In 1889 a group of students in the Imperial Medical Academy
in Istanbul initiated a conspiracy against Abdülhamid that spread rapidly to other
colleges in the city. When the plot was uncovered, many of its leaders fled abroad, mainly
to Paris, where they prepared the groundwork for a future revolution against Abdülhamid. Among the most notable of the liberal émigrés was Ahmed Riza, who became
a key spokesman for the influential Young Turk organization known as the Committee of
Union and Progress (CUP), which advocated a program of orderly reform under a
strong central government and the exclusion of all foreign influence. A major rival
faction was formed by Prince Sabaheddin. His group, called the League of Private
Initiative and Decentralization, espoused many of the same liberal principles as those
propounded by the CUP, but, unlike the latter, it favoured administrative decentralization
and European assistance to implement reforms. |
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Although the CUP and the League played a significant role in disseminating and stimulating liberal thought, the actual impetus for the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 came from groups within the empire, particularly from discontented members of the 3rd Army Corps in Macedonia. Many young officers of the corps garrisoned at Salonika (now Thessaloníka, Greece) organized to form the Ottoman Liberty Society in 1906. This secret revolutionary group merged with the CUP in Paris the following year, bringing to the Young Turk ideologists the command of the 3rd Army Corps. Later in 1907 the CUP and the League of Private Initiative and Decentralization agreed, though reluctantly, to work together to achieve their common goal. |
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On July 3, 1908, Maj. Ahmed Niyazi of the 3rd Corps led a revolt against the provincial authorities in Resna. Other conspirators soon followed his example, and the rebellion rapidly spread throughout the empire. Unable to rely on government troops, Abdülhamid announced on July 23 the restoration of the 1876 constitution and recalled parliament. The Young Turks had succeeded in establishing a constitutional government, but their deep-seated ideological differences resurfaced and prevented them from taking effective control of that government until 1913, when the CUP under new leaders--the triumvirate of Talât Pasa, Ahmed Cemal Pasa, and Enver Pasa--set itself up as the real arbiter of Ottoman politics. |
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While in power, the Young Turks carried out administrative reforms, especially of provincial administration, that led to more centralization. They were also the first Ottoman reformers to promote industrialization. In addition, the programs of the Young Turk regime effectuated greater secularization of the legal system and provided for the education of women and better state-operated primary schools. Such positive developments in domestic affairs, however, were largely overshadowed by the disastrous consequences of the regime's foreign policy decisions. An overly hasty appraisal of Germany's military capability by the Young Turk leaders led them to break neutrality and enter World War I (1914-18) on the side of the Central Powers. The young Turks were responsible for the Arminian Massacres. Upon the end of the war, with defeat imminent, the CUP Cabinet resigned on Oct. 9, 1918, less than a month before the Ottomans signed the Armistice of Mudros. |
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Copyright © 1994-1997 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
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To cite this page: "Young Turks" Britannica Online. <http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/650/81.html> [Accessed 02 February 1998]. |