The Young Turks in Opposition

by M. Sukru Hanioglu

Overview

In 1908, the revolution of the Young Turks deposed the dictatorship of Sultan Abdulhamid II and established a constitutional regime that became the major ruling power in the Ottoman empire. But the seeds of this revolution went back much farther: to 1889, when the secret Young Turk organization the Committee of Union and Progress was formed. M. Sukru Hanioglu's landmark work is the story of the power struggles within the CUP and its impact on twentieth-century Turkish politics and culture. At once an in-depth history of an ideological movement and a study of the diplomatic relationships between the Ottoman Empire and the so-called great powers of Europe at the turn of the century, it analyzes the influence of European political thought on the CUP conspirators, and traces their influence on generations of Turkish intellectual and political life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195091151
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/16/1995
Series:	Studies in Middle Eastern History
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 6.06(h) x 1.25(d)

About the Author

Princeton University

Table of Contents

	Note on Transliteration	xi
1.	Introduction	3
2.	Ideological Roots of the Young Turks	7
	Westernization as an Instrument of Change	7
	Contemporary Science and Its Impact on Ottoman Thinking	10
	The Tug of War between Conservatives and Modernists	13
	The Young Turks and Modernization	16
	How Contemporary Science Colored Young Turk Thinking	18
	Bureaucracy Challenged: Loyalty versus Merit	23
	Constitutionalism, "Parliament," and the Young Turks	28
3.	The CUP, Other Opposition Forces, and the Sultan	33
	Relations between the Freemasons, the Young Turks, and the CUP	33
	Le Parti Constitutionnel en Turquie and Its Relations with the CUP	41
	Le Comite Turco-Syrien and Its Relations with the CUP	44
	The Role of the Ulema and the Sufi Orders in the Opposition Movement--Their Relations with the CUP	49
	The Supporters of a Palace Coup d'Etat and Their Connections with the CUP	58
	Individual Initiatives and the CUP	67
4.	The Rise of the CUP in Ottoman Politics: The Formative Years of the Committee	71
	The Founding of the CUP and Its Early Activities	71
	The CUP as a Political Organization, 1895-1897	78
	The CUP Organization in Europe and in Egypt, 1895-1896	78
	The Istanbul Branch and the 1896 Coup d'Etat Attempt	84
	The CUP Organization in the Regions	86
	Establishment of the CUP Network in the Balkans, 1895-1896	89
	The CUP under the Direction of Murad Bey	90
	The European Organization	90
	The Egyptian Branch	101
	The Istanbul Center	104
	The Provincial Organization of the CUP and the 1897 Coup d'Etat Attempt in Syria	105
	The Balkan Organization	109
5.	Petty Intrigue and Conspiracy: The CUP, 1898-1900	110
	The Reorganization of 1898	110
	The European Organization	110
	The Egyptian Branch	119
	The Istanbul Center and the CUP Network within the Empire	120
	The Balkan Organization	122
	The Activities of the Geneva Center in Late 1898 and Negotiations with the Palace	124
	The CUP and the Young Turks until the Flight of Damad Mahmud Pasha	126
	The Geneva Center and the Paris Branch	126
	The Egyptian Branch	136
	The CUP Organization within the Empire	138
	The Balkan Organization, New Branches in North Africa and Central Asia, and the CUP in Cyprus	140
6.	The CUP in the Hands of the High-Ranking Conspirators	142
	The Flight of Damad Mahmud Pasha and Its Consequences	142
	Damad Mahmud Pasha and the Geneva Center	145
	The Rise of the Pro-British Group under Damad Mahmud Pasha and the CUP Center in England	146
	The Paris Branch of the CUP	156
	The "Activists" in Geneva	158
	The Young Turks in Egypt	162
	The CUP Center in Istanbul and Activities in the Empire	164
	The Balkan Organization	165
	The CUP and the Ottoman Opposition prior to the 1902 Congress	166
7.	Organizational Transformation of the CUP, 1889-1902	167
8.	The First Congress of Ottoman Opposition in Paris and Its Consequences	173
	Final Activities before the Congress	173
	The Organization of the Congress	180
	The First Congress of Ottoman Opposition	188
	Consequences of the Congress	197
9	The Political Ideas of the Young Turks	200
	Islam as a Tool of Modernization	200
	The Young Turks and Positivism	203
	The Young Turks and Elitism	205
	Materialism, Race, and Nationalism	208
10.	Conclusion	213
	Abbreviations	217
	Notes	219
	Selected Bibliography	359
	Index	381

Editorial Reviews

"The great empirical value of Hanioglu's book makes it an important contribution to the field."—iddle East Journal

"The research base of Young Turks in Opposition deserves comment, being one of the most prodigious this reviewer has seen...This heroic scholarly apparatus is by no means for show purposes; quite the contrary, it closely undergirds the author's weighty and original study."—Middle East Quarterly

"[The author's] study is based on exhaustive primary research; his is the first history of the Committee for Union and Progress based on the private papers, journals, and newspapers of its members. This archival research will surely delight spcialists and is clearly the greatest strength of the text."—The Historian

"[Q]uite refreshing...Hanioglu has achieved all he attempted in writing a complete study of the intellectual basis and politics of the Young Turk opposition."—Middle East Studies Association Bulletin

"This book is an important contribution to our understanding of modern Turkey..."—American Historical Review

"A treasure chest for late Ottoman researchers."—CHOICE

From the Publisher