Young Turk Revolution

The 1908 revolution in the Ottoman Empire restored constitutional government and forced Sultan Abdulhamid II to reinstate the 1876 constitution and reconvene parliament.

Committee of Union and Progress: A political organization that led the Young Turk movement and governed the Ottoman Empire after 1908. Its officers organized the revolt that compelled Abdulhamid II to restore the constitution.
Young Turks: A diverse Ottoman opposition movement that sought political reform and constitutional government. The revolution was the movement’s decisive victory, though its factions had differing aims.
Ottoman general election of 1908: The first Ottoman parliamentary election after the restoration of the constitution in 1908. It translated the revolution’s restoration of parliament into renewed political representation.
First Constitutional Era: The brief period of Ottoman parliamentary government from 1876 to 1878, before Abdulhamid II suspended the constitution. The 1908 revolution restored the constitutional experiment that this earlier era had begun.
Niyazi Bey: An Ottoman army officer whose 1908 rebellion in Macedonia helped trigger the Young Turk Revolution. His flight to the mountains made the constitutional revolt an open military insurgency.
Midhat Pasha: An Ottoman statesman associated with the drafting and promulgation of the 1876 constitution. His constitutional legacy supplied a precedent for the revolutionaries’ demands.
March 31 Incident: A 1909 uprising in Constantinople against the Committee of Union and Progress and the constitutional order. The counterrevolution tested the new regime and ended with Abdulhamid II’s deposition.
Absolute monarchy: A form of government in which a monarch holds supreme political authority without effective constitutional limits. The revolution challenged the autocratic system Abdulhamid II had established.
Enver Pasha: An Ottoman military officer and politician who became a leading figure in the Committee of Union and Progress. His revolutionary activity helped bring the Macedonian army into the constitutional movement.
Hamidian era: The period of Abdulhamid II’s rule, marked by centralized government, censorship, surveillance, and reform. Its autocratic controls and political grievances helped drive opposition toward revolution.

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