Later Roman Empire

On July 13, 1878, the Congress of Berlin ended the Russo Turkish conflict. It modified the Treaty of San Stefano; recog nized the independence of Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro ; re duced the frontiers given by the Treaty of San Stefano to Bul garia, and further divided the territory into two parts, one of which became a self-governing Turkish province named Eastern Rumelia. Turkey had the sanjak of Beyazid in Anatolia restored to her but she was to pay an indemnity of 300,000,00o roubles to Russia. The most important clause of the treaty was the formal engagement of Turkey to introduce reforms in the Rumelian prov inces as well as in the eastern provinces which had Armenian minorities. Abdul-Hamid who immediately of ter the Congress en gaged a number of European experts on the pretext of reorganisa tion and reform, before long dismissed them ; he also dissolved parliament with the remark that Turkey was unfitted for parlia mentary government. Apart from the occupation of Egypt by England (1881) which is dealt with elsewhere (see EGYPT), the chief interest of Turkish history now lies in the steps by which Abdul-Hamid secured his predominance. The power of the Porte was slowly transferred to the palace through the machinations of Said Pasha, the first secretary of Abdul-Hamid, who bef ore long was an absolute monarch. Midhat Pasha, the veteran reformer, was lured back by a free pardon and appointed governor of Smyrna. Soon after, on the pretence that the suicide of Abdul Aziz was really a murder committed by Midhat Pasha, a sham trial was opened in the palace, and, on the evidence of false witnesses procured by Abdul-Hamid, Midhat Pasha was condemned to death. Abdul-Hamid changed the death sentence to exile and prison in Taif, near Mecca, but a few years later he had Midhat Pasha strangled in prison. Midhat was the last grand vizier strangled by the orders'of the sultan in Turkish history. At the same time, as the finances had become worse after the war, and the payment of debts was falling into arrears, Said Pasha, now grand vizier, founded the Ottoman Public Debt administration which gave the control of the payment of debts to European delegates. (Decree of Muharrem, Dec. 1881.) In 1885 a rising took place in the province of Eastern Rumelia, which was united to Bulgaria. Turkey appointed Prince Alexander of Battenberg (the prince of Bulgaria) governor of Eastern Rumelia, a diplomatic way of accepting the annexation. Revolts in Crete had been in progress since 189o, and Greece hoped to annex the island. The series of independent non-Muslim govern ments which had been founded in succession within the empire raised the hopes of all the other national minorities. The Ar menians in the eastern vilayets, who enjoyed freedom of education in their schools, succeeded in permeating all the Armenian com munities with the desire for national independence. Two revolu tionary Armenian committees, called Hinchak and Dashnak sutioun, who were in close touch with European centres, were formed. Abdul-Hamid's foolish patronage of the Kurdish com munities encouraged them to persecute the Armenians. This, as well as the severity with which the taxes were collected, gave the Armenians two pretexts to rise in revolt in 1894. These revolts were repressed with such sanguinary measures that England and France prepared a programme of reforms for the eastern vilayets and forced Turkey to accept it. No effect was given to the Turkish promises and in 1896, when Lord Salisbury tried to enforce re form on those vilayets, the other powers would not agree to the coercion of Turkey. The Armenian revolutionaries in despair adopted a form of revolt which would force the attention of European political circles. They revolted in Constantinople and attacked the Ottoman Bank, a European institution. The repres sion was once more sanguinary. In 1904 the Armenian revolution ary committee made a vain attempt on Abdul-Hamid's life and won the sympathy of the "Young Turks." On the ground that Greece had inspired the revolts in Crete the Porte declared war on April 17, 1897, and the Turkish Army, after inflicting a severe defeat on the Greeks, marched on Domekos. The Powers, becoming anxious, intervened and ended the war. A peace was, concluded which involved a slight rectification of the frontier and the payment of an indemnity of four million Turkish pounds by Greece. Crete was put under international control, "en depot," and much of the capitulations which benefited Greek citi zens was cancelled. In 1898 Prince George, the son of the king of Greece, was appointed governor of Crete and a national assembly called. The refusal of Austria and Germany to take part in the anti-Turkish settlement of the Cretan question, marks the begin ning of Germany's "Drang nach Osten" policy. As a result of her apparent pro-Turkish policy she obtained a concession to construct the Anatolian railway and in 1899 the Baghdad line. Abdul Hamid's preference for Germany was due partly to the friendly attitude of the German kaiser and partly to the fact that he feared the liberal influence which France and England would have over the intellectuals in Turkey.

During the latter part of Abdul-Hamid's reign the Macedonian question became most important. The independent Balkan States carried on anti-Turkish propaganda among their own races in the Turkish Balkans and it is through this movement that the "comit ajis" appeared in the Balkans. Comitajis were armed bands of political partizans, who have ever since devastated the Balkan peninsula. Their activities caused risings and slaughter, which were

avenged by equal if not greater ferocity, which added to Turkish ill-repute in Europe. In 1903 after the Bulgarian insurrection in Macedonia, Turkey accepted the Marszteg programme, which was prepared by Austria and Russia. According to this programme the three vilayets of Salonika, Monastir and Uskith were placed under a Turkish inspector-general (Hussein Hilmi Pasha) who in turn was under the supervision of Russian and Austrian civil agents. The gendarmerie was given a foreign commander, and French, English and Italian instructors.

In spite of these reforms Macedonia could not be pacified and the work of the Comitajis went on. The agreement of King Edward VII. of England and Tsar Nicholas II. at Reval in 19o7 was widely rumoured to be a new plan for the partition of Turkey. The Turkish officers in Macedonia, partly affected by this rumour, made an attempt to settle this vexed question once for all. They joined a secret society, called the "Committee of Union and Progress" which was formed to restore the constitution.

The "Young Turks..

These "Young Turks" were the succes sors of the Young Ottomans, who after the closing of the first parliament had worked in secret for the restoration of the consti tution by means of publications and secret societies both in Europe and in Turkey, mostly among the students in the military and medical schools. From 1882 onwards Abdul-Hamid had put the press under a strict censorship and by an elaborate network of spies had abolished freedom of speech. The obscurantist educa tional system was preventing the spread of modern ideals, the Christian schools alone not being affected by this system. Under these conditions Talaat Bey, a chief clerk of the Salonika post office and a student of law, and Rahmi Bey, a local notable, to gether with a few others, had formed "the Secret Society of Union and Progress" on the model of the Freemason lodges. The Turkish revolutionary societies in Europe were affiliated to the Salonika society through their leader Dr. Nazim. When the intellectuals and officers of Macedonia such as Niazi, Enver, Mustafa Kemal and Jemal Bey joined the committee, the organization had an active force at its command in the Macedonian army. Captain Niazi first led an armed rising in Resna and the other conspirators followed in Monastir. The revolt shot though the cities of the empire, and Abdul-Hamid was informed on July 23, 1908, that he had no alternative but to restore the Constitution. This bloodless revolution aroused enthusiasm even among the Serbian, Bulgarian and Greek Comitajis, and among the Armenian revolutionaries. Representatives of nearly all these came to Salonika and joined the Union and Progress, which ceased to be secret after the proclamation of the Constitution. It seemed for the minute as though all the different racial elements of the empire would really unite in a constitutional Turkey. But the separatist and nation alist ideals of the different races were too deeply rooted to be swept away by momentary enthusiasms. The restoration of the constitutional regime postponed indeed the Reval Programme. But both Austria, who thought Turkey an obstacle to her expan sion towards the Aegean sea, and Russia, who found a strong Turkey a hindrance to her plans of expansion, felt uneasy. On Sept. 15, 1908, the Russian and Austrian foreign ministers met at Buchlau and agreed on a partition programme by which the Straits were to be in the Russian zone and Bulgaria a Russian sphere of influence ; Macedonia was to be in an Austrian zone, and Serbia an Austrian sphere of influence ; Albania was to be in an Italian zone and Greece an Italian sphere of influence. Fifteen days after this meeting Austria annexed Hercegovina (Oct. 5, 1908), and Bulgaria declared her complete independence. Turkey recognized the Bosnia-Hercegovina annexation, for which Austria paid £2,200,000 and evacuated the sanjak of Novi Bazar. For Turkey's recognition of Bulgarian independence Russia cancelled L20,000,000 of the Turkish indemnity. Before long these foreign blows were followed by the recrudescence of internal conflicts. The Albanians revolted against the new regime in Macedonia, and the Kurds attacked the Turks, the Armenians and the Nestorians in eastern Anatolia. In Adana the reactionaries attacked the Armenians, and Yemen rose in revolt. Izzet Pasha was sent to Yemen to pacify the region, which he was able to do by a friendly agreement with the Imam Yahia, 1912. The reactionary opposition in the capital incited fanatical opinion against the new regime, and was greatly aided by two political murders in Constantinople committed by adherents of the new regime. Finally the movement passed into a military revolt on April 13, 1909. A great number of officers and adherents of the new regime were massacred, parliament was raided and several deputies murdered. Abdul-Hamid pardoned the leaders of the revolt and formed a new cabinet. In reply an army under Mahmoud Shevket Pasha, sent by the Young Turks from Salonika, marched on the capital and punished the insur gents. Although there v: as and is no documentary evidence of Abdul-Hamid's part in the reactionary rising, his evident desire to restore absolutism led parliament to procure his dethrone ment by a fetva and Mohammed V. took his place.