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Ottoman Caliphate - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
Abdul-Hamid II, 1876–1909[edit]
See also:
Decline of the Ottoman Empire
Sultan
Abdul-Hamid II, who ruled 1876–1909, felt that the Empire's desperate situation could only be remedied through strong and determined leadership. He distrusted his ministers and other officials that had served his predecessors and gradually reduced their role in his regime, concentrating absolute power over the Empire's governance in his own hands. Taking a hard-line against Western involvement in Ottoman affairs, he emphasized the Empire's "Islamic" character, reasserted his status as the
Caliph, and called for Muslim unity behind the Caliphate.
Abdul-Hamid strengthened the Empire's position somewhat, and succeeded briefly in reasserting Islamic power, by building numerous schools, reducing the national debt, and embarking on projects aimed at revitalizing the Empire's decaying infrastructure. His autocratic style of governance created a backlash that led to the end of his reign.
Western-inclined Turkish military officers opposed to Abdul-Hamid's rule had steadily organized in the form of secret societies within and outside
Turkey. By 1906, the movement enjoyed the support of a significant portion of the army, and its leaders formed the
Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), informally known as the
Young TurkParty. The Young Turks sought to remodel administration of the Empire along Western lines. Their ideology was
nationalist in character, and was a precursor of the movement that would seize control of Turkey following
World War I. CUP leaders presented their ideas to the public as a revival of true Islamic principles. Under the leadership of
Enver Pasha, a Turkish military officer, the CUP launched a military coup against the Sultan in 1908, proclaiming a new regime on 6 July. Though they left Abdul-Hamid on his throne, the Young Turks compelled him to restore the parliament and constitution he had suspended thirty years earlier, thereby creating a constitutional monarchy and stripping the Caliphate of its authority.