Abdülhamid II

Abdülhamid II (born September 21, 1842, Constantinople [now Istanbul, Turkey]—died February 10, 1918, Constantinople) was an Ottoman sultan from 1876 to 1909, under whose autocratic rule the reform movement of Tanzimat (Reorganization) reached its climax and who adopted a policy of pan-Islamism in opposition to Western intervention in Ottoman affairs.

A son of Sultan Abdülmecid I, he came to the throne at the deposition of his mentally deranged brother, Murad V, on August 31, 1876. He promulgated the first Ottoman constitution on December 23, 1876, primarily to ward off foreign intervention at a time when the Turks’ savage suppression of the Bulgarian uprising (May 1876) and Ottoman successes in Serbia and Montenegro had aroused the indignation of Western powers and Russia. After a disastrous war with Russia (1877), Abdülhamid was convinced that little help could be expected from the Western powers without their intrusion into Ottoman affairs. He dismissed the Parliament, which had met in March 1877, and suspended the constitution in February 1878. Thenceforth, for 30 years, he ruled from his seclusion at Yıldız Palace (in Constantinople), assisted by a system of secret police, an expanded telegraph network, and severe censorship.

After the French occupation of Tunisia (1881) and assumption of power by the British in Egypt (1882), Abdülhamid turned for support to the Germans. In return, concessions were made to Germany, culminating in permission (1899) to build the Baghdad Railway. Eventually, the suppression of the Armenian revolt (1894) and the turmoil in Crete, which led to the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, once more resulted in European intervention.

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Understanding the Ottoman Empire

Abdülhamid used pan-Islamism to solidify his internal absolutist rule and to rally Muslim opinion outside the empire, thus creating difficulties for European imperial powers in their Muslim colonies. The Hejaz Railway, financed by Muslim contributions from all over the world, was a concrete expression of his policy.

Internally, the most far-reaching of his reforms were in education: 18 professional schools were established; Darülfünun, later known as the University of Istanbul, was founded (1900); and a network of secondary, primary, and military schools was extended throughout the empire. Also, the Ministry of Justice was reorganized, and railway and telegraph systems were developed.

Discontent with Abdülhamid’s despotic rule and resentment against European intervention in the Balkans, however, led to the military revolution of the Young Turks in 1908. After a short-lived reactionary uprising (April 1909), Abdülhamid was deposed, and his brother was proclaimed sultan as Mehmed V.