Education, History
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the 99th Caliph Abdul-Hamid II: biography, family
At the beginning of the XIX century, the Ottoman Empire was in a state of crisis. Wrecked by the wars, the country, backward in all respects, needed radical changes. The reforms of Tanzimat, conducted by Abdul Mejid I since 1839, had a positive effect on her. But in the 70's, under the rule of Sultan Abdul-Aziz, they came to naught. The state practically went bankrupt. The tax-depressed Christians raised uprisings. The threat of interference by European powers is looming. Then the new Ottomans, led by Midhat Pasha, dreamed of a better future for the state, held several palace revolutions, as a result of which Abdul-Hamid II came to power.
The person of Abdul-Hamid II
Abdul-Hamid II was born on September 22, 1842. His parents were Sultan Abdul Mejid I and his fourth wife Tirimyuzhgan Kadyn Efendi, who, according to one version, had an Armenian, on the other - Circassian origin.
The future emperor received an excellent education. Especially well he knew military affairs. Abdul-Hamid was fluent in several languages, he was not indifferent to poetry and music. He especially loved the opera, which conquered the future caliph during his travels through Europe. For the Ottoman Empire, this art was something incomprehensible and alien, but Abdul-Hamid made a lot of efforts for his development in his homeland. He even wrote the opera himself and put it in Istanbul. When Abdul-Hamid ascended the throne on August 31, 1876, no one could have imagined that he would become the creator of not only works of art, but also a bloody regime that would take hundreds of thousands of lives.
The accession to the throne of the "bloody sultan"
In those years, the new Ottomans tried their best to achieve change and a constitution. Conservative Abdul-Aziz was deposed with their participation on May 30, 1876, and a few days later was killed. In its place, the constitutional movement put Murat V, brother Abdul-Hamid. He was distinguished by meekness of character, sympathized with enlightenment and reforms. However, bloody feuds, suddenly acquired power and alcohol abuse caused a serious nervous breakdown in the new sultan, pampered by life in greenhouse conditions. Murat V was unable to rule the empire, and most importantly, could not give the country a constitution.
The situation in the state and beyond was exacerbated. Serbia and Montenegro declared the empire a war, trying to protect the Christians of Bosnia and Herzegovina, rebelling against the Turkish yoke. Murat V was declared insane, and the power was given to Abdul-Hamid II, who promised the new Ottomans to fulfill all their demands.
Proclamation of the first Turkish constitution
In the depths of his soul, the Caliph was not a supporter of liberal ideas. But it was dangerous to express openly his position on the throne of the Turkish intelligentsia that brought him to the throne. The new Ottoman Sultan began to postpone the proclamation of the constitution, citing its imperfection. The basic law has been constantly altered and finalized. Meanwhile, Russia demanded a peace with Serbia and Montenegro, and together with the European powers began to develop a project of autonomy in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the current tense situation, Midhat Pasha was ready for any sacrifices for the sake of proclaiming the constitution. Abdul-Hamid appointed the head of the new Ottomans to be the Grand Vizier and agreed to publish it under the condition that one point was added to Art. 113, according to which, the sultan can expel from the country any person disagreeable to him. The Constitution, which granted freedom and security to everyone regardless of religion, was proclaimed on December 23, 1876, at the Istanbul Conference. By his decision, Abdul-Hamid temporarily paralyzed the activities of Europe to free Christians and retained virtually unlimited power.
The massacre of the new Ottomans
Immediately after the proclamation of the constitution, the Caliph began to abuse the treasury and introduce repressions against the capital's newspapers. Such actions led to violent clashes with Midhat Pasha, who openly showed dissatisfaction with the activities of the Sultan. Abdul-Hamid ignored the protests until the Grand Vizier wrote him a bold letter. In it, Midhat Pasha claimed that the Caliph itself hinders the development of the state. The Ottoman Sultan, outraged by such impudence, ordered the arrest of the head of the constitutionalists and brought to the ship "Izzedin," whose captain was to take Midhat Pasha to any foreign port of his choice. The Caliph had this right due to the addition to Art. 113 of the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire.
In the following months, a lot of repression was carried out against the liberals, but they did not cause public outrage. The creators of the first constitution did not take care of the class support, so their good undertakings were freely erased by the deceived Abdul-Hamid II.
The beginning of the era of "Zulum"
The plans of the Caliph did not include the subordination of the constitution, nor the observance of the requirements of the European powers. The protocol that they compiled shortly after the Istanbul conference, demanding that the violence against the strikers be stopped, was simply ignored by Abdul-Hamid II. And in April 1877, Russia declared an empire war, which showed all the rottenness and backwardness of the Sultanate regime. In March 1878, it ended in complete defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Meanwhile, the outcome of the war was brought to the Berlin Congress, the cunning Abdul-Hamid dismissed the parliament for an indefinite period, thereby depriving the constitution of the force.
The war brought enormous territorial losses to the empire. Out of her power came Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and other provinces. A huge indemnity was imposed on the state, and Abdul-Hamid II, following the results of the congress, was to make reforms in the areas populated by Armenians. It would seem that the life of Christians should improve, but the Ottoman Sultan did not fulfill his promises. Moreover, after the inglorious defeat in the war, liberal thought was crushed finally, and in the country came the black times, called "Zulum."
The economic decline of the country
Abdul-Hamid completely seized power. He tried to preserve the territorial integrity of the state through the ideology of pan-Islamism. The 99th Caliph pandered to the interests of the Arab, Circassian and Kurdish feudal lords, the higher Muslim clergy and a large bureaucracy. They actually ruled the country. Porta became a submissive toy in their hands. The treasury was replenished by external loans. Debts grew, and concessions were granted to foreigners. The state again declared itself bankrupt. Creditors of the empire were formed "Office of the Ottoman state debt." The country fell completely under international financial control, and foreign capital dominated it, which simply plundered the already poor population. The tax burden in the country has increased at times. The great power fell into disrepair, turning into a foreign semi-colony.
Paranoia and tyranny
In the prevailing conditions, the Sultan was most afraid of the fate of Abdul-Aziz and Murat V. Fear of a possible palace coup and deposition passed into a paranoia, to which everything was subordinated. The palace of Yildiz, in which the caliph settled, was filled with guards.
There, the bureaus created by him, controlling the activities of all government departments, worked unceasingly, and the fate of the highest dignities of the empire was decided. Any little thing that caused displeasure Abdul-Hamid, could cost a person not only loss of office, but life. The intelligentsia became the main enemy of the Sultan, so he actively encouraged ignorance. No minister, who headed the departments of Porta, had a higher education. Because of him, it was possible to be branded as unreliable, and therefore disagreeable to the Sultan. Provincial officials and could not boast of high cultural level. In their circles reigned arbitrariness and venality. Sam Abdul-Hamid preferred not to leave the palace. Exception was only seamlyk. He organized a large-scale espionage network and created a secret police, which became famous throughout the world. A fabulous sum from the state treasury left for it.
Spy network and secret police
No one in the country felt safe. People feared even the closest: husbands - wives, fathers - children. Denunciations and subsequent arrests and exile were common. Often a person was simply killed without trial and investigation. The leaders of the investigation knew people in person and tried to hide at their appearance. The surveillance was also conducted for higher ranks. The Sultan knew absolutely everything about them, including eating habits. Even the faces closest to the Caliph could not live peacefully. Inside the palace camarilla hung a burdensome atmosphere of fear and suspicion. Spies were in every corner of the country. Almost all the supporters of reforms emigrated from it.
Comprehensive censorship
The press was subjected to severe censorship. The number of publications has sharply decreased. Such words as "freedom", "tyranny", "equality", were considered seditious. For their use, you could lose your life.
Under the ban were the books of Voltaire, Byron, Tolstoy and even Shakespeare, in particular his tragedy Hamlet, because in it the murder of the king was committed. Turkish writers did not even try to touch on social and political problems in their works.
The universities were closely monitored. Any free thought was stopped at the root. The history of Islam and the Ottoman dynasty replaced traditional lectures on world history.
Mass extermination of Armenians
The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire deliberately sowed discord between the Muslim and Christian populations of the country. Such a policy was beneficial. Enmity made people weaker and distracted from the main problems. No one in the state could give a worthy rebuff to the Caliph. He provoked hatred between the nations, using the search apparatus and the police. Then, with the help of the Kurds, the Hamidiye cavalry was created. Sultan's thugs terrified the population. Armenians suffered especially from their terror. From 1894 to 1896, about 300 thousand people were killed.
Armenians simultaneously paid tribute to the Kurds and taxes of the empire. Rightsless people, tired of the tyranny of the authorities, tried to protest. The answer was the looted villages strewn with corpses. Armenians were burned alive, wounded and killed in whole villages. Thus, in the Erzurum massacre both servicemen and a simple Turkish population took part. And in a letter of an Ottoman soldier, addressed to the family, it was said that not a single Turk was wounded, and not one Armenian survived.
The origin of the opposition
In the midst of ubiquitous terror, devastation and poverty, the Turkish army stood out. In it the sultan has undergone drastic changes. They had high-quality military training and received excellent education. In essence, Turkish soldiers became the most enlightened people in the empire. Literate in all respects, they could not look calmly at what Abdul-Hamid's despotic regime does with their country. Before their eyes a demolished and ruined empire emerged, where arbitrariness and embezzlement, pogroms and looting reigned; Which in fact rules Europe, taking away its best provinces.
No matter how much the sultan smothered liberal thoughts in the minds of the new intelligentsia, they were still born and evolved. And in 1889 a secret group of Young Turks appeared, which began the resistance to the bloody despotism of Abdul-Hamid. In 1892, Porta learned about him. The cadets were arrested, but after several months the Sultan freed them and even allowed them to continue their studies. Abdul-Hamid did not want to heat up the atmosphere in the schools and wrote off their actions for a youthful trick. And the revolutionary movement continued to expand.
The Young Turks Revolution
In the course of ten years a number of Young Turk organizations appeared. In the cities leaflets, pamphlets, newspapers, in which the regime of the sultan was exposed and propaganda of his overthrow, were distributed. Anti-government sentiment reached its apogee when in 1905 a revolution took place in Russia, responding vividly in the hearts of the Turkish intelligentsia.
The Caliph lost his peace and spent sleepless nights in fear that rumors about her, in particular about the mutiny of Russian sailors on the battleship Potemkin, would penetrate Istanbul. He even ordered an investigation on Turkish warships in order to identify revolutionary sentiments. Sultan Abdul-Hamid II felt that his reign was coming to an end. And in 1905 he was assassinated, which ended in failure.
Two years later, a congress of all Young Turk organizations was held, and it was decided to deport the Sultan with joint efforts and restore the constitution. The people of Macedonia and the army of the Sultan rose to the side of the Young Turks. However, the Caliph did not overthrow him. He made concessions, and the constitution was re-proclaimed on July 10, 1908.
End of the Zulum era
The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire fulfilled all the demands of the Young Turks, but secretly plotted against the constitution. History was repeated, only the end of it was different. Together with his son Burhaneddin, they gathered adherents among the regiments of the capital, scattering gold to the right and to the left. On the April night of 1909, they organized a mutiny. The Young Turk soldiers from the same regiments were captured, and many were killed. The army moved to the parliament building and demanded a change of ministers. Abdul-Hamid later tried to prove that he had nothing to do with the insurgency, but without success. Mladoturtskaya "Army of Action" captured Istanbul and occupied the Sultan's palace. Surrounded by his rebuke favorites and family members, cut off from the world, he was forced to surrender. April 27, 1909 the sultan was overthrown and exiled to Thessaloniki. This was the end of the regime of tyranny, which Abdul-Hamid diligently created. Wives went with him. But not all, but only the most faithful.
Family of the 99th Caliph
The family life of Abdul-Hamid was typical of the Ottoman Sultan. Khalif married 13 times. Of all his chosen women, he was especially attached to two: Mushfika and Saliha. It is well known that they did not leave the deposed Sultan in trouble and went with him to exile. Not all wives of the Ottoman Sultan so successfully developed relations. With Safinaz Nurefzun, he divorced during his reign, and with some he was separated by Thessaloniki. The heirs of the Caliph awaited the unenviable fate after Abdu'l-Hamid was overthrown. Children of the Sultan were expelled in 1924 from Turkey. The former Caliph himself returned to Istanbul several years after exile and died there in 1918.
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