Countercoup (1909)
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The Countercoup of 1909 (March 1909), which was reverted by 31 March Incident, was an attempt to dismantle the Second Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire and replace it with a monarchy under Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The Sultan's bid for a return to power gained traction when he promised to restore the Caliphate, eliminate secular policies, and restore the rule of Islamic law. However, following the 31 March Incident the sultan Abdul Hamid II was deposed.
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[edit] Background
The Young Turk Revolution brought the second constitutional era by reconstituting the parliament which the Sultan had suspended in 1878 by finalizing the first constitutional era.
[edit] A new constitution
With the onset of second constitutional era, the deputies of the new parliament began to modernize the constitution Kanûn-ı Esâsî (meaning "Basic Law" in Ottoman Turkish) which was written before the first constitutional era by members of the Young Ottomans. The changes on the constitution totaled to the 21 articles and there were three new articles. With these changes, the powers given by the first constitution to the sultan was removed. Sultans position become more of a symbolic importance. The sultan was obliged to be loyal to the constitution. The initial design the government was responsible to Sultan, with the changes it become responsible for the parliament. The principal of division of powers was accepted. Some major liberties were recognized such as the right of party establishment and meeting.
[edit] Dynamics
The 1908 parliament lacked coherency, least of all on the nature and unity of the organization of the Ottoman Empire. While the Young Turk Revolution had promised organizational improvement, once instituted, the government at first proved itself rather disorganized and ineffectual, tempting a coup. The Ottoman Empire's gradual disintegration, which included the loss of Bulgaria to complete independence within a year of the Young Turk Revolution, and its inability to form a government after the 1908 elections, stiffened opposition to the reformative regime. This reactionary opposition naturally coalesced around the more conservative, fundamentalist Muslims within the Empire: a base to whom the Sultan had proven himself loyal.
[edit] The countercoup
In March 1909, army units revolted, joined by masses of theological students and turbaned clerics shouting, "We want Sharia", and moving to restore the Sultan's absolute power. This group attempted to seize power once more by stirring populist sentiment throughout the Empire. Because the coup was an attempt to undermine the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, it became known as the Countercoup. The following days of Countercoup brought the 31 March Incident on April 13, 1909, which Abdul Hamid II was finally deposed. His brother took his place as Sultan, the position once more reduced to mere symbolic significance.
[edit] Afthermath
[edit] Results
- See also: 31 March Incident
The countercoup was followed by 31 March Incident On April 13, 1909, Abdul Hamid II was finally deposed. His brother would ultimately take his place as Sultan, the position once more reduced to mere symbolic significance.
[edit] Effects
The Countercoup's failure brought the Committee of Union and Progress back from disarray, from its inability to generate a government. The Countercoup ended the Arab-Turkish honeymoon due to the caliphate issues. After the 31 March Incident, the Committee of Union and Progress outlawed Arab societies who empowered Arab interests from within Ottoman society, including the Society of Arab Ottoman Brotherhood, and prohibited the issuing of several Arab journals and newspapers that featured radical Islamic rhetoric.
The policies of the Committee of Union and Progress aimed at controlling the fundamentalists were perceived as silencing the cause of independence and liberty by discriminating against religion.[citation needed] Under the multi-religious "balancing policies", the Committee of Union and Progress believed it could achieve a "Turkification" of all the Arab subjects of the Empire. These measures stirred nationalist sentiment and a desire for independence and freedom among the Arab population, further cementing a national sensibility resistant to fundamentalist Islam.
