Abdul Hamid II

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	Abdülhamid II Ottoman Period
Preceded by: Murad V	Sultan 1876-1909	Succeeded by: Mehmed V
Preceded by: Murad V	Caliph 1876-1909	Succeeded by: Mehmed V

Abdülhamid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی `Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i sânî, Turkish: İkinci Abdülhamid) (September 21, 1842 – February 10, 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He ruled from August 31, 1876 until he was deposed on April 27, 1909.

Abdülhamid II was the last Ottoman emperor who ruled with unchallenged absolutist powers. Despite the fact that his deposition following the Young Turk Revolution was hailed by most Ottoman citizens, Abdülhamid II can be credited for delaying the unavoidable break-up of the Ottoman Empire by at least a few decades through his ruthless and often repressive authoritarian methods in dealing with the secessionist revolts, and his cunning diplomatic maneuvers by using one European power against the other.

[edit] Early years

Abdülhamid II in his early years

Abdülhamid II was the son of Sultan Abdülmecid and his Circassian^[1] wife Tirimüjgan (Virjin) Sultan. He succeeded to the throne following the deposition of his brother Murad on August 31, 1876. He himself was deposed in favor of his brother Mehmed in 1909.

Apart from being a skilled carpenter (he personally crafted most of his own furniture, which can be seen today at the Yıldız Palace and Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul), Abdülhamid II was also interested in opera and personally wrote the first-ever Turkish translations of many opera classics. He also composed several opera pieces for the Mızıka-ı Hümayun which he established, and hosted the famous performers of Europe at the Opera House of Yıldız Palace which was recently restored and featured in the film Harem Suare (1999) of the Turkish-Italian director Ferzan Özpetek, which begins with the scene of Abdülhamid II watching a performance.

Unlike many other Ottoman sultans, Abdülhamid II traveled to distant countries. Nine years before he took the throne, he accompanied his uncle Sultan Abdülaziz on his visit to Austria, France and England in 1867. At his accession, some commentators were impressed by the fact that he rode practically unattended to the Eyüp Sultan Mosque where he was given the sword of Osman. Most people expected Abdülhamid II to have liberal ideas, and some conservatives were inclined to regard him with suspicion as a dangerous reformer. In the event, like many other would-be reformers of the Ottoman Empire, change proved to be nearly impossible. Default in the public funds, an empty treasury, the 1875 insurrection in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the war with Serbia and Montenegro and the feeling aroused throughout Europe by the cruelty used in stamping out the Bulgarian rebellion all proved good reasons not to undertake any significant changes.

The Signature of Abdülhamid

The international conference which met at Istanbul towards the end of 1876 was surprised by the promulgation of a constitution, but the demands of European powers at the conference were rejected. Midhat Pasha, the author of the constitution, was exiled and soon afterwards the constitution was suspended. Early in 1877 the Ottoman Empire went to war with the Russian Empire.

The war was a disaster for the Ottomans and the government in Istanbul had to sign a harsh treaty (see the Treaty of San Stefano). However, the terms of the treaty were changed -in favor of the Ottoman government- at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, mainly due to the diplomatic efforts by the British government of Benjamin Disraeli. In exchange of these favours, Cyprus was "rented" to Britain in 1878 while the British forces occupied Egypt and Sudan in 1882 with the pretext of "bringing order" to those provinces. Cyprus, Egypt and Sudan remained as Ottoman provinces "on paper" until 1914, when Britain officially annexed those territories in response to the Ottoman participation in World War I at the side of the Central Powers. Turkey accepted to give up its rights on these territories with the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

[edit] Poetry

Abdülhamid was also a poet just like many other Ottoman sultans.

Here is a sample of his handwritten poetry, which was taken from the book "My Father Abdul Hameed," written by his daughter Aisha

One of the sultan's poems translates thus:

My lord I know you are the Dear One (Al-Aziz)
... And no one but you are the Dear One
You are the One, and nothing else
My God take my hand in these hard times
My God be my helper in this critical hour

[edit] Thirty years of failed reform

The Ottoman government of Abdülhamid now viewed the united Germany as a possible friend of the empire. Kaiser Wilhelm II was twice hosted by Abdülhamid in Istanbul; first on October 21, 1889, and nine years later, on October 5, 1898 (Wilhelm II later visited Istanbul for a third time, on October 15, 1917, as a guest of Mehmed V). German officers (like Baron von der Goltz) were employed to oversee the reorganization of the Ottoman army. German government officials were brought in to reorganize the Ottoman government's finances. Abdülhamid tried to take more of the reins of power into his own hands, for he distrusted his ministers.

Nordenfelt class Ottoman submarine Abdülhamid (1886) was the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo while submerged under water. Two submarines of this class, Abdülhamid (1886) and Abdülmecid (1887) joined the Ottoman fleet. They were built in pieces by Des Vignes (Chertsey) and Vickers (Sheffield) in England, and assembled at the Taşkızak Naval Shipyard in Istanbul, Turkey.

There were many setbacks:

• Financial embarrassments forced him to consent to a foreign control over the national debt. In a decree issued in December 1881, a large portion of the empire's revenues were handed over to the Public Debt Administration for the benefit of (mostly foreign) bondholders.
• There was also trouble in Egypt, where a discredited khedive had to be deposed. Abdülhamid mishandled relations with Urabi Pasha, and as a result Great Britain gained virtual control over Egypt by sending its troops with the pretext of "bringing order".
• There were problems on the Greek frontier and in Montenegro, where the European powers were determined that the decisions of the Berlin Congress should be carried into effect.
• The union in 1885 of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia was another blow. The creation of an independent and powerful Bulgaria was viewed as a serious threat to the Ottoman Empire. For many years Abdülhamid had to deal with Bulgaria in a way that did not antagonize either Russian or German wishes.

Germany's friendship was not disinterested, and had to be fostered with railway and loan concessions. In 1899 a significant German desire, the Baghdad Railway, was given to them.

Over the years Abdülhamid succeeded in reducing his ministers to the position of secretaries, and he concentrated much of the administration of the Empire into his own hands at Yıldız Palace. But internal dissension was not reduced. Crete was constantly in turmoil. The Greeks living within the Ottoman Empire's borders were dissatisfied, as were the Armenians.

Starting around 1890 the Armenians began clamoring to obtain the reforms which were promised at Berlin.^[2] Unrest occurred in 1892 and 1893 at Merzifon and Tokat. Armenian groups staged protests and were met by violence. Abdülhamid, despite being the son of an Armenian mother, did not hesitate to put down these revolts with harsh methods and often used the local Muslims (in most cases the Kurds) against the Armenians^[3]. Between 1894 and 1897, massacres of the Armenian populace began, resulting in the deaths of between 100,000 and 300,000 Armenians including men, women and children.^[4] This kind of death toll would not be seen until the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Some of the worst bloodshed was seen in the province of Sasun.^[5] [1]

Abdülhamid II in his later years

Crete was granted extended privileges, but these did not satisfy the population, which sought unification with Greece. In early 1897 a Greek expedition sailed to Crete to overthrow Ottoman rule in the island. This act was followed by war, in which the Ottoman Empire defeated Greece (see the Greco-Turkish War (1897)). But a few months later Crete was taken over en depot by England, France, and Russia. Prince George of Greece was appointed as ruler and Crete was also lost to the Ottoman Empire.

Abdülhamid always resisted the pressure of the European powers to the last moment, in order to seem to yield only to overwhelming force, while posing as the champion of Islam against aggressive Christendom. Panislamic propaganda was encouraged; the privileges of foreigners in the Ottoman Empire, which were often seen as an obstacle to government, were curtailed. A new railway to the holy city of Medina was completed -making the Hajj somewhat easier- though there was still a 160 mile camel ride to get to Mecca. Emissaries were sent to distant countries preaching Islam and the Caliph's supremacy. During his rule, Abdülhamid refused Theodor Herzl's offers to pay down a substantial portion of the Ottoman debt in exchange for a charter allowing the Zionists to colonize Palestine.

Abdülhamid's appeals to Muslim sentiment were powerless against widespread disaffection within his Empire due to perennial misgovernment. In Mesopotamia and Yemen disturbance was endemic; nearer home, a semblance of loyalty was maintained in the army and among the Muslim population only by a system of delation and espionage, and by wholesale arrests. After his rule began, Abdülhamid became obsessed with the paranoia of being assassinated and withdrew himself into the fortified seclusion of the Yıldız Palace.

[edit] Assassination attempt

Main article: Yildiz Attempt

In 1907, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation attempted to assassinate him as vengeance to the purges and massacres he committed against the Armenians. Surviving the assassination, he eased his orders of purges against the Armenians.

[edit] Last year in power

A rare picture showing Abdülhamid and the four people when he was told he was removed from office

The national humiliation of the situation in Macedonia, together with the resentment in the army against the palace spies and informers, at last brought matters to a crisis. In the summer of 1908 the Young Turk revolution broke out and Abdülhamid, upon learning that the troops in Salonica were marching on Istanbul (July 23), at once capitulated. On the 24th an irade announced the restoration of the suspended constitution of 1876; the next day, further irades abolished espionage and censorship, and ordered the release of political prisoners. On December 17, Abdülhamid opened the Turkish parliament with a speech from the throne in which he said that the first parliament had been "temporarily dissolved until the education of the people had been brought to a sufficiently high level by the extension of instruction throughout the empire." No significant educational reforms had taken place over the previous 30 years.^{[citation needed]}

The new attitude of the sultan did not save him from the suspicion of intriguing with the powerful reactionary elements in the state, a suspicion confirmed by his attitude towards the counter-revolution of April 13, 1909 known as 31 Mart Vakası, when an insurrection of the soldiers backed by a conservative public upheaval in the capital overthrew the cabinet. The government, restored by soldiers from Salonica, decided on Abdülhamid's deposition, and on April 27 his brother Reshad Efendi was proclaimed as Sultan Mehmed V. The ex-sultan was conveyed into dignified captivity at Salonica. Back again in İstanbul by 1912, he spent his last days studying, carpentering and writing his memoirs in custody at Beylerbeyi Palace, where he died on February 10, 1918, just a few months before his brother.

[edit] Legacy

Abdülhamid was the last relatively autonomous sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He presided over thirty three years of decline. The Ottoman Empire had long been acknowledged as the Sick Man of Europe. While its European neighbours were making railroads, automobiles, electric lights and even airplanes, the Ottoman Empire was unable to develop such advanced industry. The Ottoman subjects rarely saw the benefits of the attempted reforms carried out under the Sultan's reign.

Abdülhamid commissioned thousands of photographs of his empire. Fearful of assassination, he did not travel often (though still more than many previous rulers) and photographs provided visual evidence of what was taking place in his realm. The Sultan presented large gift albums of photographs to various governments and heads of state, including the United States (William Allen, "The Abdul Hamid II Collection," History of Photography eight (1984): 119-45.) and Great Britain (M. I. Waley and British Library, "Sultan Abdulhamid II Early Turkish Photographs in 51 Albums from the British Library on Microfiche" (Zug, Switzerland: IDC, 1987). The American collection is housed in the Library of Congress and has been digitized.

[edit] References

Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:

Abd-ul-Hamid II

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Adbul Hamid II Biography

[edit] External links

• Ottoman Empire photographs at the Library of Congress