The 31 March Incident (Turkish: 31 Mart Vakası or 31 Mart Olayı) was a 1909 rebellion of reactionaries in İstanbul against the restoration of constitutional monarchy that had taken place in 1908. It took place on 13 April 1909 (31 March on the Rumi calendar in use at the time in Turkey for official timekeeping). The countercoup had attempted to put an end to the nascent Second Constitutional Era in the Ottoman Empire and to the newly established influence of the Committee of Union and Progress, in order to re-affirm the position of the Sultan Abdul Hamid II as absolute monarch.
The incident was a milestone in the Turkish military's encroaching on the political sphere.[1]
Contents |
| Event 1 | Revolution | Young Turk Revolution |
| Event 2 | Counter-coup | Countercoup (1909) |
| Event 3 | Counter Revolution | 31 March Incident |
The counter-coup, led by a certain Dervish Vahdeti, reigned supreme in İstanbul for a few days. It was put down by Hareket Ordusu (The Army of Action) constituted in urgence with troops stationed in the Balkans and which rapidly departed from Selanik. Among the officers who entered the capital was a young captain named Mustafa Kemal.[1]
A few weeks after the re-establishment of order, Sultan Abdul Hamid II himself was deposed and sent to exile in Selanik, and replaced by his brother Mehmed V Reşad.
It has been suggested that the incident constituted a breakdown between Britain's relations with Ottoman Empire marking the end of the one year old co-operation, as the planners of the countercoup believed that they had unlimited British support behind it.
The incident led to a change of Grand Vizier, and Ahmed Tevfik Pasha assumed the position. He was the last Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
In memorial of the 74 soldiers killed in action during this event, the Monument of Liberty (Ottoman Turkish: Abide-i Hürriyet) was erected 1911 in Şişli district of Istanbul.
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