1912 Ottoman coup d'état

Background

Lead up

Discord in the CUP

Discord in government

On 30 September 1911, Unionist İbrahim Hakkı Pasha resigned as Grand Vizier following the outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War. When Tripolitanian MPs proposed to put him on trial for failing to stop Italian occupation of the area, the CUP blocked the motion, increasing partisanship. A meeting in October by all of the parliament's major politicians: Krikor Zohrab, Cavid, Talat, Halil Menteşe, Hakkı, Vartkes Serengülian, and Karekin Pastermadjian was held, the agenda being the CUP's lack of commitment to constitutional government, and a potential way to resolve differences between the CUP and opposition. The CUP rejected the proposals from Zohrab, increasing polarization.

In November 1911, the opposition consolidated into the Freedom and Accord Party, with Sadık as the party's vice president and Damat Ferid Pasha as president. An early victory for the party occurred in the late 1911 Istanbul by-election, in which the Freedom and Accord candidate won against the CUP's candidate. The Unionists immediately called for Mehmed V to dissolve parliament and call an election, with the hope that they could stop the momentum of the new opposition party, but constitutional amendments passed after the 31 March Incident meant the Chamber of Deputies, now dominated by Freedom and Accord, held that prerogative, no longer the Sultan.

Seeing parliament getting out of control, the CUP pressured Grand Vizier Said Pasha to get parliamentary approval for a constitutional amendment which would return to the Sultan the power to dissolve parliament, but when Freedom and Accord blocked this proposal, he resigned. Though the Freedom and Accord Party was ascendant in the chamber, it did not yet have an empire wide political apparatus and was averse to an election which would inevitably come with a dissolved parliament. Mehmed V reappointed Said Grand Vizier with a cabinet which included more Unionists, despite disapproval from Freedom and Accord and the President of the Senate: Ahmed Muhtar Pasha. Said Pasha again introduced a constitutional amendment to the Chamber that would give the Sultan prerogative to dissolve parliament, and it was again blocked by Freedom and Accord. On 18 January, 1912 Article 7 of the constitution was employed; the Senate voted to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies and Mehmed V obliged.

In April 1912, elections were held for a new session of parliament. However the CUP employed electoral fraud and violence at a massive scale, winning all but 6 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, to the point that it was known as the "election of clubs". The election results immediately caused an uproar against the CUP. Moreover, because of the war in Libya and the start of Albanian revolt, CUP lost its former support and prestige. This time, Freedom and Accord was pushing for the Chamber's dissolution so it could win in a new election.

Coup

By June, Colonel Sadık and staff major Gelibolulu Kemal (later surnamed Şenkil) would form the Saviour Officers (Halâskâr Zâbitân) clique, and requested President of the Ottoman Assembly Halil Bey to disband the CUP dominated parliament.

During this time, the units sent to Albania to put down the revolt joined the rebels and took to the hills, much like the Unionists themselves did in 1908. These officers being affiliated with the Saviour Officers, they delivered an ultimatum that the new parliament should be dissolved and an impartial government under Kâmil Pasha be promulgated. Shevket immediately resigned from his ministry in support of the Saviour Officers, leaving the CUP isolated, and starting a wave of resignations from Said Pasha's cabinet. On 16 June 1912 the Unionist dominated parliament voted Said Pasha their confidence, which failed to appease the rebels. When the officers published a manifesto in the press and a message to the sultan, and ostensibly prepared to march on the capital, Said Pasha's finally resigned.

On July 19, Mehmed V announced to the army that a new impartial and technocratic government would be formed and that he would facilitate negotiations for the selection of premier. Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Pasha, a war hero, was finally selected, with the hope that his appointment would stop the ever increasing politicization of the army. Muhtar Pasha's government, known as the "Great Cabinet", included several prestigious statesmen, and they easily received a vote of confidence. The CUP though, notwithstanding its majority in the parliament, lost its executive power.

Although Ahmed Muhtar Pasha and his cabinet were non-partisan, the Saviour Officers next pressured Ahmed Muhtar Pasha's government to dissolve parliament -which was accomplished through the passage of several constitutional amendments- costing the CUP its last stronghold, on August 4. Mehmed V subsequently enacted their vote. Martial law enacted following the 31 March Incident, was thus lifted, until returning with the start of the First Balkan War.

Aftermath

With the Chamber of Deputies dissolved, a new general election was called. This time, the CUP was restricted by the government. Some Unionist leaders thought of boycotting the election, but Talat convinced the Central Committee to participate. On October 8, Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Balkan Wars, and these elections were ultimately shelved. Muhtar Pasha resigned, he was to be succeeded by Kâmil Pasha, who began to persecute members of the CUP. The Ottoman Empire's defeat in the Balkan Wars was largely attributed to partisanship and lack of discipline within the military. This defeat gave the CUP the casus belli to return to power. In January 1913, the leadership of the CUP staged a coup, forcing Kâmil Pasha to resign at gunpoint. The leaders of the Saviour Officers escaped to Egypt and Albania. Only in 1914 would the empire conduct an election, this was after the CUP took control over the government following Mahmud Shevket's assassination. CUP governments continued up until the end of the First World War.

References

Sources

• (Google Books)

References

1. "An essy on Savoir officers (Nuve) {{in lang{{!}}tr}}".
2. "MEHMED V – TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi". TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi.
3. Kinross, Patrick. (1977). "The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire". Morrow Quill Paperbacks.
4. ''Türkiye Tarihi'', editor Sina Akşin, Cem yayınevi, {{ISBN. 978-975-406-5664, Vol 5 p. 41
5. "İnkılap Tarihi (revolution history) page".