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Mediterranean Quarterly 13.1 (2002) 113-117



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Book Review

Preparation for a Revolution:
The Young Turks, 1902-1908


M. Sukru Hanioglu: Preparation for a Revolution: The Young Turks, 1902-1908. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. 538 pages. ISBN 0-19-513463-X. $72.00.

Hanioglu has written two books on the Young Turks in recent years, The Young Turks in Opposition in 1995 and now this one, which gives a detailed account of the Young Turk movement from 1902 to 1908, the crucial period before the revolt. Hanioglu examines the mainstream organizations that were behind the Revolution of 1908, which laid the foundation for later developments that reshaped both the Middle East and the Balkans. His historical research is strong and informative, based on extensive use of archival materials in several Middle Eastern and European countries. With a mastery of historical analysis, Hanioglu has produced an authoritative work. Its uniqueness lies in its conclusive demonstration that the Young Turks living in Europe played a bigger role in the revolution than many had reported. This book is a welcome addition and a substantial contribution to the literature on the Ottoman Empire.

Although Hanioglu warns that this volume is not a comprehensive treatment of all the Young Turks' activities, his selective coverage nevertheless provides vigorous analyses of their intellectual and political opposition to the Ottoman government and of the complex relationships between Young Turks and other ethnic groups within the empire. He constructs a detailed history of the Committee of Progress and Union (CPU), which [End Page 113] spearheaded the drive to restore the 1876 constitution and to overthrow Sultan Abdulhamid II, who had dominated the Ottoman scene for more than three decades.

Hanioglu begins by sketching the opposition to the Abdulhamid regime at the beginning of the twentieth century. He argues that the First Congress of Ottoman Opposition Parties in Paris in 1902 was a turning point, because it forced the Young Turk factions to move beyond intellectual opposition and to political stands. As they organized politically, they developed pragmatic agendas and moved away from the grand theories of the West. The difference between their ideas and pragmatic politics is well covered in the book.

Two Young Turk fronts emerged, each espousing a different ideology and pursuing a different strategy to safeguard the empire. The leaders of the majority group stressed the "union of all Ottomans" and tried to organize joint activities with Albanian, Macedonian, and Armenian groups against the Ottoman government. Its ill-fated 1902-03 coup d'état, with British support, led to its political demise. The leaders of the minority coalition, who stood for a strict Turkish nationalist policy, criticized the use of violence by non-Turkish groups to bring about foreign intervention and the partition of the empire. Hanioglu asserts that the minority coalition's inflexible ideology resulted in its failure to win European support and prevented it from becoming an umbrella organization when the opportunity came after the failed coup.

Hanioglu also discusses the role of the League of Private Initiative and Decentralization, which was founded in 1905. Its leaders advocated decentralization as a solution to ethnic problems in the country. In order to gain Great Power support, they tried to get Armenians to collaborate with the Turks. By 1908, their program had won the support of many non-Turkish organizations but had been criticized by the coalition leaders and activists who feared that it might still lead to the partition of the empire.

The major focus of the book is the CPU, which was transformed into a well- organized activist body between 1905 and 1907. Hanioglu describes its efforts to set up a network of branches inside the country and to unite the opposition. His analysis reveals that the second Congress of Ottoman Opposition Parties (December 1907) was successful in forming a tactical alliance among the main opposition organizations: the CPU, the League of Personal Initiative and Decentralization, and the Dashnaktsutiun committee. Hanioglu disagrees with other writers who claim that this alliance played a significant role in the Young Turk Revolution of 1908...

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