The events of the summer of 1908 caused by the Young Turk movement in European Turkey set the beginning of the so-called Second Constitutional period in the Ottoman Empire. The coup of 24 July came as a surprise to everyone – the Great Powers, the Balkan states, and the Sultan, whose prompt capitulation in turn surprised the Young Turk leaders.
The initial reactions varied from excited cheer in European capitals, through the contained and cautious wait of the Balkan governments, to Abdul Hamid II’s badly concealed shock. The imposing proclamation of the Ottoman constitution in December 1876, addressed mainly to the participants in the Constantinople Conference of Ambassadors, was met with a remarkably unanimous skepticism by them.
Thirty- two years later, the European ambassadors in Constantinople were not even invited to the modest ceremony for the reestablishment of the same constitution, now joyfully welcomed by Europe. Despite the seemingly changed setting, the plot remained almost the same – coming up in the agenda, the question for the autonomy of the Bulgarians in the European vilayets was replaced and dissolved in the general discourse on the reform of the Empire through the introduction of a constitutional and parliamentary form of government...
Няма коментари:
Публикуване на коментар