the beginnings of ottoman-german partnership - Bilkent University

into key positions there. From now on, the Committee of Union and Progress became
the real masters of Turkey.” 59
Since the Action Army suppressed the reactionary rebellion, the army held
all power in its hands. Some articles of the constitution were changed. 60 The cabinet
led by Hakkı Paşa replaced the one led by Hilmi Paşa in December 1909. Radical
reforms were applied both to the bureaucracy and the officer corps, leading to early
retirements and salary reductions. 61 The commander-in-chief, Mahmud Şevket Paşa,
urged military officers not to get involved in politics. Despite oppositions to its
domination both in the army, and by the newly formed opposition parties, 62 the CUP
central committee managed to handle the affairs reasonably well from behind the
scenes until the Italians invaded Tripoli (Trablusgarb), beginning the Tripolitan War
(1911-1912) and revolts which began in Yemen and Albania made it difficult for it to
control the situation. The grand vizier, Hakkı Paşa resigned and was succeeded by
Said Paşa, who had served in that position during Abdulhamid II’s reign. In reaction,
most of the Ottoman opposition parties united to form the Party of Freedom and
Entente (Hürriyet ve İtilaf Fırkası), which constituted the first real threat to CUP’s
domination. Therefore, in the elections of 1912 63 the CUP tried and succeeded in
preventing them from becoming dominant in the parliament and succeeded in this
59
Bernard Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), p.
217.
60
The constitutional changes of August 1909 were the real steps towards a better constitutional and
parliamentarian regime. With the changes, the sultan only had the right to appoint sadrazam and
şeyhülislam, the parliament could only be dissolved if the cabinet could not get a vote of confidence,
and legislation and the conclusion of treaties became the prerogative of the parliament.
61
Over 1000 or roughly one-third of the officers were removed over the next few years. Zürcher, pp.
104-105.
62
Zürcher, p. 106.
63
The elections of 1912 is known as the “election with the stick (sopalı seçim)” because of the CUP’s
strong effect on the decision of voters.
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