the beginnings of ottoman-german partnership - Bilkent University

aim. The new government headed by Said Paşa gained a vote of confidence, but he
resigned, as he did not trust the parliament. 64
A new cabinet was formed after Mahmud Şevket Paşa resigned from his
office. The new cabinet, known as the Great Cabinet 65 , headed by Gazi Ahmed
Muhtar Paşa, denounced the interference of the army officers in politics and saw the
CUP as responsible for the political chaos in the Empire. In order to suppress CUP’s
influence in the parliament, the cabinet dissolved the CUP-dominated parliament by
adjourning, in agreement with the anti-CUP leaders in the army, the Saviour Officers
(Halaskar Zabitan). 66 They lifted the martial law put into force during the counter-
revolution of April 1909 and began to persecute the leading CUP members.
At the end of October 1912, Kamil Paşa became the new grand vizier. He
was glad to continue the ousting of the Unionists, but the beginning of the Balkan
Wars rendered his government weak and incompetent. When the government
accepted the Great Powers’ proposal of handing over Edirne after the disastrous
defeats of the Ottoman Army by the Balkan states, the insecure CUP leaders found
their justification to grasp power and took action. They organized a coup d’etat 67 by
marching to the Porte, killing the War Minister Nazım Paşa, and forcing Kamil Paşa
to resign. The CUP formed a new cabinet with Mahmud Şevket Paşa as its grand
vizier and War Minister. Soon after, a supporter of the Hürriyet ve İtilaf shot the
64
Lewis, pp. 222-223.
65
It was called “Büyük Kabine” in Turkish because of the veteran bureaucrats who had an
understanding and formed the cabinet.
66
Lewis, p. 223 “Their objective was to remove an illegal government and parliament, to break the
power of the CUP, to hold new and free elections, and to return to constitutional legality. Like all
opposition parties of the Young Turk period, this group of military conspirators demanded the
withdrawal of the army from politics. The army would of course have to mend what the army had
marred; after that it could return to its proper task of defending the Empire, leaving its government to
the politicians and officials. Faithful to this principle, the group accepted no civilian recruits, allowed
its numbers to accept no governmental appointments.”
67
Known in Turkish as “Babıali Ayaklanması”.
37