The Young Turks in Opposition

This is the first in-depth study of the secret society called CUP (Committee of Union and Progress), which was founded by a group of Ottoman intellectuals who named themselves the Young Turks. In 1908, the revolution of the Young Turks established a constitutional regime that became the major ruling power in the Ottoman Empire until 1918. Based on wide-ranging archival sources, M. Sukru Hanioglu's landmark work is the story of the power struggles within the CUP and its impact on twentieth-century Turkish politics and culture. It also provides important insights into the diplomatic relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the so-called Great Powers of Europe at the turn of the century. Hanioglu traces and defines the intellectual roots and ideas of the movement in the process of charting the evolution of its Weltanschauung. Based on the CUP's own papers, Hanioglu's work also reveals the ways in which European political ideas and theories influenced intellectuals in the Ottoman Empire. The history of the formative years of this catalytic movement holds tremendous relevance to any attempt to analyze subsequent developments, not only in Turkey, but also in the Balkans, Causasus, and the Middle East.