How a secret society of medical students dismantled the Ottoman Empire's absolute monarchy.
In short: Born in a vineyard, the Committee of Union and Progress began as a clandestine student group seeking constitutional reform. It evolved into a powerful, authoritarian political machine that reshaped the Ottoman Empire, orchestrated a revolution, and eventually ruled as a dictatorship during the tumultuous years of the First World War.
Founded in Constantinople on 6 February 1889, the Committee of Ottoman Union was established by five medical students from the Imperial Military School of Medicine. Driven by the need to prevent the empire's decline, these early members sought to restore the 1876 Constitution, which Sultan Abdul Hamid II had suspended in 1878. The group initially operated in secrecy, holding meetings in a vineyard outside Edirnekapı and modeling their structure on the Italian Carbonari.
By 1907, the organization had transformed under the influence of a new cadre based in Salonica, including Mehmet Talât. This "Macedonian" faction, which included army officers from the Third Army, merged with the Paris-based Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) to become a formidable political force. Their 1908 revolution successfully forced the Sultan to reinstate the constitution, ushering in the Second Constitutional Era. However, the CUP's internal culture remained intensely authoritarian, requiring members to swear oaths of absolute obedience to the Central Committee, with death as the penalty for dissent.
The CUP's trajectory shifted from liberal reformism to radical nationalism following the First Balkan War. By 1913, a triumvirate consisting of Talât Pasha, Enver Pasha, and Cemal Pasha seized full power. During their rule from 1913 to 1918, the regime enacted policies that led to the genocide of Armenian, Pontic Greek, and Assyrian citizens. Following the Ottoman defeat in World War I, the CUP dissolved, though many former members later integrated into the new Republic of Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, continuing their political influence until 1946.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Committee of Union and Progress
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