Young Ottomans
[5][6] Among the prominent members of this society were writers and publicists such as İbrahim Şinasi, Namık Kemal, Ali Suavi, Ziya Pasha, and Agah Efendi.
Although this period was short-lived, with Abdul Hamid II ultimately suspending the constitution and parliament in 1878 in favor of a return to absolute monarchy with himself in power,[7] the influence of the Young Ottomans continued until the collapse of the empire.
Berkes explains that "Jeunes of Europe" (i.e. revolutionaries and liberals) were usually nationalists, republicans and godless; and/or they were perceived as such by the learned-to-illiterate Ottoman public.
[11] However, contrary to this differentiation in Turkish, they were traditionally and most commonly called as "Young"/"Jeunes" instead of "New" in foreign languages, as in the way of the similar named movements.
[12] Another leading figure of the movement, Ali Suavi, used the name Civan Türk (Ottoman Turkish: جوان ترك, romanized: Civân Turk, lit.
'Organisation of the Secretariat of the Young Turkey') and Yeni Osmanlılar Cemiyeti (Ottoman Turkish: یکی عثمانلیلر جمعیتی, romanized: Yeŋî ʿOs̱mânlıler Cemʿiyyeti, lit.
'The Path'; used in the official court documents)[15] and "Patriotic Alliance" (Ottoman Turkish: اطفاق حمیت, romanized: ʾİṭṭifāḳ-i Ḥamiyyet, lit.
'Alliance of Patriotism'; Turkish: İttifak-ı Hamiyyet; according to Burak Onaran firstly used by Mithat Cemal Kuntay, biographer of Namık Kemal, during the republican era)[16] are of this group.
[24] By the time these exiled publicists had come together under the patronage of Mustafa Fazıl Pasha in Paris, they began calling themselves Yeni Osmanlılar (English: New Ottomans).
[25] Through the new medium of the press and with the financial support of their ally Mustafa Fazıl Pasha, the Young Ottomans were able to widely circulate their ideas in a number of publications.
One of the most important periodicals was Hürriyet ("Freedom"), which was publicized by Namık Kemal and Ziya Pasha beginning in 1868, though many others were published and often took a more radical stance.
[27] With his new Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pasha, Sultan Abdülaziz reasserted his role as the absolute ruler, leaving many of the Young Ottomans disappointed after having been so hopeful that their reforms would be widely accepted.
[30] During the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz, the Empire was experiencing a period of great financial hardship brought on by catastrophic drought and floods in Anatolia in 1873 and 1874.
[32] According to Caroline Finkel, "the profound cultural dislocation and humiliation being experienced by the majority of Ottoman Muslims found expression at this juncture in strident criticism of the government for its appeasement of foreign powers.
On May 30, 1876, a group of leading Ottoman politicians including Midhat Pasha staged a coup d’état and deposed Sultan Abdülaziz.
He also dismissed Midhat Pasha and banished him from the empire, effectively ending the first constitutional era and marking a return to centralization of power under the Sultan.
[29] The Young Ottomans were brought together by their shared dislike of the bureaucratic and appeasing form that the government had taken on with the advent of the Tanzimat reforms.
"Young Ottomans strongly criticized the Tanzimat as a capitulation to European dictates", which they believed was one of the primary reasons for the poor state of the empire.
