The Turkish king Abdul-Hamid II (1842-1918) was a leader of the Ottoman Empire. A traditionalist despot, he postponed for 25 year the liberal development in the realm.
Brought into the world on Sept. 21, 1842, Abdul-Hamid was the child of Sultan Abdul-Medjid and of Tirimujgan, a Circassian. He got the high position in 1876, when his sibling Murad V was expelled by a liberal change bunch drove by the amazing vizier Midhat Pasha.
In satisfaction of guarantees made before his promotion, Abdul-Hamid gave the domain’s first constitution on Dec. 23, 1876, an archive to a great extent propelled by Midhat Pasha. It accommodated a chosen bicameral parliament and for the standard common freedoms, including balance under the steady gaze of the law for every one of the realm’s different identities. The issuance of the constitution undercut European aspirations and slowed down, briefly, tension for change.
The Sultan, in any case, was a despot commonly. In February 1877 Midhat Pasha was excused and banished. Abdul-Hamid’s traditionalist estimates proceeded with when he prorogued the new parliament in May. From this time until 1908, the Sultan disregarded the constitution.
The reason for the Sultan’s activities was battle with Russia, pronounced April 24, 1877. Military triumphs by the Slavic states and misfortunes in the Caucasus made the Ottomans bow to the Russian presence at Yesilkoy (San Stefano) just 10 miles from Istanbul. The settlement of San Stefano in March 1878 was cruel for Turkey since it accommodated Bosnian-Herzegovinian independence, the autonomy of Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania, foundation of “More prominent Bulgaria,” and a repayment and cession of domain to the despot. The terms were improved by a correction declared in Berlin on July 13, 1878.
