The period of the Ottoman Empire's final dissolution, the Second Constitutional Era (ايکنجى مشروطيت دورى İkinci Meşrûtiyyet Devri), began with the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, which shortly after Sultan Abdul Hamid II forced to be restored the constitutional monarchy, in which the sultan had reduced power and through the series of elections that resulted with the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) to gain the power.
The main force behind this change dates back to the 1889 founding of the Committee of Union and Progress (اتحاد و ترقی جمعيتى İttihâd ve Terakki Cemiyeti), out of which eventually emerged a movement that would become known as the "Young Turks" (ژون تورکلر Jön Türkler). Young Turks was a group of students at Istanbul's military academy. Young Turks plotted against Sultan Abdülhamid II but, once discovered, were forced to flee abroad. Eventually, one of their leaders—Ahmed Riza—managed to organize a group around the Committee of Union and Progress.
Revolt
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On 3 July 1908, a Young Turk Revolution began that quickly spread throughout the empire and resulted in the sultan announcing the restoration of the 1876 constitution and reconvening parliament. The reason behind the revolt was the sultan’s policies which controlled the system under his heavy arm and also European interventions which endangering the Empires existence. The officers who had instigated the revolution, like their civilian supporters, were primarily concerned with the Ottoman Empire. It is also claimed that they were also concerned personal matters such as salary and rank, same as Janniseries. The military reform's produced a new type of officer, of lower social origin. The current Pashas, opposing to traditional Pashas from Place School, did not acquire the extensive education covering many administrative fields, besides their military training. The officers had not thought much beyond their demand for the restoration of constitution.
First Elections (1908)
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The Committee of Union and Progress managed to defeat Sabaheddin's group in the elections held in 1908. In power, the Young Turks introduced a number of new initiatives intended to promote the modernization of the Ottoman Empire. They promoted industrialization and administrative reforms, and their reforms of provincial administration quickly led to a higher degree of centralization. This group advocated a program of orderly reform under a strong central government, as well as the exclusion of all foreign influence. It worked together with a similar reform group—the League of Private Initiative and Decentralization, under one Prince Sabaheddin—whose goals were somewhat different: Sabaheddin's group favored administrative decentralization and European assistance to implement reforms and also promoted industrialization.
In addition, they implemented the secularization of the legal system and subsidies for the education of women, and altered the administrative structure of the state-operated primary schools. Their domestic reforms were in some ways quite successful, but their foreign policy proved to be disastrous.
Young Turks sought to modernize the Empire's communications and transportation networks (which still relied on camel caravans), without putting themselves in the hands of European conglomerates and non-Muslim bankers. Europeans already owned the paltry railroad system (5,991 km of single-track railroads in the whole of the Ottoman dominions in 1914) and since 1881 administration of the defaulted Ottoman foreign debt had been in European hands. The Ottomon Empire was virtually an economic colony.
31 March Incident
After nine months of the new parliament, the new system was not found to be satisfactory and an increase in discontent found expression in the counter-revolutionary ‘Thirty-First of March Incident’. Many aspects of this revolt, which started within certain sections of the mutinying army in Istanbul, have still not been carefully analyzed. The traditional perception that it was a ‘reactionary’ movement has been challanged, given the results and effects on the young political system.
Second Elections (1912)
The Committee of Union and Progress had been in power for four years. At the end of 1911, there was a strong movement opposing it–the newly-organized Liberty and Entente (tr:Hürriyet ve İtilâf) Party. Liberty and Entente won a by-election in İstanbul in December 1911.
The CUP wanted national elections before things went out of control. In two-party general elections held in the spring of 1912, the CUP had a victory. It was questionable but deemed legitimate. The 1912 elections brought the parliamentary system to a stop. In 1912 the majority of the empire was composed of Turks and Arab (Muslim) millets. Given the new structure, representatives from Arab provinces increased from 23% (1908) to 27%, Turkomans 14% (1908) to 22% and in total CUP members from 39% (1908) to 67%. Interestingly, in this new consolidated structure minority issues, such as those affecting the Armenians, dominated mainstream politics. Armenian politicians were supporting the CUP, but when the parliament was formed the result was very different from the expected one. The Balkan wars had significantly shifted from a multiethnic and multireligious Ottoman Empire to a Muslim core. The size of the CUP's majority in parliament proved to be a source of weakness rather than strength as minorities became outsiders. The deported Muslims (Turks) from the Balkans were located in the western parts of Anatolia and they brought their own issues. Armenians were expecting more representation through the parliament, but the nature of democracy kept them in a minority position. That was an unexpected result for the Armemians after they had been in a very protected position since 1453.
In 1913, politics in Istanbul was centred around trying to find a solution to the demands of Arab and Armenian reformist groups. 19th century politics of Ottoman Empire dealt with the decentralist demands of the Balkan nations. In 1913, the same pattern was originating from the eastern provinces. With most of the Christian population having already left the Empire after the Balkan Wars, a redefinition of Ottoman politics was in place with a greater emphasis on Islam as a binding force. The choice of this policy should also be considered as external forces (imperialists) were Christians. It was a policy of "them against us". In 1913, the CUP was trying to govern through populist politics. To gain more legitimacy among the population the CUP propagated an Islamic propaganda effort with anti-imperialist rhetoric. All around the Empire CUP clubs were springing up. The CUP was challenging traditional forces; this proved to be the source of its destruction.
Coup of 1913
January 23, as a result of a successful coup d'état, Kiamil Pasha was driven from power and Nazim Pasha (grand vizir) replaced by Enver Bey if not by position, by placing himself at the head of a new government. It was recognized in London that further negotiations were useless. This way London Peace Conference had failed.
In 1913, as the government was losing the Second Balkan War, the CUP seized power. The CUP-led government was headed by the minister of the interior/Grand Vizier, Mehmed Talat Pasha (1874–1921). Working with him were the minister of war Ismail Enver, (1881–1922) and the minister of the navy Ahmed Djemal, (1872–1922). Until German archives were opened, historians treated the CUP government as a dictatorial triumvirate; now it appears that the party was riven by internal dissent and loosely guided by a large directorate of the party's central committee.
WWI
Rebuffed elsewhere by the major European powers, the Young Turks, through highly secret diplomatic negotiations, led the Ottoman Empire to ally herself with Berlin during World War I. The Empire's role as an ally of the Central Powers is part of the history of that war. With the collapse of Bulgaria and Germany's capitulation, the Ottoman Empire was isolated.
End
On October 13, 1918, Talat and the CUP ministry resigned, and an armistice was signed aboard a British battleship in the Aegean Sea at the end of the month. On November 2, Enver, Talat and Cemal, with their German allies, escaped from Constantinople into exile.