TURKISH
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TURKISH
where Armenians were tracked, and isolated mas-
sacres of Christians became also the normal order of
events in Macedonia.
Educated in Western ideas, the Young 'I'm-ks, espe- cially the refugees at Paris, united as early as 1895, and succeeded in spite of prohibitions in circulating in Turkey their journal the Mechvoret ". A Com- mittee of Union and Progress was even formed at Constantinople, and by constant propaganda suc- ceeded in gaining to its cause the greater number of the officials. Tlie uprising, the preparation of which deceived the Hamidian police, began 23 Jul}-, 190S, at Salonica; an ultimatum was sent to the sultan, who, abandoned even by his Albanians, proclaimed the re-establishment of the constitution (24 July, 1908) in the midst of indescribable enthusiasm, and called a parliament (4 Dec, 1908).
In three months 300 journals were started. Abroad, the counterstroke to this revolution was the definitive annexation, proclaimed by the Emperor of Austria, of Bosnia and Herzegovina (3 Oct., 1908). At the same time the Prince of Bulgaria took the title cf Tsar of the Bulgarians (0 Oct., 1908), and repudiated the vassalage which still connected him with the siiltan.
This exterior check weakened the Young Turk party, and on 13 April, 1909, a coimter-revolution of Softas and soldiers of the guard broke out in Con- stantinople. The Y'oung Turks had to flee the capi- tal, but immediately the troops of Salonica, Monastir, and Adrianople consolidated and marched against Constantinople and laid siege to it (17 April, 1909). Negotiations continued for six days; finally at the moment when the massacre of the Cluistians seemed imminent, the Salonican troops entc-red Constanti- nople, and after a short battle became masters of the place. On 27 April Abdul-Hamid was forced to sign his abdication, and banished to Salonica. A son of Abdul-Medjid was made sultan under the name of Mohammed V, and a new constitution was proclaimed, 5 Aug., 1909, the Committee of Union and Progress superintending its execution with dictatorial powers. To-day Turkey is on the road to reform and political reorganization.
III. R.\CES, Nationalitie.s, and Religions. — According to a tradition which dates back to the earliest antiquity. Oriental nationalities did not com- monly form compact groups settled within well-de- fined boundaries. As a result of violent transmigra- tions of peoples owing to hurricane-like invasions, or even by the simple chance of migrations due to economic cau.ses, all the races of the Orient are mingled in an inextricable manner, and there is not a single city of the Ottoman Empire which does not contain specimens of all races, languages, and relig- ions. The populat ion has therefore an ent irely het ero- geneous character; the Turks have never made any effort to assimilate their subjects; they do not appear even to have attempted to propagate Islamism widely. Until the con.stitution of 1876, and in fact as late as the revolution of 1908, they have jealously striven to safeguard their privileges as conciucrors. Up to the present time the population of the empire may be said to be divided into three classes:
(a) The Mussulmans (Turks, Arabs, .Servians, Al- banians), enjoying alone the right of holding office, the only landowners, but subject to military service.
(b) The Rains (flocks), or infidels, conquered peo- ples who have obtained the right of preserving their religion, but barred from all office and subjected to a heavy tax. It was upon them that the despotism of the pashas was exercised. They are still, following the creed to which they belong, divided into "na- tions" governed by religious authorities, Christian bishops, Jewish rabbis, responsible to the sultan, but provided with certain jurisdiction over their faithful.
(c) European subjects, established in Turkey for
religious or commercial reasons, and under the official
protection and jurisdiction of the ambassadors of the
Powers. Many of the riiids of cl;issbehavo, however,
succeeded in obtaining thi.-: i)rivilcg('.
In 153.5 t he first " capit iilal ion " was signed between the King of France, Francis 1, and the Sultan Sohman. It accorded to France the protectorate over all the Christians. This agreement was often renewed, in 1604, 1672, 1740, and 1802. At the treaty of Kai- nardji Russia obtained a similar right of protection over the Orthodox Christians. The rights of France to the protection of Catholics of all nationalities have been recognized repeatedly by the Holy See, and par- ticularly bv the Encvclical of Leo XIII " Aspera rerum conditio" "(22 May,' 1886). The treaty of Berlin left to each state the care of protecting its subjects, but in practice France preserves the protectorate over Catholics, and even the diplomatic rupture between France and the Holy See has not impaired these civil rights. Each of the Great Powers has therefore con- siderable interests in the Turkish Empire: each one its own postal autonomy, courts, .schools, and organi- zations for propaganda, teaching, and charity.
The Young Turk party, in power to-day, dreams of overthrowing this arrangement. The new consti- tution granted by the Sultan Mohammed V, 5 Aug., 1909, proclaims the equaUty of all subjects in the mat- ter of taxes, military service, and political rights. For the first time Christians are admitted into the army, and the parliament, which meets at Constanti- nople, is chosen indiscriminately by all the races. The effect of this new regime appears to be, in the view of the Y'oung Turks, the estabhshment of a common law for all subjects, the sui)pression of all privileges and capitulations. But the religious communities, or millets, hold to the ancient statutes which have safe-guarded their race and religion; the three oldest, those of the Greeks, the Armenians, and Jews, date back to the day following the taking of Constantinople by Mohammed II.
The rest of the European powers have in the Turk- ish Empire, political, economic, and religious interests . of considerable importance; a certain number of public services, such as that of the public debt, or institutions like the Ottoman Bank, have an inter- national character. The same holds good of most of the companies which are formed to execute public works, docks, railways, etc. . . . The trade in exports and imports involves large sums of money, as one may judge by the following table:
Foreign Commerce from 1 March, 1908, to 28 Feb., 1909 (in piastres)
Imports Exports
England 941,274 513,723
France 337,057 363,361
Germany 193,567 114,998
Austro-Hungarv 407,519 247,774
Russia . . . ." 249,417 .57,489
Egvpt 116,275 165,673
United States 41,091 70,332
A veritable economic war is going on between the Powers, desirous of exploiting the riches of the Orient; to the secular ambitions which menace the existence of the "sick man" have been added new forms of greed. Neither the Russians nor the Greeks have ceased to con.sider Constantinople as the historic goal of their efforts, and Bulgaria, deprived of Macedonia by the treaty of Berlin, also finds in its triiditions claims on the same heritage. Macedonia is claimed by the Greeks, Bulgarians, .Servians, and the Kutzo- Vlachs or Uumanians; Salonica has become a com- mercial centre for .Vustrian exportation; and the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has by one and the same stroke reinforced .\ustro-Hungarian and German influence in the Balkan Peninsula. Italy
