_THE COMMITTEE’S ULTIMATUM_
On the night of July 22, so soon as Osman Pasha had been made a
prisoner, the members of the Monastir Centre of the Committee of Union
and Progress proceeded to take over the government of the city and
to secure the position that had been gained by Niazi’s _coup_. In
the first place, the Committee sent a telegram to the Sultan himself
(to the Presence of His Sacred Majesty, the Caliph), beseeching him
to command the practical application of the Fundamental Law (the
Constitution of 1876) in order that the loyalty and devotion of his
subjects might remain unimpaired; and informing him that, unless an
_Iradé_ ordering the opening of the Chamber of Deputies was issued
by the following Sunday—July 26—events would “occur contrary to your
Royal will and pleasure.” The telegram concluded with the words: “The
civil authorities, the officers of the army, the soldiers, the _ulema_,
and _sheikhs_, the people great and small, of various creeds, within
the Vilayet of Monastir, all united to work for one cause by an oath
made upon the Unity of God, await your commands.” Another telegram was
despatched to inform the head-quarters of the Committee in Salonica
that the _coup_ had been made with success, and during that night young
officers posted manifestos on the walls in that city calling upon the
people to co-operate with the Committee and overthrow the Despotism.
On the morning of July 23 the citizens of Monastir woke up to find
that all signs of the Government’s authority had vanished, and that
the Committee had become the undisputed master of the Vilayet. It was
a day of frenzied rejoicings. The fifty thousand inhabitants of this
city and thousands of people from the surrounding country packed the
streets to cheer and sing the songs of liberty. Sometimes a narrow
way would be opened through the dense crowd to allow the passing of
companies of Anatolian troops joyfully marching to some appointed spot
where they were to be sworn in on the Unity of God as adherents of the
Committee; or of a body of citizens carrying aloft on their shoulders
the _fedais_, the members of the Moslem bands that had saved Turkey,
the heroes of the hour.
And ever and again there rose a roar of “Long live the Committee!”
and the people went about seeking the members of the Committee, eager
to do them honour and give them an ovation as they had done with the
_fedais_. But the mysterious and invisible Committee was nowhere to
be found. An absorbing curiosity got hold of the people. Who were the
men, they asked themselves, who had acted on the executive of the
Committee, the secret leaders who had issued the manifestos and orders,
who had organised the movement with such skill and daring? But it was
impossible to obtain any answer to this question. It was not until some
days after the Sultan had granted the Constitution that Niazi himself
was given the names of those who composed the Monastir Executive, and
then he found that among them were some of his most intimate friends.
But on this wonderful day, July 23, the executive body of the Committee
was too busily engaged on most important work to come forward and
receive the congratulations that were its due; for much had yet to be
done. The Committee decided not to await the Sultan’s reply to its
demand, but to proclaim the Constitution that very day in Monastir, and
it was held that the most fitting person to make this announcement to
the people would be the Governor of the Monastir Vilayet himself, the
Vali, Hifzi Pasha. The Vali, as we have seen, had been bold enough, a
few days earlier, to tell the Palace the exact truth concerning the
state of affairs in Macedonia. In reply to this the Grand Vizier had
telegraphed to rebuke him for lack of zeal and to give him certain
instructions. On this the Vali had sent in his resignation to the Grand
Vizier on the ground that he would not be responsible for the bloodshed
and outrages which must follow the execution of such orders. It was
well known to the Committee that the Vali was a just and upright man
whose sympathies were rather with the friends of liberty than with the
Despotism which he served.
On the morning of the twenty-third the Vali openly joined the
revolutionary party. He sent telegrams to the Sultan and the Grand
Vizier informing them of the capture of Osman Pasha, and stating that
the entire military force in Monastir and 3500 armed men from among
the inhabitants were now the sworn adherents of the Committee. In
the afternoon the Vali read out the Committee’s proclamation of the
Constitution in the presence of tens of thousands of enthusiastic
Moslems and Christians, and the garrison of Monastir; and then the
cannon thundered out a salute that told the surrounding country that
Turkey was to be made free at last.
On this same day the Central Committee in Salonica and the branch
Committees in other towns came forward to give clear proof to the
people that the domination of the Palace was over. The Constitution was
proclaimed in Resna, Dibra, and other towns in Macedonia and Albania
at the same hour that it was proclaimed in Monastir. In Salonica the
Central Committee, which here, too, had the garrison on its side and
the Government at its mercy, decided that it would be to the interest
of the revolutionary cause to make as short as possible the period
of uncertainty as to whether it was to be civil war or peace; the
enemies of liberty must be allowed no time for preparation or intrigue.
Accordingly, at an early hour on June 23, the Committee telegraphed its
ultimatum to the Sultan, informing His Majesty that unless he granted
the Constitution within twenty-four hours the Second and Third Army
Corps would march upon Constantinople.
The Committee’s next step was to approach the Inspector-General, Hilmi
Pasha (who was made Grand Vizier in February last), and to call upon
him, as the highest Government official in Macedonia, to proclaim
the Constitution to the people. Hilmi had been a good servant of the
Sultan, but at heart he hated the corrupt Palace and its ways, and
recognised the justice of the Young Turkey cause which he had been
instructed to persecute, but had persecuted so half-heartedly that he
had drawn upon himself the rebukes of the Grand Vizier, Ferid Pasha.
Hilmi’s attitude was now correct and courageous. He told the Committee
that though his sympathies were with the Young Turkey party, he was
still the servant of the Sultan, and consequently could not proclaim
the Constitution unless ordered to do so by his sovereign. Upon this
the Committee informed him that unless he proclaimed the Constitution
within twenty-four hours he would have to suffer the penalty—that is,
to be put to death—that the telegraph lines were at his disposal and
it behooved him, within the given time, to persuade the Sultan that
resistance to the will of the people would be of no avail, and that His
Majesty could only retain his position on the throne by the immediate
restoration of the Constitution.
So Hilmi Pasha now sent telegram after telegram to the Palace
to explain the exact state of affairs. He exposed the absolute
hopelessness of the cause of the old _régime_—the two Pashas on whom
the Sultan had relied to destroy the Committee of Union and Progress,
Hilmi and Osman, were the prisoners of the Committee; the Anatolian
troops that were to have stamped out the rebellion had become the sworn
adherents of the Committee; the Second and Third Army Corps now formed
the army of the Committee; of the First Army Corps in Constantinople
itself the Palace Guards alone were above suspicion; there was no
time to arouse the fanaticism of the Arabs and other Asiatics against
the Young Turks; the action of the Anatolian regiments that had been
brought to Salonica had proved that the Army Corps in Asia Minor had
also been brought round to the side of the reformers; and lastly, from
all over the Empire the news was coming in that Valis of provinces
and other high officials had deserted the Palace Camarilla for the
constitutional party.
That day the people of Turkey were rejoicing in their newly found
liberty; but it was a twenty-four hours of suspense and anxiety for
the men who knew that it rested on the decision of one old man as to
whether it was to be peace or civil war. The ultimatum of the Committee
and the telegrams of Hilmi Pasha were submitted to the Sultan by his
terrified courtiers; but in the council chambers of the Yildiz, almost
up to the last moment, there was hesitation and a conflict of opinions
as to the course that should be adopted by the Government. There
were, of course, members of the Camarilla, Izzet Pasha among them,
who advocated resistance at any cost to the demands of the Committee,
for these men, conscious of the evil they had wrought, knew that the
Constitution would mean for them ruin and exile, and perhaps death.
But, in the meanwhile, the Sultan had dismissed his Grand Vizier, Ferid
Pasha, and had summoned to his Palace Said Pasha and Kiamil Pasha, the
two oldest, most experienced, and upright statesmen of his reign, both
of whom, though no admirers of Palace methods, had been Grand Viziers,
and both of whom had been in disgrace and danger of their lives through
the monarch’s caprice and the jealousy of corrupt courtiers. The Sultan
now appointed Said Pasha Grand Vizier in the place of Ferid Pasha.
Throughout the day there had been fear and wrath and hesitation in
the Yildiz, but on the evening of the twenty-third all the ministers
were summoned to the Palace, and there was held the famous last
State Council under the old _régime_. There was a long and anxious
discussion, and to and fro between the Council and the Sultan went the
Chief Chamberlain and other messengers, keeping His Majesty informed of
the progress of the debate—a mere matter of form as laid down by the
etiquette of the Palace, for, as every one there knew, the Sultan was
in the adjoining chamber sitting on the other side of the curtain which
alone divided him from his consulting ministers, and could hear every
word that was spoken.
The night passed by, the morning was near, and the ministers were
still debating. Said and Kiamil urged the necessity of yielding, and
there were others who agreed with them; but Abdul Hamid inspired as
much fear as ever in his advisers, and each of these, knowing of what
things that listening man was capable when in a fit of anger, was
afraid to be the first to utter the long-forbidden name “Constitution”;
and the question was discussed in that ambiguous and circuitous fashion
that Orientals understand so well how to employ. At last there was
brought in to the Council Chamber on a litter the bedridden old Arab
Court Astrologer, Abdul Houda, a favourite of the Sultan, who has
recently died. He boldly put into plain words what was in the minds of
all. Then Said Pasha asked the ministers whether it was their decision
that the Sultan should be advised to grant the Constitution. To this
they made no reply, and averted their eyes when he looked from one
to another. Then, after a pause, Said quoted a Turkish proverb which
is the equivalent of our own “Silence gives consent.” The Sultan was
forthwith informed of the decision of his ministers, and to the relief
of all he agreed without any demur to restore the Constitution; for the
shrewd monarch had by now fully realised the position and had made up
his mind.
So on the morning of July 24 the great news was telegraphed to every
corner of the Ottoman Empire, and everywhere there were the same
extraordinary demonstrations of popular joy. In Constantinople huge
crowds, composed of Moslems, Christians, and Jews, flocked to the
Yildiz to cheer the Sultan. On the broad quay of Salonica, Hilmi Pasha,
to whom the Sultan’s decision had meant the withdrawal of his death
warrant, read out the proclamation of the Constitution to tens of
thousands of exulting citizens.
The Sultan had promised the Constitution, and all that remained to be
done now was for him to issue the _Iradé_ that should confirm that
promise and to take the oath of allegiance to the Constitution. Some
days passed, and his Majesty had taken no steps to perform these
necessary formalities. The ever-vigilant Committee of Union and
Progress therefore saw to it that there should be no further delay, and
issued its orders. Some Macedonian troops were hurriedly brought up
to the capital and were placed outside the Yildiz, while a man-of-war
was stationed in the Bosphorus immediately below the Palace, with
its guns directed on it. Then some young officers belonging to the
Committee demanded an audience of the Sultan and explained to him that
he must sign the _Iradé_ there and then, else the Macedonian troops
would overpower the Palace Guard and seize his Majesty’s person. The
Sultan yielded, the _Iradé_ was signed, and shortly afterwards the
Sheikh-ul-Islam administered to Abdul Hamid the oath by which he bound
himself to restore, and to observe faithfully, the Constitution which
he had violated thirty years before.