Abd al-Hamid II definition of Abd al-Hamid II in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Abd al-Hamid II, 1842–1918, Ottoman sultan (1876–1909). His uncle, Abd al-Aziz, was deposed from the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in 1876 by the Young Turks, a liberal reformist group. Abd al-Hamid's brother, Murad V, succeeded as sultan, but was shortly declared insane, and Abd al-Hamid ascended the throne. He at first accepted (1876) the constitution promulgated by Midhat Pasha Midhat Pasha (mĭdhät` päshä`), 1822–83, Turkish politician.
..... Click the link for more information. but soon suspended it, dismissed Midhat, and eventually had him strangled. The war with Russia (see Russo-Turkish Wars Russo-Turkish Wars. The great eastward expansion of Russia in the 16th and 17th cent., during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, nevertheless left the shores of the Black Sea in the hands of the Ottoman sultans and their vassals, the khans of Crimea .
..... Click the link for more information. ) led to the Treaty of San Stefano San Stefano, Treaty of (săn stĕf`ənō)
..... Click the link for more information. , subsequently modified by the Congress of Berlin (see Berlin, Congress of Berlin, Congress of, 1878, called by the signers of the Treaty of Paris of 1856 (see Paris, Congress of ) to reconsider the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano , which Russia had forced on the Ottoman Empire earlier in 1878.
..... Click the link for more information. ). To save what remained of his empire, the sultan then pursued a policy of friendship with Germany. German officers reorganized the Turkish army, and German business interests obtained concessions, most notably for the construction of the Baghdad Railway Baghdad Railway, railroad of international importance linking Europe with Asia Minor and the Middle East. The line runs from Istanbul, Turkey, to Basra, Iraq; it connected what were distant regions of the Ottoman Empire .
..... Click the link for more information. . For his part in the Armenian massacres of 1894–96, he was called the Great Assassin and the Red Sultan. Ruling as absolute monarch, Abd al-Hamid lived in virtual seclusion. In 1908 the Young Turks, who had penetrated the armed services, revolted and forced the sultan to adhere to the constitution of 1876. He was deposed (1909) when he tried to plot a counterrevolution and was succeeded by his brother, Muhammad V.

Bibliography

See study by J. Haslip (new ed. 1973).