Abdul-Hamid II

Abdul-Hamid II

1842--1918, sultan of Turkey (1876--1909), deposed by the Young Turks, noted for his brutal suppression of the Armenian revolt (1894--96)

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Abdul-Hamid II 

Born Sept. 21, 1842; died Feb. 10, 1918. Turkish sultan from 1876 to 1909.

In December 1876, under pressure from Midhat Pasha, who was connected with the “New Ottoman” society, Abdul-Hamid introduced a constitution. But he quickly dispersed the parliament which was convened on the basis of the constitution and established a despotic regime of zulüm (force, oppression, tyranny). By his policy of oppressing the nationalities of the Ottoman Empire (the Armenian pogroms, the slaughter of Greeks on Crete in the 1890’s, and so forth) he earned the nickname “the Bloody Sultan.” As a result of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, he was forced to restore the constitution of 1876. On Apr. 27, 1909, after the Young Turks suppressed a counterrevolutionary putsch which was organized by feudal-clerical and comprador elements, Abdul-Hamid was overthrown and arrested. He was held under guard in Salonika until 1912 and then transferred to Istanbul, where he died in confinement.