Jadaliyya (J): What made you write this book?
Bedross Der Matossian (BDM): I have always been interested in
the history of the late Ottoman period, in particular the era of
Abdülhamid II (1876-1909) and the Second Constitutional Period
(1908-1918). Most of the scholarship about the period in the past has
been written from the perspective of the dominant ruling elite/political
center. It is only in the past decade that we see new studies that
provide a broader picture of the period by incorporating non-dominant
groups. It is with this intention in mind that I decided to concentrate
on examining one of the most important turning points in the beginning
of the modern Middle East from the perspective of the non-dominant
groups.
Much has been written on the causes and initial implementation of the
Young Turk Revolution of 1908. There is, however, a dearth of material
that appropriately addresses its complexity and its impact on the
worldview of the different non-dominant groups in the post-revolutionary
period. Existing scholarship on the impact of the Young Turk Revolution
on the Ottoman society is divided into two groups. One views the
Revolution as a factor that led to the debilitation of interethnic
relations leading to the rise of ethnic nationalism among the
non-dominant groups, while the other romanticizes the period as the
beginning of “civic nationalism” under the rubric of Ottomanism which
was interrupted by World War I. I argue in the book that both approaches
fail to adequately problematize the Revolution and demonstrate its
complexities.
