Sam Taylor
On July 24, 1908, a group of disaffected Ottoman military officers
and members of the secretive Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)
mounted a successful coup against the despotic rule of Sultan Abdulhamid
II, and restored the constitution that he had suspended thirty years
prior. What became known as the Young Turk Revolution brought euphoria
and optimism to the multi-ethnic, multi-religious populations of the
Ottoman Empire, who were enticed by the CUP with the promise, rooted in
the rhetoric of the French Revolution, of ‘Liberty, Equality, and
Fraternity.’
In Izmir, Ottoman Jews marched alongside government dignitaries,
shouting “Long live the fatherland! Long live liberty!” In Beirut,
Biblical and Quranic passages were posted side by side. In Jerusalem,
Armenians, Greeks, and Arabs celebrated under a banner at the city gate
that read, “Long live the army, long live freedom. Liberty, equality,
and fraternity.” All over the Ottoman Empire, Muslims, Christians, and
Jews marched in processions together, basking in the dawn of a new era.
