Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/1276

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1222
OTTOMAN EMPIRE

facing the Parliament buildings. The Chateau Launer is a large and luxurious hotel owned and operated by the Grand Trunk Rail- way system, by whom it was built at a cost of $2,500,000. Ifis con- nected with the railway station by a subway under Rideau Street. Under the Ontario provincial housing scheme a colony of new houses for the use of Ottawa's civil servants was in course of erection close to Rockcliffe Park in 1921.

In 1920 Ottawa had 388 industrial establishments of various kinds iron works and foundries and large factories for the produc- tion of paper, cardboard, tents and awnings and cement giving employment to 11,873 persons and paying out in annual wages $8,938,170. It has one of the largest individual lumber factories in the British Empire. The district output of lumber in 1918 was 350,- 000,000 feet, board measure. In 1921 Ottawa was consuming about 54,000 H.P. of electric energy, most of which was generated at the Chaudiere Falls. Nearly 200,000 H.P. available for commercial pur- poses was still undeveloped within a radius of 30 m. of the city.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE (see 27.426). The Turkish Revolution of 1008 was thought, at the time, to promise an era of genuine reformation and revival for the Ottoman Empire; a few years showed that it had opened, instead, the final brief period of that empire's existence. Long declining, long owing its continuance to the jealousies and conflicting policies of the great European Powers, the Ottoman Empire may be said to have ended, as the result of defeat in war, when its delegates signed the Treaty of Sevres on Aug. 10 1920. From that treaty emerged a Turkish State with every attribute of empire gone.

The first constitutional Government which came into power in Turkey after the revolution speedily found itself opposed by the " Young Turk " Committee of Union and Progress the same occult body which had organized and carried through the revolu- tion. The hope had been general that the Committee would cease their activities when once parliamentary government was established; but the hope remained unfulfilled. The Com- mittee transferred their attention from the Sultan Abdul Hamid to the Ottoman Parliament which assembled on Dec. 17 1908 as the new means to power, and continued as active as ever. Within a few weeks they had procured the downfall of Kiamil Pasha, the first Grand Vizier of the constitutional period.

The Committee had, in fact, a definite policy before them for execution; a policy by no means in harmony with the professions of liberty and equality for all Ottoman subjects upon which the revolution had been accomplished. Briefly stated this policy was the complete " Turkification " of the empire. Non-Turkish ethnical elements Albanians, Macedonians, Armenians, Greeks, Arabs, Kurds, Druses were to be moulded as far as possible into uniformity with the dominant Turkish element. Racial and national ideals, characteristics, laws and languages of these subject peoples were to be suppressed, by force if necessary, and an Ottoman population created which, outwardly at least, should be homogeneous within the empire's wide confines. Nor did the Turkish Moslem population escape the reforming purpose of the Committee. Taking a detached view of Turkish civiliza- tion, even of the faith of Islam itself, for the two are inseparable the Committee saw much wanting, much existing that was cumbersome and useless, much that provided a fatal handicap to the progress of the Ottoman State.

For the good of the Turkish race and the ultimate Ottoman State the Committee intended reformation in these directions as well. But various of the changes proposed touched exceedingly delicate matters, going to the deepest foundations of Turkish belief and prejudice: so much so that some of the desired reforms could not be openly advocated as yet. The reforms proposed included the adoption of European time, the European calendar, and the Latin alphabet; the abolition of veiling of women as a practice of far-reaching, injurious influence upon the race; the abolition of the annual, month-long fast of Ramazan, and of the Feasts of Bairam. In other directions, too, the teachings of Mahomet were to be judiciously revised, on the principle that the Prophet himself would never have allowed observance of any of his precepts to put his followers at a permanent disadvantage in competition with infidels. That many years, perhaps two generations, must elapse before the more serious of these changes would be accepted by Turkish Moslems was well understood. But the " Turkification " of non-Turkish populations was on another

footing. The sooner it was begun and the more thorough were the measures adopted, the sooner would its advantages be reaped. Reorganization of the army and navy was regarded as impera- tive, not only against external possibilities, but for execution of the policy of " Turkification." Financial reform and reorganiza- tion of the customs service were found equally necessary, if only to provide means for the increased cost of the army and navy. These matters therefore were taken in hand. Djavid Bey, Minister of Finance, called a French adviser to his assistance; a British adviser, Mr. R. F. Crawford, was engaged to reorganize the customs; a number of German officers, selected by General von der Goltz, were brought in to reform the army; and the work of restoring the navy to efficiency was entrusted to a British adviser, Rear-Admiral Gamble, and a small British staff.

Though the Committee of Union and Progress took no open part in governing the country, and remained an unseen mysteri- ous power, they had their nominees in the Ministry, and at the beginning of 1909 could already influence the policy of the Government. Opposition to the Committee became, therefore, opposition to the Government as well. The revolution had given birth to a strong nationalistic spirit in Turkish Moslems and a desire to restore the empire to something of its former power, but had not diminished their religious zeal. Devout Moslems became alarmed at the tendencies of the Committee; at the free-thinking professions of members and their general rejection of the Prophet; still more at the innovations advocated in Turkish customs and in the Mahommedan faith. The Mahom- medan Union was formed to oppose the Committee and its dangerous projects, and declaring that Islam was in danger, the Union became active early in April 1909.

The Sultan Abdul Hamid has been charged with being the chief instigator of the counter-revolution of that month; it is more probable that he did nothing except oppose it. The counter- revolution was chiefly the outcome of religious zeal played upon by the Mahommedan Union. The troops in the capital were won over (the same troops who had effected the revolution of the previous year), and on April 12 they demanded that the constitu- tion should be subject to Mahommedan sacred law, and great demonstrations, attended by fighting, taking place against the Government. The Grand Vizier resigned, leading members of the Committee fled from Constantinople and the Sultan pardoned the troops who had taken part in the movement. But the counter- revolution had no organized strength behind it. The Committee retained the support of the two army corps stationed at Salonika and Adrianople; and from these garrisons a force of 20,000 men was dispatched against Constantinople. It occupied the city on April 24, and crushed the rising after much street fighting.

The Committee had ever regarded the Sultan Abdul Hamid with deep suspicion," which the counter-revolution was held to have justified. The counter-revolution provided, therefore, a favourable excuse for removing him from power. He was deposed on April 27, and sent to Salonika for internment and safe-keeping; and his successor, as Sultan Murad V., was proclaimed the same day. After the prompt suppression of this rebellion, the Committee became sovereign in the direction of Ottoman affairs. It had, however, learnt the danger of outraging the national and religious susceptibilities of Turkish Moslems. For the future they showed more deference to these sentiments, and, recognizing the forces behind them, gave more and more prominence to Pan-Islamism as a feature of the Committee's policy. Soon after the events of April, Talaat Bey, destined to fame as a sinister figure largely responsible for the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, became Minister of the Interior as one of the Committee's nominees in the Government. After the Committee had suppressed the counter-revolution, and was firmly seated in the saddle, events moved by regular and rapid steps to the end of the empire.

During the first two weeks of April, while Constantinople was in the throes of revolution, serious events were taking place in Adana, the prosperous capital of the Cilician plain. Racial hatred between Turks and Armenians there came to a head on April 9 in the so-called " Adana Massacres." These soon ex-