Abdul Hamid II

Ottoman sultan who promulgated and then suspended a constitution and ruled as an autocrat for thirty-three years.

Life

Constitution and autocracy

Abdul Hamid II came to the throne in 1876 and, under pressure from reformers such as Midhat Pasha, promulgated the empire's first constitution and convened a parliament. After defeat in the Russo-Turkish War in 1878, he suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament, ruling as an autocrat for the next thirty years.

Pan-Islamism

He controlled the country through secret police and censorship, promoted Pan-Islamism and built the Hejaz Railway, while also introducing the telegraph, railways and modern schools. In 1894–1896 large-scale massacres of Armenians took place in the eastern part of the empire, killing tens of thousands.

Deposition

The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 forced him to restore the constitution; he was deposed in 1909 and died in 1918.

Legacy

Abdul Hamid II both promoted some modernization and practiced harsh autocratic rule, and opinions of him in Turkey and abroad are sharply divided.

Did you know? The European press called him the "Bloody Sultan."

Key dates

• 1876Accedes to the throne, promulgates a constitution
• 1878Suspends the constitution
• 1894Armenian massacres (until 1896)
• 1900Builds the Hejaz Railway
• 1908Forced to restore the constitution
• 1909Deposed