In 1908, the revolution of the Young Turks deposed the dictatorship of Sultan Abdulhamid II and established a constitutional regime that became the major ruling power in the Ottoman empire. But the seeds of this revolution went back much farther: to 1889, when the secret Young Turk organization the Committee of Union and Progress was formed. M. Sukru Hanioglu's landmark work is the story of the power struggles within the CUP and its impact on twentieth-century Turkish politics and culture. At once an in-depth history of an ideological movement and a study of the diplomatic relationships between the Ottoman Empire and the so-called great powers of Europe at the turn of the century, it analyzes the influence of European political thought on the CUP conspirators, and traces their influence on generations of Turkish intellectual and political life.

Reviews

"The great empirical value of Hanioglu's book makes it an important contribution to the field."--iddle East Journal

"The research base of Young Turks in Opposition deserves comment, being one of the most prodigious this reviewer has seen...This heroic scholarly apparatus is by no means for show purposes; quite the contrary, it closely undergirds the author's weighty and original study."--Middle East Quarterly

"[The author's] study is based on exhaustive primary research; his is the first history of the Committee for Union and Progress based on the private papers, journals, and newspapers of its members. This archival research will surely delight spcialists and is clearly the greatest strength of the text."--The Historian

"[Q]uite refreshing...Hanioglu has achieved all he attempted in writing a complete study of the intellectual basis and politics of the Young Turk opposition."--Middle East Studies Association Bulletin

"This book is an important contribution to our understanding of modern Turkey..."--American Historical Review