The coup d'etat in the Ottoman Empire (1913)

The coup d'état in the Ottoman Empire of 1913, also known as the Shining Port Raid ( tour: Bâb-ı Âlî Baskını ), a coup d'etat on January 23, 1913 and carried out by members of the Unity and Progress party led by Ismail Enver-bei and Mehmed Talaat Bey . During the coup, a group of conspirators unexpectedly attacked the main buildings of the Ottoman government (Ports), during which Minister of War Nazym Pasha was killed, and the great vizier Kamil Pasha was forced to resign. As a result of the coup, the government came under the power of “Unity and Progress,” or rather, the power of the triumvirate, known as the “ ,” consisting of Enver, Talaat, and Jemal Pasha .

A crowd gathers in front of the Porta main building ( tour: Bâb-ı Âlî ) shortly after the coup

In 1911, Camil Pasha's Freedom and Harmony Party was formed as an opposition to Unity and Progress and only 20 days after its founding succeeded in the by-elections in Istanbul ^[1] . The party was a great success among the non-Turkish peoples of the empire, which was facilitated by the party's program. Alarmed by this result, members of the Unity and Progress party rigged the general elections in April 1912. Unlawfulness and violence in anticipation and during the voting was observed from both sides, but due to the fact that the Young Turks had administrative power, they manipulated the election process in their favor. The April 1912 election became known as the “Election from a Stick” ( tour: Sopalı Seçimler ) ^[2] . In response to this, “Officer-Savior” ( Tur . Halâskâr Zâbitân ), members of “Freedom and Salvation” began to prepare for the fall of the power of “Unity and Progress,” which happened as a result of military failures in July 1912. The new government was headed by Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha , but he was forced to resign in October of that year after a series of defeats in the unexpectedly started First Balkan War ^[3] .

After receiving permission from Sultan Mehmed V to form a new government in October 1912, the leader of Freedom and Accord, Camille Pasha, began negotiations at the diplomatic level with Bulgaria against the backdrop of the First Balkan War that was unfortunate for the empire ^[4] . Using Bulgarian pretensions to join Edirne (Adrianapol), the medieval Ottoman capital, as supporters, Unity and Progress attacked Porto ^[4] as an excuse. The coup resulted in repressions against opposition parties, primarily Freedom and Accord, and the entry into power of many members of Unity and Progress. Opposition leaders were either arrested or ended up in Europe. Conspirator leader Enver Bey soon became Minister of War and led the Ottoman Empire out of the ongoing and promoted an alliance with Germany , thereby drawing the country into World War I.