PhD thesis,
The Young Turk revolution and the Macedonian question 1908-1912
University of Leeds, phd, (February 2000)
Abstract
European-imposed reforms in Ottoman-held Macedonia in the period 1904-1908 led to the diminution of Ottoman authority, the encouragement of Christian partisan
activities and the consolidation of the Young Turk movement in the region. The Young Turk revolution of 1908 established a Constitutional and Parliamentary regime
in the Ottoman Empire pledging institutional reform, equality and liberty for all nationalities.
Between July 1908 and April 1909, it became clear that the Young Turk policies and the Macedonian aspirations of the Christian Balkan countries were incompatible. The
Young Turks remained a predominantly Moslem movement committed to safeguard the territorial integrity of the Empire, prevent foreign interference in Ottoman affairs
and counteract Christian Macedonian separatism.
By contrast, following the withdrawal of European control from Macedonia, the Balkan Christians attempted to take advantage of the Ottoman Constitutional change
to further their own political and national interests in Macedonia. Disillusioned by the Young Turk centralist tendencies and apprehensive of a resurgent Turkish nationalism, Bulgarian, Greek and Serb nationalists resorted -once more- to their original means of Macedonian propaganda: religious, cultural and revolutionary activity.
During 1909-1912, the Committee of Union and Progress (C.U.P.) -the driving force in the Young Turk movement- initiated a policy of enforced denationalization on the
non-Moslem ethnic groups. Implemented in a harsh manner in Macedonia, this practice irrevocably undermined any prospect of cooperation between Moslem Young Turks and Christian Macedonians. Its aftermath included the growth of the Albanian nationalist movement and the encouragement of rapprochement between the Christian Balkan states, which was to bring about the establishment of the Balkan Alliance and the collapse of European Turkey in the Balkan wars.
