Three Pashas

Last updated

The Three Pashas
Mehmed talat.jpg
Talaat Pasha
Enver Pasha 1911.jpg
Enver Pasha
Djemal Pasha2.png
Djemal Pasha

The Three Pashas , [1] also known as the Young Turk triumvirate [2] [3] or CUP triumvirate, [4] consisted of Mehmed Talaat Pasha, the Grand Vizier (prime minister) and Minister of the Interior; Ismail Enver Pasha, the Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief to the Sultan; and Ahmed Djemal Pasha, the Minister of the Navy and governor-general of Syria, who effectively ruled the Ottoman Empire after the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état and the subsequent assassination of Mahmud Shevket Pasha.

Contents

The Three Pashas, all members of the Central Committee of the Committee of Union and Progress, were largely responsible for the Empire's entry into World War I in 1914 on the side of the Central Powers and also largely responsible for the genocide of some one million Armenians. The Turkish public has widely criticised the Three Pashas for drawing the Ottoman Empire into World War I and its subsequent defeat. [5] All three met violent deaths after the war—Talaat and Cemal were assassinated by Dashnaks, whilst Enver died leading the Basmachi Revolt near Dushanbe, present-day Tajikistan.

After their deaths, Talaat and Enver's remains have been reburied at the Monument of Liberty in Istanbul [6] [7] and many of Turkey's streets have been controversially renamed in their honour. [8]

Historiography

Enver Pasha and Djemal Pasha visiting the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem during the First World War. Enver Pasha and Jamal (Cemal) Pasha visiting the Dome of the Rock.jpg
Enver Pasha and Djemal Pasha visiting the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem during the First World War.

While the triumvirate consisted of Talat, Enver, and Cemal, some say Halil Bey was a fourth member of this clique. [9] Historian Hans-Lukas Kieser asserts that this state of rule by the Three Pashas is only accurate for the year 1913–1914, and that Talat Pasha would increasingly become a more central figure within the Union and Progress party state, especially once he also became Grand Vizier in 1917. [10] Erik-Jan Zürcher claims that two factions dominated the Ottoman Empire during the Great War, a military camp led by Enver and the party/civilian camp led by Talat. Alternatively, it would also be accurate to call the Unionist regime a clique or even an oligarchy, as many prominent Unionists held some form of de jure or de facto power. Other than the Three Pashas and Halil Bey, personalities such as Dr. Nazım, Bahaeddin Şakir, Mehmed Reşid, Ziya Gökalp, and the party's secretary general Midhat Şükrü also dominated the Central Committee without formal positions in the Ottoman government.

Actions

Legacy

The front page of the Ottoman newspaper Ikdam on 4 November 1918 after the Three Pashas fled the country following World War I. Showing left to right Cemal Pasha; Talaat Pasha; Enver Pasha Ikdam, 4 Kasim 1918.jpg
The front page of the Ottoman newspaper İkdam on 4 November 1918 after the Three Pashas fled the country following World War I. Showing left to right Cemal Pasha; Talaat Pasha; Enver Pasha

Western scholars hold that after the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état, these three men became the de facto rulers of the Ottoman Empire until its dissolution following World War I. [11] They were members of the Committee of Union and Progress, [12] a progressive organisation that they eventually came to control and transform into a primarily Pan-Turkist political party. [13]

The Three Pashas were the principal players in the Ottoman–German Alliance and the Ottoman Empire's entry into World War I on the side of the Central Powers. [14] One of the three, Ahmed Djemal, was opposed to an alliance with Germany, and French and Russian diplomacy attempted to keep the Ottoman Empire out of the war; but Germany was agitating for a commitment. Finally, on 29 October, the point of no return was reached when Admiral Wilhelm Souchon took SMS Goeben, SMS Breslau, and a squadron of Ottoman warships into the Black Sea (see pursuit of Goeben and Breslau) and raided the Russian ports of Odessa, Sevastopol, and Theodosia. It was claimed that Ahmed Cemal agreed in early October 1914 to authorize Souchon to launch a pre-emptive strike.

Ismail Enver had only once taken control of any military activity (Battle of Sarıkamış), and left the Third Army in ruins. The First Suez Offensive and the Arab Revolt are Ahmed Cemal's most significant failures.

Involvement in the Armenian genocide

Kaiser Wilhelm II (left) with Enver Pasha (right), October 1917. Enver was one of the main perpetrators of the Armenian genocide. The Emperor on board the Javus Sultan Selim (Goeben). German Emperor Wilhelm II. in conversation with Enver Pascha. October 1917 - NARA - 17391108 (restored).jpeg
Kaiser Wilhelm II (left) with Enver Pasha (right), October 1917. Enver was one of the main perpetrators of the Armenian genocide.

As de facto rulers, the Three Pashas have been considered[ by whom? ] the masterminds behind the Armenian genocide. After the war the three were put on trial (in their absence) and sentenced to death, although the sentences were not carried out. Talaat and Cemal were assassinated in exile in 1921 and 1922 by Armenian revolutionaries; Enver died in a Red Army ambush in Tajikistan in 1922 while trying to lead an anti-Russian insurrection.

Reputation in the Republic of Turkey

After World War I and the ensuing Turkish War of Independence, much of the population of the newly established Republic of Turkey as well its founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk [15] widely criticised the Three Pashas for having caused the Ottoman Empire's entrance into World War I, [5] and the subsequent collapse of the state. [16] As early as 1912, Atatürk (then just Mustafa Kemal) had severed his ties to the Three Pashas' Committee of Union and Progress, dissatisfied with the direction that they had taken the party, [17] as well as developing a rivalry with Enver Pasha. [16] Although Enver later attempted to join the Turkish War of Independence, the Angora (Ankara) government under Atatürk blocked his return to Turkey and his efforts to join the war effort.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Young Turks</span> Political reform movement in the Ottoman Empire

The Young Turks was a broad opposition movement in the late Ottoman Empire agitating against Sultan Abdul Hamid II's absolutist regime. The most powerful organization of the movement, and the most conflated, was the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), though its goals, strategies, and membership continuously morphed throughout Abdul Hamid's reign. By the 1890s, the Young Turks were mainly a loose and contentious network of intelligentsia exiled in Western Europe and Egypt that made a living by selling their newspapers to secret subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enver Pasha</span> Turkish nationalist (1881–1922)

İsmail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who formed one-third of the dictatorial triumvirate known as the "Three Pashas" in the Ottoman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talaat Pasha</span> Turkish Ottoman politician (1874–1921)

Mehmed Talaat, commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha, was an Ottoman politician and convicted war criminal who served as the de facto leader of the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1918. Talaat Pasha was chairman of the Union and Progress Party, which operated a one-party dictatorship in the Empire; during World War I he became Grand Vizier. He was one of the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and other ethnic cleansings during his time as Minister of Interior Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Djemal Pasha</span> Ottoman military leader (1872–1922)

Ahmed Djemal, also known as Djemal Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Constitutional Era</span> Period of constitutional monarchy in the Ottoman Empire (1908–1920)

The Second Constitutional Era was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 dissolution of the General Assembly, during the empire's twilight years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1913 Ottoman coup d'état</span> Coup detat that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1913

The 1913 Ottoman coup d'état, also known as the Raid on the Sublime Porte, was a coup d'état carried out in the Ottoman Empire by a number of Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) members led by Ismail Enver Bey and Mehmed Talaat Bey, in which the group made a surprise raid on the central Ottoman government buildings, the Sublime Porte. During the coup, the Minister of War, Nazım Pasha, was assassinated and the Grand Vizier, Kâmil Pasha, was forced to resign. Soon after the coup, the government fell into the hands of the CUP, now under the leadership of the triumvirate known as the "Three Pashas", made up of Enver, Talaat, and Cemal Pasha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahaeddin Şakir</span> Turkish nationalist politician (1874–1922)

Bahaeddin Shakir or Bahaddin Şakir was a physician, Turkish nationalist politician, and one of the architects of the Armenian genocide. Though he was not a minister or deputy in the government, he held powerful sway in the Central Committee of the Committee of Union and Progress and was the director of the Şûrâ-yı Ümmet, a magazine that supported the party. He was one of the three important names of the "Doctors Group" in the CUP ; He was a part of the pan-Turkist/Turanist wing of Union and Progress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahmud Shevket Pasha</span> Ottoman generalissimo and statesman (1856–1913)

Mahmud Shevket Pasha was an Ottoman generalissimo and statesman, who was an important political figure during the Second Constitutional Era. During the 31 March Incident, Shevket Pasha and the Committee of Union and Progress overthrew Abdul Hamid II after an anti-Constitutionalist uprising in Constantinople. He played the role of a power broker after the crisis, balancing the various factions of the Young Turks and the army. As War Minister he played a leading role in military reform and the establishment of Air Divisions. Shevket Pasha became Grand Vizier during the First Balkan War in the aftermath of the 1913 coup d'état, from 23 January 1913 until his death by assassination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Nemesis</span> 1920–1922 assassinations of Ottoman officials by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation

Operation Nemesis was a program to assassinate both Ottoman perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and officials of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic most responsible for the massacre of Armenians during the September Days of 1918 in Baku. Masterminded by Shahan Natalie, Armen Garo, and Aaron Sachaklian, it was named after the Greek goddess of divine retribution, Nemesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Istanbul trials of 1919–1920</span> Courts-martial of the Ottoman Empire

The Istanbul trials of 1919–1920 were courts-martial of the Ottoman Empire that occurred soon after the Armistice of Mudros, in the aftermath of World War I.

The Freedom and Accord Party was a liberal Ottoman political party active between 1911 and 1913, during the Second Constitutional Era. It was the most significant opposition to Union and Progress in the Chamber of Deputies. The political programme of the party advocated for Ottomanism, government decentralisation, the rights of ethnic minorities, and close relations with Britain. In the post-1918 Ottoman Empire, the party became known for its attempts to suppress and prosecute the CUP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctor Nazım</span> Turkish physician, politician, and genocide perpetrator

Selanikli Mehmed Nâzım Bey also known as Doktor Nazım was a Turkish physician, politician, and revolutionary. Nazım Bey was a founding member of the Committee of Union and Progress, and served on its central committee for over ten years. He played a significant role in the Armenian genocide and the expulsion of Greeks in Western Anatolia. He was convicted for allegedly conspiring to assassinate Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in İzmir and was hanged in Ankara on 26 August 1926. He also served as the chairman of the Turkish sports club Fenerbahçe S.K. between 1916 and 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Committee of Union and Progress</span> 1889–1926 Ottoman and Turkish political party

The Committee of Union and Progress, refers to several revolutionary groups and a political party active between 1889 and 1926 in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. The foremost faction of the Young Turks, the CUP instigated the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, which ended absolute monarchy and began the Second Constitutional Era. After an ideological transformation, from 1913 to 1918, the CUP ruled the empire as a dictatorship and committed genocides against the Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian peoples as part of a broader policy of ethnic erasure during the late Ottoman period. The CUP and its members have often been referred to as Young Turks, although the movement produced other political parties as well. Within the Ottoman Empire its members were known as İttihadcılar ('Unionists') or Komiteciler ('Committeemen').

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottoman Empire in World War I</span>

The Ottoman Empire came into World War I as one of the Central Powers. The Ottoman Empire entered the war by carrying out a small surprise attack on the Black Sea coast of Russia on 29 October 1914, with Russia responding by declaring war on 2 November 1914. Ottoman forces fought the Entente in the Balkans and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The Ottoman Empire's defeat in the war in 1918 was crucial in the eventual dissolution of the empire in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halil Menteşe</span>

Halil Menteşe (1874–1948) was a Turkish government minister and politician, who was a well known official of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of the Chamber of Deputies in the last years of the Ottoman Empire, and also served as an independent deputy from İzmir in the Republic of Turkey. He was one of the people most directly responsible for the Armenian genocide.

<i>Talaat Pasha: Father of Modern Turkey, Architect of Genocide</i> Book by Hans-Lukas Kieser

Talaat Pasha: Father of Modern Turkey, Architect of Genocide is a 2018 academic book by Hans-Lukas Kieser, published by Princeton University Press. It is a biography of Talaat Pasha. As of 2018 there had been no recent biographies of Talaat, nor of Enver Pasha, in western European languages. The book discusses the author's thesis that Talaat was co-Father of the Nation to modern Turkey along with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as well as Talaat's rule and significance.

Ahmet Faik Erner (1879–1967) was an Ottoman Turkish bureaucrat and a member of the Committee for Union and Progress (CUP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rahmi Arslan</span> Ottoman revolutionary

Mustafa Rahmi Arslan was a Turkish politician, who was a prominent member of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of Talaat Pasha</span> 1921 assassination in Berlin, Germany

On 15 March 1921, Armenian student Soghomon Tehlirian assassinated Talaat Pasha—former grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire and the main architect of the Armenian genocide—in Berlin. At his trial, Tehlirian argued, "I have killed a man, but I am not a murderer"; the jury acquitted him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Said Halim Pasha cabinet</span>

The Said Halim Pasha cabinet was headed by Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha. It was formed on 17 June 1913 after Mahmud Shevket Pasha's assassination. It soon came to be wholly controlled by the Union and Progress Party. With the exception of Mardikyan Bey being the only Christian, everyone in cabinet was Muslim, with Said Halim Pasha and his brother Abbas Pasha Arabs and the rest Turks.

References

  1. ↑ Ottoman Turkish : اوچ پاشلار, Turkish : Üç Paşalar
  2. ↑ Kieser 2018, p. xii.
  3. ↑ Yacoubian, George S. Jr (2020–2021). "Toward Permanent Peace and Stability in Artsakh". Human Rights Brief. 24: 147.
  4. ↑ Tanvir Wasti, Syed (2020). "A review of the Turco-Italian war of 1911–1912 and related letters of Enver Pasha". Middle Eastern Studies. 56 (1): 131–141. doi:10.1080/00263206.2019.1627336. S2CID   198716187.
  5. 1 2 Barry M. Rubin; Kemal Kirişci (1 January 2001). Turkey in World Politics: An Emerging Multiregional Power. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 168. ISBN   978-1-55587-954-9.
  6. ↑ Garibian, Sévane (2018). ""Commanded by my Mother's Corpse": Talaat Pasha, or the Revenge Assassination of a Condemned Man". Journal of Genocide Research. 20 (2): 220–235. doi:10.1080/14623528.2018.1459160. S2CID   81928705.
  7. ↑ Uslanmam-History of the Republic Archived 13 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine (in Turkish)
  8. ↑ Minute, Turkish (28 April 2021). "Hero, founder, or criminal? Talaat is still alive and well in Turkey". Turkish Minute. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Syed Tanvir Wasti (July 1996). "Halil Menteşe: The Quadrumvir". Middle Eastern Studies. 32 (3). Taylor & Francis: 92–105. doi:10.1080/00263209608701120. JSTOR   4283809.
  10. ↑ Kieser 2018.
  11. ↑ Emin, 310; Kayali, 195
  12. ↑ Derogy, 332; Kayali, 195
  13. ↑ Allen, 614
  14. ↑ "Ottoman Empire enters the First World War – The Ottoman Empire | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  15. ↑ George Sellers Harris; Bilge Criss (2009). Studies in Atatürk's Turkey: The American Dimension. BRILL. p. 85. ISBN   978-90-04-17434-4.
  16. 1 2 Muammer Kaylan (8 April 2005). The Kemalists: Islamic Revival and the Fate of Secular Turkey. Prometheus Books, Publishers. p. 77. ISBN   978-1-61592-897-2.
  17. ↑ Erik Jan Zürcher (1 January 1984). The Unionist Factor: The Rôle[sic] of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Turkish National Movement, 1905–1926. BRILL. p. 59. ISBN   90-04-07262-4.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.