Constitutional periodConstitutional Period started with the dethroning of Sultan Abdülaziz n August 31, 1876. In place of Sultan Abdülaziz, Abdülhamid the 2nd took the throne. And he publicized the Constitution on December 23, 1876.
A short time later, Turco-Russian War which out broke on April 27, 1877 gave birth to many problems. In this war, which was publicly called “Ninety Three War”, the transfer of soldiers from the city to west, the sick coming from the front and the Rumelian entry men escaping from the war caused lots of troubles. In February 13, 1878 Sultan Abdülhamid transiently closed the Assembly. In March 3, 1878, upon marching of Russian armies up to Yeşilköy (Ayastefanos), Ayastefanos agreement was signed and a long peace period began.
During the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid the 2nd, the issue of education gained importance. While many schools were opened in Istanbul, at the beginning of 1900, the number of schools was almost 30. School of State Administration, School of Law, School of Fine Arts, School of Accounting, School of High Medicine, School of Teacher Education, School of Science and Accounting, School of Pharmacy, School of Commerce, Halkalı Advanced Studies of Agriculture, Hamidiye School of Veterinary Medicine, School of Forestry and Mining, School of Marine Trade, School for the Mute and Blind, Men’s and Girl’s Schools of Industry, Universities, high schools and secondary schools. Inspired by these improvements, private schools such as Darülfeyz, Burhan-i Terakki, Numune-i Irfan started their education in this period as well.
Sultan Abdülhamid the 2nd declared II. Constitution in July 24 1908 and was dethroned after March 31 Incidence and was exiled. Sultan Mehmet Reşad the 5th took up the throne in his place in April 27, 1909.
The period after that in Istanbul passed with wars and turbulence. In January 19, 1910 Çırağan Palace was burned. This was the first of a series of bad things to come. In February 6, 1911 a fire broke out in Babıali. In October 18, 1912, the Balkan War started. Once again Istanbul witnessed the disastrous scenes like in Ninety Three War.
In January 23, 1913, Babıali Raid broke out. Kıbrıslı Kamil Pasha government was forced to resign under threat of a gun. In June 11, 1913 Vizier Mahmut Şevket Pasha was assasined. The wave of bribery, corruption and theft started to shake the base of state structure. In
December, 14 1914, the First World War broke out. In order to fight the famine and poverty brought by the war, hoarding and black market could not be prevented in spite of the efforts of precaution by official institutions. |
