July 1908 to April 1909
The 1908 revolution and the Action Army
On 3 July 1908 Ahmed Niyazi, a Unionist officer, leaves the garrison at Resen (then Resne) for the hills with a band of volunteers, and other officers follow across Macedonia. On the night of 23 to 24 July Abdülhamid II restores the constitution of 1876 and recalls parliament. Mustafa Kemal, a staff officer of the Third Army in Thessaloniki, plays a small part in the revolution. At the end of the year he is sent to put down a tribal revolt in Tripolitania.
Ahmed Niyazi and his companions in arms, postcard, 1908Wikimedia Commons, Unknown author, Public domain (Ahmet Niyazi Resneli Bey and his revolutionary band.jpg)
Crowds in Liberty Square, Thessaloniki, after the proclamation of the constitution, 24 July 1908, postcardWikimedia Commons, Unknown. Commemorative postcard from 1908., Public domain (Proclamation of the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire in Thessaloniki, 24 July 1908.png)
On 13 April 1909, the 31st of March in the calendar then in use, troops in İstanbul mutiny against the Committee of Union and Progress and call for the restoration of sharia law. Units of the Third Army form the Action Army and travel by rail to Yeşilköy (then San Stefano), just west of the capital. Mustafa Kemal goes with them as a staff officer. The Action Army takes İstanbul on 24 April, and three days later parliament deposes Abdülhamid II and sends him into exile in Thessaloniki.
Mustafa Kemal in Thessaloniki before leaving with the Action Army for İstanbul, April 1909Wikimedia Commons, Unknown author, Public domain (Mustafa Kemal, Selanik, 1909.png)
Troops of the Action Army marching on Bakırköy (then Makriköy), April 1909, postcardWikimedia Commons, Unknown author, Public domain (Action Army marching on Makri Keuy.jpg)
Sources
- Andrew Mango, Atatürk (1999).
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