Mehmed V

Mehmed V Reşâd (or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) was the penultimate sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1918. Mehmed V reigned as a constitutional monarch, interfering little when it came to government affairs, though the constitution was held with little regard by his ministries. The first half of his reign was marked by contentious politicking between factions of the Young Turks, and the second half by war and domination of the Committee of Union and Progress and the Three Pashas.
Reşad was the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I. He succeeded his half-brother Abdul Hamid II after the 31 March Incident. Coming to power in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt, his nine-year reign featured three coups d'etat, four wars, and numerous uprisings. The Italo-Turkish War saw the cession of the Empire's North African territories and the Dodecanese Islands, including Rhodes, during which the CUP was forced out of power by the military. This was followed up by the traumatic loss of almost all of the Empire's European territories west of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the First Balkan War, and the return of a now radicalized CUP rule in another coup. Eastern Thrace was retaken in the Second Balkan War.
The Ottomans entered World War I in November 1914 during which Mehmed declared jihad against the Allies. While Ottoman forces successfully fended off an Allied invasion at Gallipoli, defeat loomed on the Caucasian and Mesopotamian fronts. Military collapse in the field and a revolt by its Arab subjects spelled impending disaster, though Mehmed died before Ottoman surrender, and he was succeeded by Mehmed VI.
Early life
Prince Mehmed Reşad was born on 2 November 1844 at the Çırağan Palace, Istanbul. His father was Sultan Abdulmejid I, and his mother was Gülcemal Kadın. He had three elder sisters, Fatma Sultan, Refia Sultan and Hatice Sultan (Refia Sultan's twin sister, died as newborn). After his mother's death in 1851, he and his sisters were entrusted in the care of his father's senior consort Servetseza Kadın. She had asked Abdulmejid to take the motherless children under her wing, and raise as her own, and carried out the duties of a mother who cares for her children with compassion and concern.
In 1856, aged twelve, he was ceremoniously circumcised together with his younger half-brothers, Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin, Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin, and Şehzade Ahmed Nureddin.
Reşad received his education at the palace. Halid Ziya, the chief clerk of the Chamberlain's office between 1909 and 1912, described this as being a poor one. Thanks to his comparatively high intelligence, however, he made good use of the education he had and used it to go further. He studied Arabic and Persian, and spoke the latter very well. He took piano lessons from an Italian pianist and calligraphy lessons from a famous Ottoman calligrapher, Kazasker Mustafa Izzet Efendi (1801–1876), who designed the giant pendant medallions of the Hagia Sophia. In addition to Persian literature, Mehmed was also interested in Mevlevi Sufism and the Masnavi.
He enjoyed the company of his uncle Abdul Aziz. Mehmed became crown-prince in 1876 with the ascension of his brother Abdul Hamid II, and was kept under what was essentially a house arrest in Dolmabahçe Palace, and was under close surveillance. Abdul Hamid made sure to not personally communicate with him.
After the lifting of many restrictions in the aftermath of the Young Turk Revolution Mehmed earned popularity as crown-prince by attending constitutional ceremonies, much to the chagrin of his previously absolutist brother.
Reign
His reign began at the conclusion of the 31 March Incident on 27 April 1909, which resulted in the deposition of his brother Abdul Hamid II. Mehmed was brought to the throne as largely a figurehead with no real political power. In 1913 the Committee of Union and Progress undertook a coup d'état, which brought the dictatorial triumvirate of the Three Pashas to power. At the age of 64, Mehmed V was the oldest person to ascend the Ottoman throne. It was decided to use the name "Mehmed" as his regal name, not his real name "Reşad". This name change was made upon the suggestion of Ferik Sami Pasha, and it is stated that the reason was to establish a connection between Mehmed the Conqueror's entry to Istanbul with his army and the arrival of the Action Army to Istanbul. Although he was ascended to the throne with the title of Mehmed V, he was called Sultan Reşad by the people.
Enthronement and sword girding
His ceremony was held in the Ministry of War building (now part of Istanbul University) in Beyazıt. For this ceremony, the new sultan boarded the İhsaniye from Dolmabahçe Palace to Sirkeci, during which the gun salute frightened him. As he was leaving Sirkeci to Beyazıt in the royal carriage, the people of Istanbul lined up on both sides of the road and enthusiastically applauded as he passed by. In his speech after the bay'ah prayer, he said, "I am the first sultan of liberty and I am proud of it!" and from then on Mehmed V was known as the "Constitutional Sultan." On May 10, 1909, the sultan boarded the yacht Söğütlü in front of Dolmabahçe and went to Eyüp. He was girded with the sword of Osman in the Eyüp Mausuleum by the Shaykh al-Islam Saygı Efendi and the Mevlevi Dervish Lodge leader Postnişini Abdülhalim Efendi. Then, Mehmed V got into the royal carriage and visited the tomb of Mehmed II in the Fatih Mosque, after which he returned to Dolmabahçe. Since the sultan was not seen on the streets of Istanbul during the long years of Abdulhamid's reign, the new sultan's carriage trip around the city and greeting everyone with a smiling face, although strange, created great excitement among the people of Istanbul.
First years
Because of his house imprisonment, Mehmed sat on the throne at the age of 65 and with no experience in state affairs. Due to his meek and weak-willed personality, government was firmly out of his hands, and by 1913, firmly controlled by the CUP. In the immediate aftermath of the 31 March Incident, Mehmed V persistently informed the members of the Chamber of Deputies that he would not approve the executions of common criminals and especially political criminals associated with the March 31 uprising. Thereafter, he could not resist the insistence of the Unionists politicians, and eventually had to approve for their hanging. This was the first of many examples of Mehmed Reşad's reluctant approval of many laws, decrees and wills during his reign against his personal convictions, and he soon developed a disinterest in statecraft.
On May 5, 1909, Ahmed Tevfik Pasha, the last grand vizier of Abdul Hamid, resigned under the pressure of the CUP, and a new government was established under the grand viziership of Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha.
The Albanian Revolt of 1910 broke out and was suppressed by the Minister of War, Mahmud Şevket Pasha. The assassination of Ahmet Samim Bey and the integration of Crete into the Greece depressed the sultan.
In June 1911, he embarked on an imperial tour of Selânik (Salonica, today Thessaloniki) and Manastır (today Bitola), stopping by Florina on the way. He also visited Üsküp (Skopje) and Priştine (Pristina), where he attended Friday prayers at the Tomb of Sultan Murad. The visit was recorded on film and photographs by the Manaki brothers. It would soon prove to be the last visit of an Ottoman sultan to the Rumelian provinces before the catastrophe of the Balkan Wars the following year.
War
Under his rule, the Ottoman Empire lost all its remaining territory in North Africa (Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan) and the Dodecanese to Italy in the Italo-Turkish War and nearly all its European territories (except for a small strip of land west of Constantinople) in the First Balkan War. The Ottomans made some small gains in the following war, recapturing the peninsula comprising East Thrace up to Edirne, but this was only partial consolation for the Turks: the bulk of Ottoman territories that they had fought to keep had been lost forever.
The sudden loss of these enormous swathes of land, which had been Ottoman territory for centuries and were ceded to the Empire's opponents within a span of only two years, was deeply shocking to the Ottoman Turks and resulted in massive popular backlash against the government, culminating in the 1913 Ottoman coup d'etat. It also spelt the end of the Ottomanism movement, which for several decades had advocated equal rights to all citizens of the Empire regardless of ethnicity or religion, in order to foster a communal sense of belonging and allegiance to the Ottoman state. With the loss of the Empire's ethnic minorities in Rumelia and North Africa, the movement's raison d'être also evaporated, and the country's politics soon began to take on a more reactionary character, centred around Turkish nationalism. The more extreme elements of this right-wing faction, primarily in the upper echelons of the CUP-dominated government, would go on to commit genocide against the Armenians.
Despite his preference that the country stayed out of further conflict, Mehmed V's most significant political act was to formally declare jihad against the Entente Powers (Allies of World War I) on 14 November 1914, following the Ottoman government's decision to join the First World War on the side of the Central Powers. He was actually said to look with disfavour on the pro-German policy of Enver Pasha, but could do little to prevent war due to the sultanate's diminished influence since the overthrow of Abdülhamid II in 1909.
This was the last genuine proclamation of jihad in history by a Caliph, as the Caliphate was abolished in 1924. As a direct result of the declaration of war, the British annexed Cyprus, while the Khedivate of Egypt proclaimed its independence and was turned into a British protectorate; these provinces had at least been under nominal Ottoman rule. The proclamation had no noticeable effect on the war, despite the fact that many Muslims lived in Ottoman territories. Some Arabs eventually joined the British forces against the Ottoman Empire with the Arab Revolt in 1916.
Mehmed V hosted Kaiser Wilhelm II, his World War I ally, in Constantinople on 15 October 1917. He was made Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia on 27 January 1916, and of the German Empire on 1 February 1916. He was also made Generalfeldmarschall of Austria-Hungary on 19 May 1918.
Death
Mehmed V died at Yıldız Palace on 3 July 1918 at the age of 73, only four months before the end of World War I. Thus, he did not live to see the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. He spent most of his life at the Dolmabahçe Palace and Yıldız Palace in Istanbul. His grave is in the Eyüp district of modern Istanbul. He was succeeded by his brother Mehmed Vahideddin, who took the regal name Mehmed VI.
Honours
Ottoman honours
Grand Master of the Order of the Crescent
Grand Master of the Order of Glory
Grand Master of the Order of the Medjidie
Grand Master of the Order of Osmanieh
Foreign honours
Grand Cross of St. Stephen, in Diamonds, 1914 (Austria-Hungary)
Knight of the Military Order of Max Joseph (Bavaria)
Grand Cross of the Star of Karađorđe (Serbia)
Family
Mehmed V had a small harem, as well as few children. He was also the only sultan not to take new consorts after his accession to the throne.
Consorts
Mehmed V had five consorts:
Kamures Kadın (5 March 1855 – 30 April 1921). BaşKadin. She is also called Gamres, Kamres or Kamus. Of Caucasian descent, she married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She had a son.
Dürriaden Kadın (16 May 1860 – 17 October 1909). Second Kadın. She born Hatice Hanim, she married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She was the aunt of Inşirah Hanim, who was a consort of Mehmed VI (Mehmed V's younger half-brother). She had a son.
Mihrengiz Kadın (15 October 1869 – 12 December 1938). Second Kadın after Dürriaden's death. Circassian, born Fatma Hanım, married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She had a son.
Nazperver Kadın (12 June 1870 – 9 March 1929). Third Kadın after Dürriaden's death. Born Rukiye Hanim, she was an Abkhazian princess of Çikotua family and niece of Dürrinev Kadın, chief consort of Sultan Abdülaziz, who educated her. She married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She had a daughter.
Dilfirib Kadın (1890–1952). Fourth Kadın after Dürriaden's death. Circassian, she married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She was close friends with Safiye Ünüvar, a teacher at the Palace. She had no children by Mehmed, but after his death she remarried and had a son.
Sons
Mehmed V had three sons:
Şehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin (26 August 1873 – 30 January 1938)–with Kamures Kadın. He had five consorts, two sons and six daughters.
Şehzade Mahmud Necmeddin (23 June 1878 – 27 June 1913) – with Dürriaden Kadın. Born with kyphosis, he never married or had children.
Şehzade Ömer Hilmi (2 March 1886 – 6 April 1935) – with Mihrengiz Kadın. He had five consorts, a son and a daughter. His great-granddaughter Ayşe Gülnev Osmanoğlu became an authress of historical novels about the Ottoman dynasty.
Daughters
Mehmed V had only one daughter:
Refia Sultan (1888–1888) – with Nazperver Kadın. She died as newborn.
See also
The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors
References
Sources
External links
20th-century Ottoman sultans
1844 births
1918 deaths
Turks from the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman people of the Italo-Turkish War
Ottoman people of the Balkan Wars
Ottoman people of World War I
Dolmabahçe Palace
Knights of the Military Order of Max Joseph
Knights of the Order of the Crescent
Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary
Burials at Eyüp Cemetery