page_title: Abdul Hamid II
section_title: Second Constitutional Era, 1908
hierarchical_section_title: Abdul Hamid II / Accession to throne / Second Constitutional Era, 1908
caption_attribution_description: English: Opening of the first Ottoman Parliament (Meclis-i Umumî), 1877. Deutsch: Eröffnung des ersten osmanischen Parlaments (Meclis-i Umumî), 1877. Türkçe: İlk Osmanlı Parlamentosu’nun (Meclis-i Umumî) açılışı, 1877. Français&#160;: Ouverture du premier Parlement ottoman (Meclis-i Umumî), 1877. en:Category:Ottoman Empire
context_page_description: Abdul Hamid II was the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the last Sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a period of decline, with rebellions particularly in the Balkans, and he had an unsuccessful war with the Russian Empire followed by a successful war against the Kingdom of Greece in 1897. Hamid II ruled from 31 August 1876 until he was deposed shortly after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, on 27 April 1909. In accordance with an agreement made with the Republican Young Ottomans, he promulgated the first Ottoman Constitution of 1876 on 23 December 1876, which was a sign of progressive thinking that marked his early rule. However, in 1878, citing disagreements with the Parliament, he suspended both the short-lived constitution and Parliament.
  The modernization of the Ottoman Empire continued during his reign, including the reform of the bureaucracy, the extension of the Rumelia Railway and Anatolia Railway, the construction of the Baghdad Railway, and the Hejaz Railway. In addition, a system for population registration and control over the press was established, along with the first local modern law school in 1898.
context_section_description: The national humiliation of the situation in Macedonia, together with the resentment in the army against the palace spies and informers, at last brought matters to a crisis.
  In the summer of 1908, the Young Turk Revolution broke out and Abdul Hamid, upon learning that the troops in Salonica were marching on Istanbul  (23 July), at once capitulated. On 24 July an irade announced the restoration of the suspended constitution of 1876; the next day, further irades abolished espionage and censorship, and ordered the release of political prisoners.
  On 17 December, Abdul Hamid opened the Ottoman parliament with a speech from the throne in which he said that the first parliament had been "temporarily dissolved until the education of the people had been brought to a sufficiently high level by the extension of instruction throughout the empire."
caption: Opening of the first Ottoman Parliament (Meclis-i Umumî), 1877.
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