“A live-streamed book presentation, titled: “Revolution and Constitutionalism in the Ottoman Empire” with the participation of Dr. Nader Sohrabi, the visiting professor from the Free University of Berlin. This presentation will be held on January 30, 2021 at 4 pm.
Nader Sohrabi puts forward a comparative analysis of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 in the Ottoman Empire and the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 in Iran. He asserts that the global, regional, and local factors were significant for the making of the two revolutions. According to Sohrabi, the emerging educated middle class in the Ottoman Empire was the backbone of the revolution. Moreover, he argues that the new regime in the Ottoman Empire fared better than the Iranian example thanks to the extra-legal efforts of the Union and Progress Party (CUP) which primarily consisted of the emerging educated middle class. On the other hand, because the Iranian Constitutional Revolution was deprived of such backing, it remained feeble vis-à-vis the traditional powers like the court and ulama establishment. Also, the impact of the early modern structure of the Ottoman Empire and Tanzimat reforms are unmistakable.