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The Most Democratic Im perial Prince in Ottoman H istory PRIS GB SABAHADDIN GR 2A.T THEÎK^R QS NATIONAL AND INTOTATIONAL APPAIRS ¡ s 1 6 4 The Most Democrat lo Im perial Prince in Ottoman H istory PRINCE SABAHADDÎN, GREAT THÎNHBR ON NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAÎRS One of ray American friends,who had the pleasure of being acquainted with Prince Sabahaddin remarked," The most remarkable aspect of his character is his unfailing devotion to the cause of the common nan and h is h e ro ic stru g gle f o r the emancipation o f Ottoman su b jects from the despotism of the Royal family to which he belongs by birth'. In fact, in almost every country the rebellion against royal despotism has been started and supported by the persecuted class rather than by the son of the royal family. Therefore,Prince Sabahaddin is unique in Oriental history, probably in the history of mankind. Although he was a great advocate of democracy and an eminent leader in of the revolutionary movement called Young Turks in Europe during Sultan Abdul-Hamld*s reign,his outstanding personality cannot be explained solely as a great reformer or a friend of the persecuted and oppressed people of his country. Prince Sabahaddin had an unusual ability in science which secured him a wide knowledge in this field, He also had the remarkable talent which onabled him to integrate all data into a concise and intelligible synthesis. He was fascinated by the beauty of the sciences of inert matter but never was enslaved by them. In the same way he investigated the social and spiritual rela­ tionships of man with a scientific mind. He was fully convinced that there are natural laws which govern our social and spiritual bei$g. Therefore,his opposition to the despotic rule of Sultan Abdul-Hamid was far from being a merely sentimental hatred. To estimate the real value of Prince Sabahaddin * s contribution to the history of Turkey,we must glance back to tho day in 1877 when an Imperial Princess,Seniha Sultan,gave birth to a baby boy. His father,an eminent thinker,grand vozir,Mahmoud Pasha, rmv© the baby the unusual name " Sabahaddinr which means "Dawn of Religion". The little Prince’ s grandfather,Sultan Abdul-Medjid, was one of the most beloved rulers of the Empire. When he ascended tbs throne in 1859,he realised the great need of reform in his country. Therefore he promulgated the "Hatti Htmayun GUlhane" granting all his subjects full religious and civil equality and providing security of life and property to all,with just and equal taxation. He reorganized t^o array,establidied a new ministry of education,and founded a modern university with medical, agricultural and engineering schools. Slave trading was repressed and the economic condition of the Empire greatly improved. Some of the fanatical-minded people were not pleased with these reforms and fought them furiously. Attempts were made on the Sultan’s life,but Abdul-Medjid forgave a l l members o f tills con sp ira cy . Prince Sabahsd&ln, bom and brouf^it up in a beautiful royal palace on the ohoroo of the Bosphorus,inherited his grandf other* s noble character and a sons© of responsibility for reorganizing his country by donooratlo methods. Meanafoilo ho was under the influence of Ills father,thon the Minister of Justice, wko had spent most of h is youth in P a ris, In tho Ottoman m$>te8y, and who had a f u l l mastery of French no well as Arabic and Persian literature* His devoted mthor,tho Imperial princess Scnlha Sultan, Instead of rearing her sons in tho leisurely Oriental fashion, supported with all her night her husbands exceptionally progressive educational program for ids© young Princes, Tho palace in which they lived, a masterpiece of architecture, was turned into a private university* Tutors from different parts of Franco,as well as eminent Turkish,Persian and Arabic fcoachcra,woro responsible for their education* While their music and art teachers wore discovering exceptional talent in the younger Prince Xntfullah, the science touchers wore astonished at Prince Sabahaddin * s ready grasp of physics, chemistry, astrorwoy,biology nnd physiology. Prince SabtdmMIn, while ho was yet in Ills teens, collaborated with his father,who was defending his countrymen*o ri$it against tho despotic ndor,Sultan Abdul-Hsmld II,tho son of the very progressive nindod and kind ho rtod Sultan AMul-MedJId. At tho beginning of his reign Sultan Abdnl-Harald and his brother-in-law wore sincere friends. But as tine went on the bapiro became ncirclod by espionage and bribery. Mahmoud Pasha,who m s too honest and too democratic to tolerate tills situation* decided to leave his country,and his home. Taking with him M s two sons,he went to Prls where ho bocano the loader of the Young Turks movement in Europe in December 1899. as soon as Mahmoud Pasha and tho royal Princes loft the country, a ll their personal roporfcy in Turkey was confiscated in order to coot >©11 then to give up their struggle and to beg pardon from tho Sultan. But neither Malmood Pasha nor his sons gave up their coaaoleoo struggle, Thoy sent several mossagos to the tyrannical Sultan im ploring ka liln t o grant lib e r t y and eq u a lity to a l l Ottoman subjects. They published newspapers and distaklbutod then throu^iout tho huge itaplro to encourage people to form n opposition to the despotic sultan. Their daring flight to Europe aroused a sincere interest inside as well as outside the Ottoman imp Ire. At that time the Young Turks in -nropo wore composed mostly of middle class pooplo and young university students, specially studonto from tho m edical c o lle g e . Because they wore members o f tho Irrperial fam ily, tho indignation of Mahmoud Pasha and his sons toward tho Sultan arouood a oSnooro respect and admiration for tho oauso of tho Young Turk* mvmont. The persecuted people of the Entire wore inspired with a new faith in their salvation* The European nations felt oenfidonoe in tho great struggle of the Turkish patriots. ;verybody m s nthusiaotic except tho Sultan and his tyrannical co-worker B. - 3 - Mahmoud Pasha "became the symbol of national salvation in Europe. He received thousands of letters from his countrymen who tried to express their gratitude to him for defending their rights. Throughout this time Prince Sabahaddin was actively interested in his father*s heroic struggles,but h© was not satisfied with the program of the Young Turks revolutionary movement, the sole aim of whieh was to dethrone the despotic ruler and secure a constitution. He asked himself. "Who gave the Sultan the right to rule absolutely over 35,000,000 population? Why couldn’t such a ruler come into power in Switzerland, England,Scandinavia and, especially,the United States of America?” Then he porcieved that the real cause of the tragedy in the Ottoman aspire was no# the presence o f a d esp otic ru le r,b u t the 30cial system in the Empire which created despotic rulers. Prince Sabahaddin studied many sociological publications seeking a satisfactory solution to the problem. One day,after many feverish discussions with the Young Turk3,he was walking along a Paris avenue when a title in the window of a bookshop caught his eye, A quo! tlont la suneriorito des An.ilo—Saxons ?. He bought the book,hurried to TUs hotel end“”reac[ it from cover to cover. Then he went back to the bookshop to buy everything he could find by the same author, Edmond Demolin,and othors of the same school of thought. Edmond Demolln * s A-t-on intoret a s ’ omnarordn pouvolr? and Loon Poinsard's La croduotionTTo Iravail ot lo nrobleme soeial dans tons le_3 pa^ps debiit “ miO slocle attracted the young Prince’s attention i l^ienscTy. Til© authors of these books,their collaborators ondcl the Ecole des Roches,one of the first progressive schools in Par is, where La Science Sociale has been taught, soon became very good friends o' Prince Sabahaddin. Ho was made exceedingly happy by the discovery of scientific methods which could be used in investigating social problem s. The founder of this new school of thought,Frederic le Play, was a French mining engineer,who on seeing the evils of the French social system during the Revolution decided to be a social engineer instead of a mining me. He travelled from 2B30 to 1848 14 the Balkan countries,in Horway and in the Ural mountains. He collected more three hundred family cases,because he was convinced that like atoms in inert matter and colls in biological specimens,the similest unit of the social world is the family. The energetic mining engineer classified his data,found valuable scientific knowledge, and published his famous books, Les ouvrlers ouropoons,Les ouvrleros des deux nondcs and La roforrp sociale on France. After his death hTs“notSodc, called La“l>cionco Sociale,were taken and advanced and put into a more methodical form by his followers, the most famous of which were iakxrx Henry do Tourville, Edmond Demolln3 and Paul des Camps. This science is an exact science like any other on© and it explains the natural laws which govern the social relationships of imnkind, and makes it possible to diagnose the causes which have resulted in the ruin of nation after nation. 4 So strong was the Fi’Ino© * s belief in the scientific method of social research that ho financed studios In Germany end inglaad for the purpose of comparing social conditions in the two countries* For a time he also financod the publication in Turkish as well as in French of La Science Social©, the organ of his ideas »and at his own expense sent students abroad to study social methods.

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