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Revolutions and Coups D'etat in the Middle East: a Comparative Study

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Revolutions and Coups D'etat in the Middle East: a Comparative Study REVOLUTIONS AND COUPS D'ETAT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BY GEORGE M. HADDAD Universityof California Revolution and reform have been significant phenomena in the history of the Middle East since the beginning of the nineteenth century. They have been carried out by peaceful as well as violent means, and by civilian as well as military elements for a number of causes and under various conditions and regimes of rule which it would be useful to analyze and compare. The present comparative study will deal with the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century and with the contemporary non-Arab countries of the northern tier-Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan-that extend strate- gically along the southern border of the Soviet Union. The study will end with comments on the prospects of democratic rule in that same area. i. Motives and Patteyns In the Ottoman Empire, reform until 1876 was carried out with- out popular or military revolution as long as it was initiated at the top by the ruling authority whose motive was primarily the survi- val of the Empire and the strengthening of the sultan's power. The army was not an agent of change at this stage. In fact, it was a serious obstacle to reform, and continued to be so until the extermi- nation of the Janissaries in 1826. Among the victims of its opposi- tion to reform was Sultan Selim III, killed in i8o8. The creation of a strong modern army became the first object of reform under Sultan Mahmud II as well as under his vassal Muhammad Ali of Egypt, because it was intended to give them power, prestige, and security. Military reform, in effect, increased the sultan's power to such a point that it had to be checked. 18 In 1876 reform in the Ottoman Empire had to be introduced by a peaceful revolution against the sultan. The constitutionalists who deposed Abdul Aziz and crowned Murad V and then Abdul Hamid II were an elite of intellectuals and high-ranking bureaucrats. Their motive was to strengthen the Empire and prevent foreign interven- tion by removing the evils of despotism and establishing constitu- tional rule. After Abdul Hamid II suspended the constitution in 1878 and resumed despotic power, revolution again forced a change, but this time the army participated and even became the chief executor of the revolution. The ideological foundation of the revo- lutionary movement under the Young Turks, however, was the work of civilians. The immediate causes that induced the Young Turkish revolutionaries to act were the internal crises that accom- panied the revolts of the Christian nationalities and the threat of European intervention. A plot to end Abdul Hamid's despotism failed in 1896. In igo8, military pressure by the Ottoman officers in Macedonia, and their intimidation of the sultan, resulted in the restoration of the constitution. In April igog, the army of Macedo- nia had to march on the capital and depose Abdul Hamid in order to end the counter-revolution that the reactionaries declared against the constitution. The revolution of 19°9 was followed by a dicta- torship of military and civilian Young Turkish leaders in the Com- mittee of Union and Progress. This dictatorship was challenged by other groups and factions of Young Turks, but the leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress emerged victorious. In the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, reform was initiat- ed by autonomous rulers themselves: Bashir II Shehab in Lebanon and Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt. The army was drawn into politics in Egypt for personal and nationalist motives under Arabi Pasha in the early 188o's. It advocated constitutional rule and the removal of foreign influence. The British occupation in 1882 ended Arabi's movement, and the Egyptian army ceased to be a political force until the revolution of 1952. In Syria and Iraq, the Arab offi- cers in the Ottoman army were influenced by the rising tide of Arab nationalism after the intellectuals and scholars had redisco- vered the message of the old Arab heritage. National considerations, since then, have constituted a primary motive, and sometimes pre- text, for revolution, reform and military pressures. .
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