Her ça¤›n bir ruhu vard›r ve bu ruh o ça¤›n Every era has a soul and that soul imposes a * ‹stanbul fiehir Üniversitesi devlet sahiplerine benzer flekiller verir, onlar› similar form on the owners of the states, shaping birer heykel gibi yontarak zamana uyakl› k›lar. them like a statue and setting the tone for the Mesela, XVI. yüzy›l sadece Osmanl› era. For example, the 16th century in the ‹mparatorlu¤u’nda Muhteflem Süleyman’›n güçlü Ottoman Empire was not just an era in which bir kiflilik olarak k›l›ç kufland›¤› bir devre Süleyman the Magnificent girded the sword as a de¤ildir. Bu as›r bütün dünyada demir bileklerin powerful person; this was an era in which all the imparatorluklar yönetti¤i bir büyük hükümdarlar mighty empires were governed by great rulers. In devri olmufltur. 1520’de padiflah olan the age of Süleyman the Magnificent, who Kanunî’nin ça¤›nda ‹ngiltere’de VIII. Henry ve succeeded to the throne in 1520, Henry VIII I. Elizabeth, Fransa’da I. Fransuva, ‹spanya’da and Elizabeth I reigned in England and France fiarlken, sonra Rusya’da Korkunç ‹van tahta was ruled by Francois; Charles V governed geçmifltir. Do¤u’da ‹ran’da fiah ‹smail ve Spain and Ivan the Terrible stormed over Tahmasb, Hindistan’da Babür ve Ekber fiahlar Russia. To the east, Shah Ismail and Tahmasb hüküm sürmüfltür. Böylece yar›m as›r boyunca, ruled, in India Babur Shah and Akbar Shah ilim ve sanatta bir yenilenme yaflayan eski reigned. Thus, for half a century, magnificent dünyan›n kaderine muhteflem muktedirler, kings and ambitious victors imposed their stamp muhteris muzafferler mühür vurmufltur. ‹flte on the fate of the old world, which was II. Abdülhamid dönemini (1876-1909) de böyle undergoing innovations in science and art. We bir k›yas zaviyesinden görmek ve ça¤›n ruhunu must examine the later era of Abdülhamid II endâm›yla gösteren prizmadan bakarak anlamak (1876-1909) from a similar comparative angle and laz›md›r. from a prism that reflects the soul of the age, as well. Padiflahl›¤›n›n ilk zamanlar›nda çevresindeki Abdülhamid, who when coming to the throne devlet adamlar›na meflrutiyeti kabul ettirmekte insisted that the statesmen surrounding him ›srar eden Abdülhamid, sadece mecliste cereyan accept a constitutional monarchy, not only did eden sert tart›flmalar veya halk›n buna haz›r not display such an autocratic attitude over the olmad›¤› yolundaki vesayetçi tavr› yüzünden government merely because of the severe de¤il, di¤er imparatorluklarda olan bitenlerden arguments that took place in the councils or dolay› da daha otoriter bir tarz-› idareye because the people were not ready for more kaym›flt›r. Abdülhamid’in flehzade olarak freedom, but also took up a more authoritative yetiflti¤i devirde ‹ngiltere’den baflka yerde style of administration due to events in other SULTAN II. ABDÜLHAM‹D ‹MPARATORLU⁄UN SON NEFES‹ meflrutiyet yoktur, yani hükümdarlar›n yetkileri empires. In the era in which Abdülhamid was yaz›l› anayasalarla s›n›rland›r›lmam›flt›r henüz. raised as a prince (flehzade) the only constitutional Avrupa’daki üç büyük imparatorluk olan monarchy was England; that is, the authority of Almanya, Avusturya ve Rusya birer otokrasidir; the rulers had not, as yet, been limited by Lui Napolyon’un Fransa’daki monarflisi constitutions. Germany, Austria and Russia, the istikrars›zd›r; ‹talya bir millet olarak henüz three great empires in Europe, were autocracies, birleflmifltir. Dolay›s›yla Abdülhamid dönemi while the monarchy in Napoleon’s France had kendisi gibi otokratlar›n hükümfermâ oldu¤u bir no power and Italy had not yet united as a ça¤d›r. 1832 Reform Act’inden sonra nation. Therefore, the era of Abdülhamid was demokrasinin yeflerdi¤i ‹ngiltere’de bile, tâ one in which autocratic rulers like himself 1901’de tahta geçen Kral VII. Edward özellikle prevailed. Even though democracy sprouted in d›fl iliflkileri hükümetlere b›rakmayan bir England after the 1832 Reform Act, King monarkt›r. Edward VII, coming to the throne in 1901, did not leave foreign affairs to the government. D›fl iliflkileri tekeline alm›fl bir hükümdar›n baflka devletlerin baflkentlerine s›k ziyaretler e would expect that a ruler who enjoyed a yapm›fl olmas›n› beklersiniz. Ancak tarz-› idare monopoly on foreign affairs would frequently bak›m›ndan benzerleri bulunan Abdülhamid’in visit the capital cities of other stategs. However, ça¤dafllar›na en benzemez taraflar›ndan biri, where Abdülhamid most differed from his padiflahl›¤› s›ras›nda imparatorlu¤un baflkentiWcontemporaries with similar styles of ‹stanbul’dan d›flar› hiç ç›kmam›fl olmas›d›r. administration was that he never left Istanbul Hiçbir ça¤dafl› onun kadar baflkentine demir during his sultanate. No other contemporary atm›fl de¤ildi. Kendisinden Almanca belgelerde anchored himself in the capital to the same hep sayg›yla “Effendimis” fleklinde bahsetti¤ini extent. His friend the German Kaiser Wilhelm bildi¤imiz dostu Alman Kayzeri II. Wilhelm s›k II, who always referred to the Sultan in German s›k seyahat etti¤i için Reisekaiser olarak an›l›rd›, documents as “Effendimis”, was ridiculed with neredeyse her sene ‹ngiltere’yi ziyaret ederdi. the title of Reisekaiser due to his frequent Ça¤dafl› olan hükümdarlar›n seyahatlerine voyages and visited England almost every year. verilecek örneklerin sonu gelmez. The examples of journeys made by other contemporary rulers are endless. Elbette bu gidifl gelifllerde Avrupa’daki hanedanlar aras›ndaki akrabal›k Naturally the familial relationships between the münasebetlerinin de etkisi vard›r. Alman rulers in Europe had an effect on this coming Kayzeri ‹ngiltere Kraliçesi Viktorya’n›n torunu, and going. The German Kaiser was the grandson yani daha sonra 1901’de tahta geçecek olan Kral of Queen Victoria, that is, he was the nephew of Edward’›n ye¤eni idi. Danimarka Kral› IX. King Edward, who would come to the British Christian Kral Edward’›n kay›npederi, 1863’te throne in 1901. The Danish king, Christian IX, -1913’te bir suikaste kurban gidinceye kadar- was the father-in-law of King Edward and the Yunan Kral› olan I. Georg da kay›nbiraderiydi. brother-in-law of George I, the king of Greece Bald›z› Dagmar, Çar III. Aleksander ile evliydi. after 1863, ruling until he died in 1913, the Bulgaristan Prensi Ferdinand’›n babas› Kraliçe victim of an assassination. Christian IX’s sister- Viktoria’n›n kuzeni, annesi ise Fransa Kral› Lui in-law, Dagmar, was married to Czar Alexander Filip’in k›z›yd›. Romanya’n›n ilk ve en uzun III. The Bulgarian Prince Ferdinand’s father was süreli kral› (1881-1914) I. Karol Fransa the cousin of Queen Victoria and his mother ‹mparatoru III. Napolyon’un kuzeniydi ve saire. was the daughter of France’s king, Louis Bu akrabal›k iliflkileri diplomaside ittifaklar› Phillipe. Romania’s first and longest reigning veya anlaflmazl›klar› derinden etkileyebiliyordu. king, Karol I (1881-1914), was the cousin of the Abdülhamid ise hükümdarlar liginde ‹slam French emperor, Napoleon III. The list goes on. dünyas›n› temsil eden bir sultan olarak oyunu These relationships could seriously affect tek bafl›na oynamak zorundayd›. Böyle olunca, alliances and conflicts in diplomacy. Sultan II. Abdülhamid’in bu padiflah›n nas›l yetiflti¤ini ve yaflad›¤›n›, nas›l Abdülhamid had to play the game as the sole flehzadelik mührü bir karaktere ve ruh haline sahip oldu¤unu sultan representing the Islamic world. Thus, The seal Sultan Abdülhamid II used as flehzade (prince) bilmek, oyunda gösterdi¤i performans› daha iyi knowing how this sultan was raised and how he (TSM) de¤erlendirme imkân› verecektir. lived, what kind of character and spiritual state |22| ABDÜLHAM‹D II THE LAST BREATH OF THE EMPIRE Sultan II. Abdülhamid devri Türkiye ve komflu he had, will give us a chance to better evaluate topraklar› için hâlâ canl› bir tarihtir. Padiflah›n his performance in this game. flahsiyeti ve politikalar› güncel tart›flmalarda bile yank› bulmaya devam ediyor. Ancak, ulu hakan- The era of Sultan Abdülhamid is still a lively k›z›l sultan kutuplaflmalar›n›n tozu duman› one for Turkey and her neighboring territories. aras›nda gerçek Abdülhamid’i tan›mak The sultan’s personality and policies continued isteyenlerin, siyasi ve ideolojik durufllardan to cause reverberations, even in daily discus- kaynaklanan bilgi kirlili¤i aras›nda do¤ru sions. However, for those who want to discern kaynaklara ulaflmalar› kolay olmuyor. the real Abdülhamid among the dust of the polarizations of ulu hakan (sublime emperor) Hat›rat ve otobiyografiler tarihte iz b›rakan and k›z›l sultan (red/murderous-sultan), it is not flah›slar› tan›mak için belki de en önemli easy to find reliable sources that are free of kaynaklard›r. Ancak Sultan Abdülhamid’e ait information that has been sullied by political bir hat›rat yoktur, ona atfedilenler ise gerçekte and ideological stances. onun de¤ildir. Ali Birinci tarihçi kulislerinde dinmeyen bir tart›flma konusu olan Memoirs and autobiographies are perhaps the Abdülhamid’in hat›rat› meselesini her yönüyle most important resources for learning about the aç›kl›¤a kavuflturmufltur (Dîvân, 10/19, 2005/2). personalities who have left their traces in Buna göre, Sultan Abdülhamid’in Hat›ra Defteri history. However, no memoir was written by olarak y›llarca çok satan kitap ona de¤il, Sultan Abdülhamid; that which has been kendisinden sonra ülkeyi yöneten ‹ttihat ve attributed to him was not written by him. Ali Terakki F›rkas›’n›n politikalar›ndan rahats›zl›k Birinci has clarified the matter about duyan Süleyman Nazif’e ait bir metindir. Kitap Abdülhamid’s memoirs, putting an end to the içinde verilen bilgilerin do¤rulu¤u yanl›fll›¤› never-ending argument which has been raging de¤ildir buradaki mesele; baflkas›n›n yazd›¤› bir in the backstages of history (Dîvân, 10/19, metin uydurma bulunufl hikâyeleriyle 2005/2).