All times in UTC ·
Dashed edge = started before, or continues beyond, this day
Events on Friday 24 July 1908 2
1908Young Turk RevolutionOttoman constitution restored after military uprisingOfficers of the Committee of Union and Progress forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the 1876 constitution and reconvene parliament. The revolt began among army units in Macedonia and spread rapidly across the empire. It ended decades of autocratic rule and ushered in a period of parliamentary government.
1908Young Turk Revolution -- the constitution restoredThe Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) begins when CUP officers in Macedonia threaten to march on Istanbul if Abdülhamid II does not restore the 1876 constitution. Faced with a military revolt and popular demonstrations, Abdülhamid restores the constitution on 24 July 1908. The news is greeted with extraordinary popular jubilation across the empire -- Turks, Greeks, Armenians and Arabs embrace in the streets of Istanbul, believing that constitutional government has solved the empire's problems. The euphoria is short-lived: within months the CUP is manipulating elections, Abdülhamid attempts a counter-coup (suppressed April 1909), and the fundamental conflicts of the empire reassert themselves.