Mahmut Şevket Pasha and his era

Mahmut Shevket Pasha was borned at the month of August of 1857 in Baghdad as son of a father demanding that the Ottoman Empire should be administrated by constitutional system. He completed his education at modem civil and military schools by his father's influence. In the year of 1 882, he began the service in the army as captain of general staff and then was appointed to the assistant of Von der Goltz and Kompofner Pasha who were charged to reform the army. Mahmut Shevket Pasha advanced rapidly in the army bureaucracy by the supporting of Von der Goltz and then was elected the member of the commision sent to Germany in order to buy the weapon. After Shevket came back to the country, he began to work in Tophane-i Amire Meclis-i Tecrübe and Muayene Dairesi determining the arm technology of the Ottoman army. Getting the success in the military service, Mahmut Shevket Pasha was appointed to the Governor of Cosova in the year of 1905 while the Macedonian question became dense. Shevket, there, tried to prevent the ethnic and religious conflicts increasing day by day. Although he was one of the notable person in the administrative and military bureaucracy during the time of Abdülhamid, he did not stop the movement of Union and Progress Committee (CPU) becaming dense at Cosova. After the declaration of constitutional monarchy, Mahmut Shevket Pasha was appointed to the Commandership of the Third Army. And he suppressed the movements against the CPU. Because of this attitude, Unionists took to the sympathy Mahmut Shevket Pasha. As a matter of fact, they positively approached to Mahmut Shevket Pasha undertaking the Commandership of the Movement Army preparing in Rumeli to subdue the affair of "March 31". Most of the people call him as "combatant of freedom" due to the fact that he suppressed the anti©constitional rebellion known as affair of "31 March". However, Mahmut Shevket Pasha was also criticized either he discharged the people opponent the regime by using Court Martial during a state of siege or he subsided the opponents of CPU, by some of the groups. Though he did not get the power from the constitutions, he became the most important person in Ottoman political life. In order to come to an end this de facto, Mahmut Shevket Pasha participated the cabinet of İbrahim Hakkı Pasha as Minister of War at the month of January of 1910. But, after this time, he continued to orientate the internal and externel developments. He designated the government policy in the Crete Question, in the occupation of Tripoli and the Rebellions of Yemen and Albania. Because of the fact IVthat Mahmut Shevket Pasha could not prevent the occupation of Tripoli and could not develop the defending strategies and his violent policy in the Rebellion of Albania, he became the target of the opposition. Mahmut Shevket Pasha was criticized intensively especially because of the fact that Court Martial during a state of siege arrested Rıza Nur, deputy of Sinop due to the Investigator of Society Event (Cemiyet-i Hafiye Olayı); secondly, Shevket undertook to arrest Lütfi Ekrem Bey, deputy of Dersim, who is known with his hard criticism against the CPU and the government; and finally he took the press under the control and restrained the some parties and groups. It was claimed that these policies hindered the politic culture to become democratic. When Mahmut Shevket Pasha was the Minister of War, he also dwelled upon the reform movements in the army and the relation of army with the politics. Some developments had been made in order to reform the army and to modernization of the weapons and military equipments since the declaration of the consitutional monarchy. Nevertheless, the reform movements in the army much more incresaed after Mahmut Shevket Pasha was appointed to the Inspector of the First, Second and the Third Armies and the Minister of War. Significant alterations were realized in the organizational structure of the army, in its allocation in the country and in the defending strategies. In the Second Constitutional period, relation of the army with the politics played an important role in the the political struggle between the CPU and the opposition. Mahmut Shevket Pasha declared some circulars and regulations to purify and separate the army from the politics. But, he did not success to do that. The one group of officer, supported by the opponents of CPU, rebelled in Manastır, and the Group of Savior Officers (Halaskar Zabitan Grubu) realized some activities and so Shevket Pasha lost his power and had to resign. Because of these political developments, CPU came to an end. CPU came to the power again in 23 January 1913 by a coup d'etat, and appointed Mahmud Shevket Pasha as Grand Vizier. Shevket made some works towards the serious internal and external problems of the country. Meanwhile, the opponents of CPU tried to come to the power by coup d'etat, but they did not success. Mahmut Shevket Pasha was killed by the assasination in the 13 June 1913. As a result of this assasination, CPU discharged all the organized and disorganized opponents in the country. Finally, since the declaration of the constitutional monarchy, liberalistic and pluralistic political structure, carried on in spite of all its deficiency, came to an end.