Hizip kavgaları ve Türk anayasacı hareketinin ilk safhası (1867-1877)

This thesis examines the process that led the Ottoman State to a constitutional regime. Although the constitutional regime was socially the demand of the social forces that suffered from the domination of high bureaucracy on the country, the phenomenon that marked the process that led the Ottoman State to constitutional order was factional struggles among high bureaucracy. These factional struggles determined natures of resultant constitution and "constitutional" regime. This so-called constitutional regime, which was experienced for the first time in the Ottoman State, had a content that was not, even superficially, pertinent to the principle of separation of powers, in which the parliament had no budgeting right and no legislative power and thus there was not any actual restrictions on the executive power. This situation is the product of Tanzimat pashas' determining of conditions under which the constitution was born. They monopolized the Ottoman politics and prevented participation of the factors to the politics other than themselves. While Tanzimat pashas came to such an end, they engaged in conflicts and factional struggles among themselves for the leadership of bureaucracy as well. Opposition movements that emerged against the Porte's power also took shape under the influence of the atmosphere created by these factional struggles. The Young Ottomans appeared on the political stage as a part of these factional struggles. However, as seen in the example of Cemiyet-i Ahrar, which would later be separated from the Young Ottomans, the independent opposition forces that went beyond the course of factional struggles also emerged. This thesis tries to explain the political struggles that took place between 1867 and 1877 and tendencies and phenomena in the politics of the period by examining them on the basis of socio-economic contradictions.