Regime Change in the Ottoman Empire: The 1876 Constitution

Regime change in the Ottoman Empire came with the proclamation of the Kanun-ı Esasi on 23 December 1876, that is, with the First Constitutional Era. Until then the state had been governed as an absolute monarchy; now, for the first time, it had a written constitution and an elected parliament. In this article we explain why the Constitutional Era, rather than the Tanzimat or the Reform Edict, counts as a regime change, and we look at the transformations that followed.

Quick Summary

The First Constitutional Era of 1876 was the transition from absolute to constitutional monarchy.
The Deed of Alliance, the Tanzimat and the Reform Edict were important reforms, but none of them was a regime change.
Parliament was prorogued in 1878, and a thirty-year period of istibdat (despotism) began.
In 1908 the constitutional order came back into force with the Second Constitutional Era.
With the abolition of the sultanate in 1922, the constitutional monarchy also came to an end.

Short answer
What does regime change mean?
Reforms that did not change the regime
The First Constitutional Era
Absolute versus constitutional monarchy
The istibdat period
The Second Constitutional Era
Table of regimes
Frequently asked questions

With the Proclamation of What Did Regime Change Take Place in the Ottoman Empire? Short Answer

The answer is the First Constitutional Era. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam defines the Meşrutiyet as a sultanate-caliphate regime with a constitution and a parliament. According to the encyclopedia, the First Constitutional Era covers the period from 23 December 1876, when the Kanun-ı Esasi was proclaimed, to 13 February 1878, when parliament was temporarily prorogued.

With this change the sultan remained on the throne, but for the first time his powers were defined by a constitution. A parliament made up of the people’s representatives was added beside him. The regime changed from absolute monarchy to constitutional (meşruti) monarchy.

What Does Regime Change Mean?

Regime change is a fundamental change in a state’s form of government. In exam questions, the expression refers to turning points at which the source and the limits of power change. An edict that merely grants new rights does not count as regime change as long as it does not alter the form of government.

In the Ottoman Empire, two criteria determine this distinction. The first is the existence of a written constitution limiting the sultan’s powers. The second is the participation in government of an assembly made up of the people’s representatives. The first arrangement to meet both criteria together was the Kanun-ı Esasi.

Important Reforms That Did Not Change the Regime

Many reform documents were proclaimed in the nineteenth century. Although they were important turning points, they did not change the form of government. The three documents most often confused in exams are the following.

The Deed of Alliance (1808)

According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Alemdar Mustafa Pasha brought Mahmud II to the throne on 28 July 1808 and became grand vizier. Then, on 7 October 1808, a document called the Sened-i İttifak was signed between the central bureaucracy and the powerful ayan, the provincial notables. The document regulated the relationship between the state and the ayan. Although it is described as the first document to limit the sultan’s power, it introduced neither a parliament nor a constitution.

The Tanzimat Edict (1839)

The Edict of Gülhane, proclaimed on 3 November 1839, declared that all subjects were equal before the law and that the security of life, property and honor was guaranteed by the state. It was a major step toward the rule of law. But government still belonged to the sultan and the bureaucracy.

The Reform Edict (1856)

According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the Reform Edict was read out at a ceremony at the Sublime Porte on 18 February 1856. It granted new rights, especially to non-Muslims. Grand Vizier Âli Pasha was at the Congress of Paris at the time; the edict was proclaimed precisely in those days to forestall intervention by the great powers.

Painting of a crowd gathered in a columned hall, representing regime change in the Ottoman Empire

The First Constitutional Era: The Regime Change Itself

1876 was a year of crisis for the Ottoman state. Uprisings in the Balkans, financial difficulties and pressure from the great powers had shaken the government. Statesmen who favored a constitution first deposed Sultan Abdülaziz. After the short reign of Murad V, Abdülhamid II came to the throne, promising a constitution.

The constitution was drafted by a commission chaired by Midhat Pasha and proclaimed on the day the great powers met in Istanbul. We explained the diplomatic reasons for this timing in detail in our article on the Shipyard Conference. The General Assembly (Meclis-i Umumi) consisted of the Chamber of Notables, appointed by the sultan, and the elected Chamber of Deputies.

The intellectual pioneers of these ideas were the opposition intellectuals of the 1860s. For their story, see our article who were the Young Ottomans?

What Did the Kanun-ı Esasi Bring?

According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the constitution listed the sultan’s inviolable rights one by one. These included concluding treaties, declaring war and peace, commanding the land and naval forces, and convening and proroguing parliament. The sultan could dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, and the official religion of the state was declared to be Islam.

The General Assembly consisted of two chambers, the Hey’et-i Meb‘ûsan and the Hey’et-i A‘yân. Parliament was to convene every year at the beginning of October and end its work at the beginning of March. According to the encyclopedia, one deputy was to be elected for every fifty thousand male inhabitants, but this rule was never fully applied in practice.

The most debated article was Article 113, which gave the sultan the power to exile people abroad. According to the encyclopedia, Namık Kemal and Ziya Pasha objected to this article in principle. Article 115, meanwhile, stated that no article of the constitution could be suspended on any pretext.

The Differences between Absolute Monarchy and Constitutional Monarchy

The difference between the two forms of government is a frequent subject of exam questions. The comparison below makes this difference concrete.

Criterion	Absolute monarchy	Constitutional monarchy
Limit of power	The ruler’s will and traditional law	A written constitution
Legislation	The ruler and the bureaucracy	Parliament together with the ruler
Popular participation	None	Through elected representatives
Basic rights	Rights granted by edicts	Rights guaranteed by the constitution

In a constitutional monarchy the ruler keeps the throne and important powers. That is why a constitutional monarchy is not a republic. The difference lies not in the source of power but in the limitation of power by a constitution and the participation of the people’s representatives in government.

The Prorogation of Parliament and the Istibdat Period

The first parliament was opened with ceremony on 19 March 1877. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the General Assembly worked for two sessions: 19 March–28 June 1877 and 13 December 1877–February 1878. The deputies came from different regions of the empire and from different religions. This diversity reflected the state’s many identities in parliament as well.

Elections were held not directly in today’s sense but through local councils. Even so, this parliament was the first place in the empire’s history where the people’s representatives came together. The deputies debated the budget, questioned ministers and criticized the conduct of the war.

The Constitutional Era was short-lived. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, parliament harshly criticized the government. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the Chamber of Deputies was temporarily prorogued on 13 February 1878. The constitution was not repealed, but parliament did not meet for thirty years.

Its opponents called this period “istibdat” (despotism). Abdülhamid II, for his part, argued that he had built a centralized government to keep the state from falling apart. We examined both sides of this debate in our article the reign of Abdülhamid II: despotism or modernization?

The Second Constitutional Era and After

According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, parliament was summoned to meet again on 23–24 July 1908, and the Second Constitutional Era began. This time the constitution was amended, the sultan’s powers were further limited and parliament’s weight increased. The encyclopedia gives different dates for the end of this period: the Armistice of Mudros, the Law on Fundamental Organization (Teşkilât-ı Esasiye Kanunu) or the abolition of the sultanate.

According to the encyclopedia, the constitutional amendments of 1909 made serious changes in the balance between the legislature and the executive in favor of parliament. A constitutional order similar to those of the European monarchies thus emerged. The amendments added the concept of “şer‘” (sharia) to Article 10: no one could be arrested except for reasons determined by the sharia and the law. Many articles defending the compatibility of constitutional government with the sharia were also published in this period.

With the abolition of the sultanate on 1 November 1922, the constitutional monarchy also came to an end. On 29 October 1923 the Republic was proclaimed. This last change is a regime change that took place not in the Ottoman state but in the new Turkish state that replaced it. For the details of this process, see our article when and why did the Ottoman Empire fall?

Forms of Government in the Ottoman Empire: Table

Period	Form of government	Decisive event
From the founding to 1876	Absolute monarchy	—
1876–1878	Constitutional monarchy	Proclamation of the Kanun-ı Esasi
1878–1908	De facto absolute rule	Prorogation of parliament
1908–1922	Constitutional monarchy	Second Constitutional Era
1922	End of the sultanate	Abolition of the sultanate

For other steps on the road to democratization, read our article on democratization movements in the Ottoman Empire.

Frequently Asked Questions

With the proclamation of what did regime change take place in the Ottoman Empire?

It took place with the proclamation of the First Constitutional Era, that is, the 1876 Kanun-ı Esasi. The state moved from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy.

Is the Tanzimat Edict a regime change?

No. The Tanzimat was an important reform in the fields of law and equality, but because it introduced neither a constitution nor a parliament, it did not change the form of government.

How many times was a constitutional era proclaimed in the Ottoman Empire?

Twice. The first was proclaimed in 1876, the second in 1908.

Conclusion

Regime change in the Ottoman Empire took place in 1876 with the proclamation of the Kanun-ı Esasi. The Deed of Alliance, the Tanzimat and the Reform Edict were important steps that prepared the way, but they did not change the form of government. The story of the Constitutional Era, interrupted and restarted in 1908, shows the difficult birth of constitutional government in these lands.