Abdul Hamid II Quotes
Let me live and I will do all you wish.
He was sent into exile.
Abd al-Hamid II, 1842-1918, Sultan of Turkey, Plea to his guards when he was dethroned by the vote of both houses of the Turkish Parliament, April 27, 1909
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Ataturk had been a military hero, but was very much opposed to war and military adventurism not unlike the Dwight Eisenhower and Colin Powell type leaders. However, the one thing that he thought worth the sacrifice of his own and other Turkish lives was Turkish independence and sovereignty. Historically, the Ottoman Empire which Ataturk finally ended, had dominated half of Europe and all of the Mid East at the cost of sovereignty of other nations and Ataturk saw no more important virtue with dying for than national sovereignty. See {125322} and {584501}.
Abdul Hamid II or Abdülhamid II reigned as the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire - the last Sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a period of decline, with rebellions (particularly in the Balkans), and he presided over an unsuccessful war with the Russian Empire (1877-1878) followed by a successful war against the Kingdom of Greece in 1897. Abdulhamid II ruled from 31 August 1876 until his deposition shortly after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, on 27 April 1909. In accordance with an agreement made with the Republican Young Ottomans, he promulgated the first Ottoman Constitution of 1876 on 23 December 1876, which was a sign of progressive thinking that marked his early rule. However, in 1878, citing disagreements with the Parliament, he suspended both the short-lived constitution and the Parliament.
