The Young Turk revolution in 1908 marks the beginning of the second constitutional era in The Ottoman Empire exactly 30 years after the abolition of the short lasting first constitutional era(1876-78). The Young Turks did not only force Sultan Abdulhamid II to restore the old constitution but they also revived The Ottoman Parliament and The General Assembly of The Ottoman Empire.

The new Parliament and General Assembly were different from the ones established by the sultan himself during 1876. The Young Turks instead of establishing a pre-chosen unelected members they allowed the forming of political parties for the first time in Ottoman history.

One of the most major parties was of Enver Pasha himself İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti(Committee of Union and Progress). As you can guess by the fact that this was the party of the revolutionaries they highly supported constitutional monarchy and Ottomanism until the party made Turanism their main ideology(1913).

Second most popular party in The Ottoman Parliament was Hürriyet ve İtilâf Fırkası(Freedom and Accord Party). Established in 1911 they were big supporters of liberalism but also had nationalist tendencies common during the fall of the Ottoman Empire but they also actively advocated for right of ethnic minorities like Armenians, Pontic Greeks and other minorities in the late Ottoman Empire.

Those were the main players in the new constitutional era of The Ottoman Empire but the Parliament was not limited for them. A socialist party(Osmanlı Sosyalist Fırkası) was formed during 1910, even a communist party(Ahali Fırkası) was formed during this period.

Ethnic minorities formed their own groups and parties like the Bulgarian Constitutional Club, Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Serb Democratic League.

This era gave the late Empire few glances of what could have been if a stable constitutional monarchy was established by not so paranoid Sultan earlier in this mess of an Empire but for the dying sick man of Europe this was already too late and rushed in. The Three Pashas different from Sultan Abdulhamid II were not so gentle and diplomatic in their foreign policy and again and again put the Ottoman Empire into lost wars. All intentions were good but perhaps unrealistic as for head of state they had an inexperienced dreamer like Enver Pasha raw talent but received everything in a golden cup and absolutely no experience. Perhaps what makes him different than his old rival Mustafa Kemal.

As we mentioned Mustafa Kemal it’s nice to mention the legacy that The Ottoman Parliament and Grand Assembly left behind. After WW1 occupation of Istanbul by The Allies the Parliament left the Sultan behind and joined Misak-ı Millî(National Pact) in Ankara and signed The Amasya Protocol, their last meeting was 18 March 1920 in which they wrote a latter of protest against allied occupation. Many members of the Parliament became important figures in the National Pact and had a huge impact in Turkish Independence War. After the republic was founded many of them founded new political parties with the legacy of the old ones and became political figures in a democratic state.