Enver Pasha
Young Turk Revolution

On 3 July 1908, Niyazi, protesting the rule of Abdul Hamid II, fled with his band from Resne (modern Resen) into the mountains where he initiated the Young Turk Revolution and issued a proclamation that called for the restoration of the constitution of 1876. Following his example, Enver in Tikveş, and other officers such as Sabri in Ohri, also went into the mountains and formed guerilla bands. It is unclear whether the CUP had a fixed date for the revolution; in comments made in an interview following the event Enver stated that they planned for action in August 1908, yet events had forced them to begin the revolution at an earlier time. For the revolt to get local support Enver and Niyazi played on fears of possible foreign intervention. Enver led a band composed of volunteers and deserters. For example, he allowed a deserter who had engaged in brigandage in areas west of the river Vardar to join his band at Tikveș. Throughout the revolution, guerilla bands of both Enver and Niyazi consisted of Muslim (mostly Albanian) paramilitaries.

Enver sent an ultimatum to the Inspector General on 11 July 1908 and demanded that within 48 hours Abdul Hamid II issue a decree for CUP members that had been arrested and sent to Constantinople to be freed. He warned that if the ultimatum was not complied with by the Inspector General, he would refuse to accept any responsibility for future actions. In Tikveș a handwritten appeal was distributed to locals calling for them to either stay neutral or join with him. Enver possessed strong authority among fellow Muslims in the area where he resided and could communicate with them as he spoke both Albanian and Turkish. During the revolution, Enver stayed in the homes of notables, and as a sign of respect they would kiss his hands since he had earlier saved them from an attack by an IMRO band. He stated that the CUP had no support in the countryside apart from a few large landowners with CUP membership that lived in towns, yet they retained influence in their villages and were able to mobilise the population for the cause. Whole settlements were enrolled into the CUP through councils of village elders convened by Enver in Turkish villages of the Tikveş region. As the revolution spread by the third week and more officers deserted the army to join the cause, Enver and Niyazi got like minded officials and civilian notables to send multiple petitions to the Ottoman palace. Enver wrote in his memoirs that while he still was involved in band activity in the days toward the end of the revolution he composed more detailed rules of engagement for use by paramilitary units and bands.

On 23 July he proclaimed an age of liberty in front of the government mansion of Köprülü. In Salonica, he spoke from the balconies of the Grand Hôtel D'Angleterre to a crowd in the city center, where he declared that absolutism was finished, and Ottomanism would prevail. The square would be named Eleftherias Square, or the Square of Liberty thereafter. Facing a deteriorating situation in the Balkans, on 24 July Sultan Abdul Hamid II restored the constitution of 1876.
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