Committee of Union and Progress

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The '''Committee of Union and Progress''' ('''CUP''', also translated as the '''Society of Union and Progress'''; {{langx|ota-Arab|اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی|translit =İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti}}, [[French language|French]]: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, [[secret society]], and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 in the [[Ottoman Empire]] and in the [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]]. The foremost faction of the [[Young Turks]], the CUP instigated the 1908 [[Young Turk Revolution]], which ended absolute monarchy and began the [[Second Constitutional Era]]. After an ideological transformation, from 1913 to 1918, the CUP ruled the empire as a [[dictatorship]]<ref>Zurcher, Eric Jan (1997)</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BUGIBa78aWwC&pg=PA59 ''The Unionist Factor: The Role of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Turkish National Movement 1905-1926''].</ref> and committed [[Genocides in history#Ottoman Empire/Turkey|genocides]] against the [[Armenian genocide|Armenian]], [[Greek genocide|Greek]], and [[Sayfo|Assyrian]] peoples as part of a broader policy of ethnic erasure during the [[late Ottoman period]].<ref name="Roshwald 2013">{{cite book |author-last =Roshwald |author-first =Aviel |year =2013 |chapter =Part II. The Emergence of Nationalism: Politics and Power – Nationalism in the Middle East, 1876–1945 |chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=IlNoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |editor-last =Breuilly |editor-first =John |title =The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism |location =[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher =[[Oxford University Press]] |pages =220–241 |doi =10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199209194.013.0011 |isbn =9780191750304}}</ref> The CUP and its members have often been referred to as "Young Turks", although the Young Turk movement produced [[List of political parties in the Ottoman Empire|other Ottoman political parties]] as well. Within the Ottoman Empire its members were known as {{lang|ota-Latn|İttihadcılar}} ('Unionists') or {{lang|ota-Latn|Komiteciler}} ('Committeemen').{{Sfn|Kieser|2018|p=61}}

The '''Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress''' ('''CUP''', also translated as the '''Society of Union and Progress'''; {{langx|ota-Arab|اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی|translit =İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti}}, [[French language|French]]: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, [[secret society]], and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 in the [[Ottoman Empire]] and in the [[Turkey|Republic of Turkey]]. The foremost faction of the [[Young Turks]], the CUP instigated the 1908 [[Young Turk Revolution]], which ended absolute monarchy and began the [[Second Constitutional Era]]. After an ideological transformation, from 1913 to 1918, the CUP ruled the empire as a [[dictatorship]]<ref>Zurcher, Eric Jan (1997)</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BUGIBa78aWwC&pg=PA59 ''The Unionist Factor: The Role of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Turkish National Movement 1905-1926''].</ref> and committed [[Genocides in history#Ottoman Empire/Turkey|genocides]] against the [[Armenian genocide|Armenian]], [[Greek genocide|Greek]], and [[Sayfo|Assyrian]] peoples as part of a broader policy of ethnic erasure during the [[late Ottoman period]].<ref name="Roshwald 2013">{{cite book |author-last =Roshwald |author-first =Aviel |year =2013 |chapter =Part II. The Emergence of Nationalism: Politics and Power – Nationalism in the Middle East, 1876–1945 |chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=IlNoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |editor-last =Breuilly |editor-first =John |title =The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism |location =[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher =[[Oxford University Press]] |pages =220–241 |doi =10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199209194.013.0011 |isbn =9780191750304}}</ref> The CUP and its members have often been referred to as "Young Turks", although the Young Turk movement produced [[List of political parties in the Ottoman Empire|other Ottoman political parties]] as well. Within the Ottoman Empire its members were known as {{lang|ota-Latn|İttihadcılar}} ('Unionists') or {{lang|ota-Latn|Komiteciler}} ('Committeemen').{{Sfn|Kieser|2018|p=61}}

The organization began as a liberal reform movement, and the autocratic government of Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] ({{reign | 1876 | 1909}}) persecuted it because of its calls for constitutional government and reform. Most of its members were exiled and arrested after a failed coup-attempt in 1896 which started a period infighting among [[émigré]] Young Turk communities in Europe. The CUP's cause revived by 1906 with a new "[[Factions of the Committee of Union and Progress|Macedonian]]" cadre of bureaucrats and [[Ottoman Army (1861–1922)|Ottoman army]] contingents based in [[Macedonia (region)#Birth of nationalism and of Macedonian identities|Ottoman Macedonia]] which were fighting ethnic insurgents in the [[Macedonian Struggle]].<ref name=":1" /> In 1908 the Unionists revolted in the [[Young Turk Revolution]], and forced Abdul Hamid to re-instate the 1876 [[Constitution of the Ottoman Empire|Constitution]], ushering in an era of political plurality. During the Second Constitutional Era, the CUP at first influenced politics from behind the scenes, and introduced [[Reforms of the Young Turks|major reforms]] to continue the modernization of the Ottoman Empire. The CUP's main rival was the [[Freedom and Accord Party]], a conservative party which called for the decentralization of the empire, in opposition to the CUP's desire for a centralized and unitary Turkish-dominated state.

The organization began as a liberal reform movement, and the autocratic government of Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] ({{reign | 1876 | 1909}}) persecuted it because of its calls for constitutional government and reform. Most of its members were exiled and arrested after a failed coup-attempt in 1896 which started a period infighting among [[émigré]] Young Turk communities in Europe. The CUP's cause revived by 1906 with a new "[[Factions of the Committee of Union and Progress|Macedonian]]" cadre of bureaucrats and [[Ottoman Army (1861–1922)|Ottoman army]] contingents based in [[Macedonia (region)#Birth of nationalism and of Macedonian identities|Ottoman Macedonia]] which were fighting ethnic insurgents in the [[Macedonian Struggle]].<ref name=":1" /> In 1908 the Unionists revolted in the [[Young Turk Revolution]], and forced Abdul Hamid to re-instate the 1876 [[Constitution of the Ottoman Empire|Constitution]], ushering in an era of political plurality. During the Second Constitutional Era, the CUP at first influenced politics from behind the scenes, and introduced [[Reforms of the Young Turks|major reforms]] to continue the modernization of the Ottoman Empire. The CUP's main rival was the [[Freedom and Accord Party]], a conservative party which called for the decentralization of the empire, in opposition to the CUP's desire for a centralized and unitary Turkish-dominated state.