Committee of Union and Progress - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Ahmad, Feroz
Leiden
Brill
(926 words)
The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti, İttiḥād ve Teraqqī Cemʿiyyeti) emerged as the dominant political organization in the Ottoman Empire when Sultan Abdülhamid II (ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd II, r. 1293-1327/1876-1909) restored the constitution in July 1908. However, in the traditional society of the Empire, the CUP could not attempt to take power, and two grand viziers, Said (Saʿīd) Paşa (d. 1914) and Kamil (Kāmil) Paşa (d. 1913), were allowed to rule. The Committee intended to strengthen its position in upcoming elections, and