Mehmed V Reşâd (Ottoman Turkish:محمد خامس,romanized: Meḥmed-i ḫâmis;Turkish:V. Mehmed orMehmed Reşad; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) was the penultimatesultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1918. Mehmed V reigned as aconstitutional monarch. He had little influence over government affairs and theOttoman constitution was held with little regard by hisministries. The first half of his reign was marked by increasingly polarizing politics, and the second half by war and domination of theCommittee of Union and Progress and theThree Pashas.

Mehmed V
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
Photograph by Carl Pietzner, June 1915
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Padishah)
Reign	27 April 1909 – 3 July 1918
Predecessor	Abdul Hamid II
Successor	Mehmed VI
Grand Viziers	See list Ahmet Tevfik Pasha Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha Ibrahim Hakki Pasha Mehmed Said Pasha Ahmed Muhtar Pasha Mehmed Kâmil Pasha Mahmud Shevket Pasha Said Halim Pasha Mehmed Talat Pasha
Ottoman caliph (Amir al-Mu'minin)
Predecessor	Abdul Hamid II
Successor	Mehmed VI
Born	(1844-11-02)2 November 1844 Old Çırağan Palace,Constantinople,Ottoman Empire (present-dayIstanbul,Turkey)
Died	3 July 1918(1918-07-03) (aged 73) Yıldız Palace,Istanbul,Ottoman Empire
Burial	Tomb of Sultan Mehmed V Reşad,Eyüp, Istanbul
Consorts	Kamures Kadın Dürriaden Kadın Mihrengiz Kadın Nazperver Kadın Dilfirib Kadın
Issue	Şehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin Şehzade Mahmud Necmeddin Şehzade Ömer Hilmi Refia Sultan
Names Mehmed Han bin Abdulmejid[1]
Dynasty	Ottoman
Father	Abdulmejid I
Mother	Gülcemal Kadın (biological mother) Servetseza Kadın (adoptive mother)
Religion	Sunni Islam
Tughra

Reşad was the son of SultanAbdulmejid I.^[2] He succeeded his half-brotherAbdul Hamid II after the31 March Incident. Coming to power in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt, his nine-year reign featured three coups d'etat, four wars, eleven governments, and numerous uprisings. TheItalo-Turkish War saw the cession of the Empire'sNorth African territories and theDodecanese Islands, includingRhodes, during which theCUP was forced out of power by the military. This was followed up by the traumatic loss of almost all of the Empire's European territories west ofConstantinople (nowIstanbul) in theFirst Balkan War, and the return of a now radicalized CUP rule in anothercoup.Eastern Thrace was retaken in theSecond Balkan War.

The Ottomans enteredWorld War I in November 1914, upon which Mehmeddeclared a jihad against theAllies. In 1915, Ottoman forces successfully fended off anAllied invasion at Gallipoli and captured a large British garrisonat Kut. During that year, the CUP initiated theArmenian genocide against the Sultan's wishes, though his private disapproval over his governments' actions was inconsequential. By Mehmed V's death on 3 July 1918, defeat loomed on thePalestinian andMacedonian fronts. With military collapse in the field and theArab Revolt spelling impending disaster, the Ottomans signed theArmistice of Mudros, though by then he was dead, and succeeded byMehmed VI.^[3]

Şehzade Mehmed Reşad was born on 2 November 1844, at theÇırağan Palace,^[4] Constantinople.^[5] His father was SultanAbdulmejid I, and his mother wasGülcemal Kadın. He had three elder sisters,Fatma Sultan,^[6]Refia Sultan and Hatice Sultan (Refia Sultan's twin sister, died in infancy).^[7] After his mother's death in 1851, he and his sisters were entrusted to the care of his father's senior consortServetseza Kadın.^[8][9] She had asked Abdulmejid to take the motherless children under her wing, and raised as her own, and carried out the duties of a mother who cares for her children with compassion and concern.^[10]

In 1856, aged twelve, he was ceremoniouslycircumcised together with his younger half-brothers,Şehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin,Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin, andŞehzade Ahmed Nureddin.^[11][12]

Şehzade Reşad received his education at the palace.Halid Ziya, the chief clerk of theChamberlain's office between 1909 and 1912, described this as being a poor one. Thanks to his comparatively high intelligence, however, he made good use of the education he had. He studiedArabic andPersian, and spoke the latter very well. He took piano lessons from an Italian pianist and calligraphy lessons from a famous Ottoman calligrapher,Kazasker Mustafa Izzet Efendi (1801–1876), who designed the giant pendant medallions of theHagia Sophia. In addition toPersian literature, Reşad was also interested inMevlevi Sufism and theMasnavi.^[13]

He enjoyed the company of his uncleAbdul Aziz. Reşad becamecrown-prince in 1876 with the ascension of his half-brotherAbdul Hamid II, but was essentially kept under house arrest inDolmabahçe Palace, and was under close surveillance. For a variety of reasons, especially superstitious ones, Abdul Hamid abhorred his half-brother. It was said that Abdul Hamid was afraid of theevil eye of his brother who was two years younger than him, and that he had sacrifices made, held prayers, and incense burned immediately after he left the palace when he came to congratulate him on holidays. He was even heard to say, "I am doing my brother a great favor by not showing myself to the public" out of concern that his brother might be indiscreet. The belief in his bad luck began when he heard that a mare he liked while he was walking around the stables of the palace with his brother had died a few hours later.^[14]

After the lifting of many restrictions in the aftermath of theYoung Turk Revolution Reşad earned popularity as crown prince by attending ceremonies that celebrated theconstitution, much to the chagrin of his previouslyabsolutist brother.^[15]

His reign began at the conclusion of the31 March Incident on 27 April 1909, which resulted in the deposition of his brother Abdul Hamid II. Reşad came to the throne largely as a figurehead with no real political power. At the age of 64, Reşad was the oldest person to ascend the Ottoman throne. It was decided to use the name "Mehmed" as his regal name, not his real name "Reşad". This name change was made upon the suggestion of Ferik Sami Pasha, to establish a connection betweenMehmed the Conqueror's entry intoConstantinople with his army and the arrival of theAction Army to Istanbul. Although he ascended to the throne with the title of Mehmed V, he was called Sultan Reşad by the people.^[16]

HisCülûs [tr] [Coronation] ceremony was held in theMinistry of War building (now part ofIstanbul University) inBeyazıt. The new sultan boarded theİhsaniye from Dolmabahçe Palace toSirkeci, during which he received agun salute that frightened him. As he was leaving Sirkeci to Beyazıt in the royal carriage, the people of Istanbul lined up on both sides of the road and enthusiastically applauded as he passed by. In his speech after thebay'ah prayer, he declared, "I am the first sultan of liberty and I am proud of it!" and from then on Mehmed V was known as the "Constitutional Sultan."^[15] On May 10, 1909, the sultan boarded the yachtSöğütlü in front of Dolmabahçe, and was received in theEyüp Sultan Mosque Complex by theShaykh al-Islam Saygı Efendi and Postnişini Abdülhalim Efendi of theMevlevi Order, and was girded with thesword of Osman. Sultan Reşad then boarded the royal carriage and visited the tomb of Mehmed the Conqueror in theFatih Mosque, after which he returned to the Dolmabahçe. Since the sultan was not seen on the streets of Istanbul during the long years of Abdul Hamid's reign, the new sultan's carriage trip around the city, during which he cheerfully greeted his subjects, created great excitement among the people of Istanbul.^[15]

Because of his house imprisonment, Reşad sat on the throne at the age of 65 and with no experience in state affairs. His time as aŞehzade was sheltered because of his bad relationship with his now deposed half-brother. Due to his meek, weak-willed, and naïve personality and the strength of theCommittee of Union and Progress, the government was firmly out of his hands. When the CUP asked something from him he would immediately acquiesce without push back, typically replying "I am pleased!" or "I am humbled!" The Sultan was incredibly afraid of the men of action of the CUP, and the possibility he could end up like one of his predecessors: His uncle Abdul Aziz was deposed and died in suspicious circumstances, his half-brotherMurad V was deposed after suffering a nervous breakdown and held in house arrest for the rest of his life, and Abdul Hamid was deposed (and held in house arrest in Salonika) after his palace and harem was ransacked.^[14]

The sultan complained to one of the few companions he had: Elif Efendi, Sheikh of the Sütlüce SadiOrder, of the situation he was in. “Everyone complains that I do not interfere in anything, and that I do not even use the rights given to me by the Constitution. However, if I did not do this, these guys [the Unionists] would send me to Konya and declare a republic. I am doing this for the survival of the sultanate that was the legacy of my ancestors.” When the sultan was asked to take a more proactive approach to politics as the CUP stirred up trouble, Reşad responded "Everyone tells me not interfere in business. What was my brother’s crime if I interfered with the Constitutional Monarchy?"^[14][17]

Despite its shaky foundations, theconstitution was promulgated for the third and final time when Reşad ascended to the throne (it was retracted during the 1878 and 1909 crisis). However the issue about what to with the 31 March perpetrators revealed who was really in power:Mahmud Şevket Pasha and the CUP. In the immediate aftermath of the 31 March Incident, Sultan Reşad persistently informed the members of theChamber of Deputies that he would not approve the executions of common criminals and especially political criminals associated with the 31 March uprising.^[18] Afterwards, he wasn't able to resist the insistence of the Unionist politicians, and eventually approved their hanging. This was the first of many examples of Sultan Reşad's reluctant approval of many laws, decrees and wills during his reign against his personal convictions and the constitution, and he soon developed a disinterest in statecraft.^[19]

On May 5, 1909,Ahmed Tevfik Pasha, Abdul Hamid II's last grand vizier who was appointed in the middle of the 31 March Crisis, resigned under the pressure from the CUP, and a new government more favorable to the committee was formed under the grand viziership ofHüseyin Hilmi Pasha.

TheAlbanian Revolt of 1910 broke out and was suppressed by Şevket Pasha, nowWar Minister. The assassination ofAhmet Samim Bey and the Western-sponsored integration of theCretan State into Greece threw the sultan into a fit of depression.

In June 1911, he embarked on an imperial tour of Selânik (Salonica, todayThessaloniki) and Manastır (todayBitola), stopping byFlorina on the way. He also visited Üsküp (Skopje) and Priştine (Pristina), where he attendedFriday prayers at theTomb of Sultan Murad. The visit was recorded on film and photographs by theManaki brothers. It would soon prove to be the last visit of an Ottoman sultan to the Rumelian provinces before the catastrophe of the Balkan Wars the following year.^[15]

In the backdrop of the1912 Albanian revolt and theItalian invasion of Libya, due to the CUP's policies of centralization and Turkish nationalism, the1912 elections were mainly a contest between the CUP and the newFreedom and Accord Party. With the CUP rigging the proceedings to their advantage, the military decided to dispute the results. TheSavior Officers demanded the pro-CUP Grand VizierMehmed Said Pasha dissolve parliament and to resign, which he did. Reşad appointedAhmed Muhtar Pasha in his place, who formed a national unity government called the Great Cabinet. Martial law was declared. With defeat in theBalkan Wars, Muhtar Pasha resigned, and was replaced byKâmil Pasha.

Under his rule, the Ottoman Empire lost all its remaining territory in North Africa (Tripolitania,Cyrenaica andFezzan) and theDodecanese toItaly in theItalo-Turkish War and nearly all its European territories (except for a small strip of land west of Constantinople) in theFirst Balkan War. The Ottomans made some small gains in the followingSecond Balkan War, recapturing the peninsula comprisingEast Thrace up toEdirne, but this was only partial consolation for the Turks: the bulk of Ottoman territories that they had fought to keep had been lost forever.^[20]

The sudden loss of these enormous swaths of land, which had been Ottoman territory for centuries and were ceded to the Empire's opponents within a span of only two years, was traumatic to the Turks. The CUP organized the1913 coup d'état, where a party of ~50 Unionists led byEnver andTalât raided theSublime Porte, and Enver famously demanded Kâmil resign at gunpoint. Upon the Sultan hearing of the news he said "Peki o halde... Hayırlı olsun" ("Well in that case... good luck [to them]").^[21]

Muslims in the lost lands were expelled from their homes and emigrated behind the new Ottoman border surrounding Constantinople. The resulting refugee crisis overwhelmed municipal authorities. It also spelt the end of theOttomanism movement, which for several decades had advocated equal rights to all citizens of the Empire regardless of ethnicity or religion, in order to foster a communal sense of belonging and allegiance to the Ottoman state. With the loss of the Empire's ethnic minorities inRumelia and North Africa, the movement'sraison d'être also evaporated, and the country's politics soon began to take on a more exclusionary character, centered aroundTurkish nationalism. The more extreme elements of a right-wing faction, primarily in the upper echelons of the CUP-dominated government, would go on to commitgenocide against the Armenians.^[22]

After the assassination ofMahmud Şevket Pasha, it was discovered a member of the royal family was involved in the plot.Şehzade Kemaleddin's daughterMünire Sultan married Grand VizierTunuslu Hayreddin Pasha's son: Salih Pasha. Sultan Reşad had no qualms with signing the death sentence of one of his brothers’damats. Salih Pasha was tried and sentenced to death, and when Sultan Reşad signed the sentence, he was hanged.Cemal Pasha is said to have threatened the sultan, saying, “If you do not sign this, we will dethrone you too." An incident that took place before the execution in Bayezid Square became legendary: Salih Pasha was brought to the gallows, showed his trouser leg to one of his executioners and said, “Please, straighten this trouser leg, it looks crooked.” After the executioner complied with his request, he kicked the chair under thedamat, and he was hanged. Münire Sultan cursed her uncle Sultan Reşad, who had authorized her husband’s execution, saying “God willing, his beard will be stained with blood!”, the grey-haired soverign defended himself along the lines of “What could I do? Enver put his gun to my head, I signed it” and tried to compensate for his cognitive dissonance by snapping the pen which he signed the decision.^[21]

Despite his preference that the country stayed out of further conflict, Sultan Reşad's most significant political act was toformally declare jihad against theEntente Powers on 14 November 1914, following the Ottoman government's decision to join theFirst World War on the side of theCentral Powers.^[23] He was actually said to look with disfavour on the pro-German policy ofEnver Pasha,^[24] but could do little to prevent war due to the sultanate's diminished influence. This was the last genuine proclamation of jihad in history by aCaliph, as theCaliphate wasabolished in 1924. As a direct result of the declaration of war, the British annexedCyprus, while theKhedivate of Egypt proclaimed its independence and was turned intoa British protectorate; these provinces had at least been under nominal Ottoman rule. The proclamation had no noticeable effect on the war, despite the fact that many Muslims lived in Ottoman territories. Some Arabs eventuallyjoined the British forces against the Ottoman Empire with theArab Revolt in 1916.

Reşad hostedKaiser Wilhelm II, hisWorld War I ally, in Constantinople on 15 October 1917. He was madeGeneralfeldmarschall of theKingdom of Prussia on 27 January 1916, and of theGerman Empire on 1 February 1916.^{[citation needed]} He was also made aFeldmarschall ofAustria-Hungary on 19 May 1918.^{[citation needed]}

Reşad died atYıldız Palace on 3 July 1918 at the age of 73, only four months before the end of World War I.^[25] Thus, he did not live to see the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. He spent most of his life at theDolmabahçe Palace and Yıldız Palace in Constantinople. His grave is in theEyüp district of modern Istanbul. He was succeeded by his brotherMehmed Vahideddin, who took the regal name Mehmed VI.

Sultan Reşad was known to all as someone full of graciousness and elegance, but little to show when it came to politics.^[14]

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  Le Petit Journal, Mehmed V is proclaimed Sultan in 1909.
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  Mehmed V arrives inSelânik (Thessaloniki), Ottoman Empire, 1909.
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  Mehmed V arrives in Selânik (Thessaloniki), Ottoman Empire, 1909.
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  Portrait of Sultan Mehmed V.
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  Portrait of Sultan Mehmed V.
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  Portrait of Sultan Mehmed V in Imperial Ottoman naval uniform.
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  Portrait of Sultan Mehmed V.
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  Wilhelm II, Mehmed V,Franz Joseph: The three emperors of theCentral Powers in World War I.
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  Sultan Mehmed V hosting KaiserWilhelm II in Constantinople during World War I.
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  Mehmed V andEnver Pasha hostingWilhelm II in Constantinople during World War I.
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  Mehmed V andEnver Pasha hostingWilhelm II in Constantinople during World War I.
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  Ottoman Empire in 1914

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  Thetürbe of Mehmed V is located near theEyüp Sultan Mosque inEyüp,Istanbul.
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  Mehmet V Reşat mausoleum
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  Mehmet V Reşat mausoleum exterior
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  Mehmet V Reşat mausoleum interior

Ottoman honours

• Grand Master of theOrder of the Crescent
• Grand Master of theOrder of Glory
• Grand Master of theOrder of the Medjidie
• Grand Master of theOrder of Osmanieh

Foreign honours

• Austria-Hungary:Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary, Grand Cross with Diamonds (1914)^[26]
• Kingdom of Bavaria:Military Order of Max Joseph, Grand Cross (2 February 1916)^[27]
• Kingdom of Serbia:Order of the Star of Karađorđe, Grand Cross^[28]

Mehmed V had a smallharem, as well as few children. He was also the only sultan not to take new consorts after his accession to the throne.

Mehmed V had five consorts:^[29][30]

• Kamures Kadın (5 March 1855 – 30 April 1921).BaşKadin. She is also called Gamres, Kamres or Kamus. Of Caucasian descent, she married Mehmed when he was stillŞehzade. She had a son.
• Dürriaden Kadın (16 May 1860 – 17 October 1909). Second Kadın. She born Hatice Hanim, she married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She was the aunt ofInşirah Hanim, who was a consort ofMehmed VI (Mehmed V's younger half-brother). She had a son.
• Mihrengiz Kadın (15 October 1869 – 12 December 1938). Second Kadın after Dürriaden's death. Circassian, born Fatma Hanım, married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She had a son.
• Nazperver Kadın (12 June 1870 – 9 March 1929). Third Kadın after Dürriaden's death. Born Rukiye Hanim, she was an Abkhazian princess of Çikotua family and niece ofDürrinev Kadın, chief consort of SultanAbdülaziz, who educated her. She married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She had a daughter.
• Dilfirib Kadın (1890–1952). Fourth Kadın after Dürriaden's death. Circassian, she married Mehmed when he was still Şehzade. She was close friends withSafiye Ünüvar, a teacher at the Palace. She had no children by Mehmed, but after his death she remarried and had a son.

Mehmed V had three sons:^[29][30]

• Şehzade Mehmed Ziyaeddin (26 August 1873 – 30 January 1938) – with Kamures Kadın. He had five consorts, two sons and six daughters.
• Şehzade Mahmud Necmeddin (23 June 1878 – 27 June 1913) – with Dürriaden Kadın. Born withkyphosis, he never married or had children.
• Şehzade Ömer Hilmi (2 March 1886 – 6 April 1935) – with Mihrengiz Kadın. He had five consorts, a son and a daughter. His great-granddaughter Ayşe Gülnev Osmanoğlu became an authress of historical novels about the Ottoman dynasty.

Mehmed V had only one daughter:^[31]

• Refia Sultan (1888–1888) – with Nazperver Kadın. She died in infancy.

• Bardakçı, Murat (1998).Şahbaba: Osmanoğulları'nın Son Hükümdarı Vahdettin'in Hayatı, Hatıraları ve Özel Mektupları. Pan Yayıncılık-İnkılâp Kitabevi.ISBN 9751024536.
• Brookes, Douglas Scott (2010).The Concubine, the Princess, and the Teacher: Voices from the Ottoman Harem. University of Texas Press.ISBN 978-0-292-78335-5.
• Brookes, Douglas S. (2020).On the Sultan's Service: Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil's Memoir of the Ottoman Palace, 1909–1912. Indiana University Press.ISBN 978-0-253-04553-9.
• Glencross, Matthew; Rowbotham, Judith, eds. (2018).Monarchies and the Great War. Springer.ISBN 978-3-319-89515-4.
• Uluçay, M. Çağatay (2011).Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Ötüken.ISBN 978-9-754-37840-5.

  Media related toMehmed V at Wikimedia Commons

• Newspaper clippings about Mehmed V in the20th Century Press Archives of theZBW