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Ahmed Muhtar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire | |
| In office 22 July 1912 – 29 October 1912 | |
| Monarch | Mehmed V |
| Preceded by | Mehmed Said Pasha |
| Succeeded by | Kâmil Pasha |
| Ottoman Governor of Crete | |
| In office 1878–1878 | |
| Preceded by | Konstantinos Adosidis |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Karatheodori Pasha |
| In office 1875–1876 | |
| Preceded by | Redif Pasha |
| Succeeded by | Hasan Sami |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1839-11-01)1 November 1839 |
| Died | 21 January 1919(1919-01-21) (aged 79) |
| Children | Mahmud Muhtar Pasha |
| Alma mater | Ottoman Military College |
| Nickname | The Victorious |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Ottoman Empire |
| Branch/service | Ottoman Army |
| Years of service | 1856–1885 |
| Rank | Field marshal |
| Commands | Second Army Corps |
| Battles/wars | Crimean War Battle of Cetate Herzegovina Uprising Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) Battle of Kızıl Tepe |
| Awards |     |
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha (Ottoman Turkish:احمد مختار پاشا; 1 November 1839 – 21 January 1919) was a prominentOttomanfield marshal andGrand Vizier, who served in theCrimean andRusso-Turkish wars. Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed as Grand Vizier in July 1912 at age 72, largely due to his prestige as an old military hero.
Ahmed Muhtar was born on 1 November 1839 to aTurkish family inBursa in theOttoman Empire[1] and was educated in theOttoman Military College inIstanbul. His father was merchant Halil Efendi. He eventually became professor and then governor of the school.
In 1856, he served as anadjutant during theCrimean War. In 1862, he was a staff officer in the disastrousMontenegrin campaign. Between 1870 and 1871, he quelled rebellions inYemen. He gained the titles ofPasha and Marshal and, in 1873, was made commander of theSecond Army Corps, holding the position until 1876. During the1875 uprisings in Bosnia and Herzegovina, he assumed control of the Ottoman forces there. On the outbreak of theRusso-Turkish War, 1877-1878, he was sent to take charge of operations inErzurum. Although theRussians ultimately defeated the Ottomans in the war, Muhtar's victories against them in the eastern front won him the titleGazi ("The Victorious").
In 1879, Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed the commander of the Ottoman Empire's frontier withGreece, before being sent in 1885 to serve as the Ottoman High Commissioner inEgypt.
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed asGrand Vizier in July 1912 at age 72, largely due to his prestige as an old military hero. His premiership was a result of theSavior Officers (Turkish:Halâskâr Zâbitân) forcing the dissolution of the previousCommittee of Union and Progress (CUP) government under Grand VizierMehmed Said Pasha. The Savior Officers were partisans of the oppositionFreedom and Accord Party (also known as the Liberal Union or Entente) who felt cheated after the infamous 1912 elections, known as the "Election of Clubs" (Turkish:Sopalı Seçimler), in which the CUP had employed electoral fraud and violence to gain 269 of the 275 seats in theChamber of Deputies (Turkish:Meclis-i Mebusan, the popularly elected lower house of the nationalGeneral Assembly) while leaving only 6 to the opposition.
The non-party, independentcabinet[2] formed by Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was known as the "Great Cabinet" (Turkish:Büyuk Kabine) because it included three former Grand Viziers as ministers and sometimes as the "Father-Son Cabinet" (Turkish:Baba-Oğul Kabinesi) because it included Ahmed Muhtar Pasha's son,Mahmud Muhtar Pasha, as Minister of the Navy.[3] Because the Great Cabinet did not include any members of the CUP, rumors began to spread that the government would dissolve the Chamber of Deputies, which was dominated by CUP after the fraudulent 1912 elections.[4] A few days after Ahmed Muhtar Pasha took office, the Savior Officers sent a letter of threat to the President of the Chamber of Deputies (and CUP member),Halil Bey, demanding that the Chamber be dissolved for new elections within 48 hours.[5] The CUP members in the Chamber condemned and censured this threat.[6] However, thanks to a law he had passed through theSenate, Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was able, with the sultan's support, todissolve the Chamber with ease on 5 August.
After the dissolution of the Chamber, theFirst Balkan War erupted early in October 1912, catching Ahmed Muhtar Pasha's administration off-guard.Martial law was declared, and Ahmed Muhtar Pasha resigned as Grand Vizier on 29 October after just four months in the premier's office.
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha died inIstanbul on 21 January 1919 at the age of 79. His sonMahmud Muhtar Pasha was also a high-ranking commander in theOttoman Army and the Minister of theNavy in Ahmed Muhtar Pasha's own government. After the proclamation of theTurkish Republic, the Turkish government published a postage stamp with his image to honor his legacy.[7]
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Media related toAhmed Mukhtar Pasha at Wikimedia Commons
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| Preceded by Redif Pasha | Ottoman Governor of Crete 1875–1876 | Succeeded by Hasan Sami |
| Preceded by | Ottoman Governor of Crete 1878 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 22 July 1912 – 29 October 1912 | Succeeded by |
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