31 March Incident

The 31 March Incident (31 Mart Vakası or 31 Mart Olayı) was a 1909 rebellion of reactionaries in Constantinople against the restoration of the constitutional system that had taken place in 1908. It took place on 13 April 1909 (31 March on the Rumi calendar in use at the time in Turkey for official timekeeping). The countercoup had attempted to put an end to the nascent Second Constitutional Era in the Ottoman Empire and to the newly established influence of the Committee of Union and Progress, in order to re-affirm the position of the Sultan Abdul Hamid II as absolute monarch.

The incident was a milestone in the Turkish military's encroaching on the political sphere.

Event
The counter-coup, led by a certain Dervish Vahdeti, reigned supreme in Constantinople for a few days.

On the other hand Dogan Avcıoglu and other Turkish writers denouncing English support and one of the English diplomat (and secret service agent??) Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice (1865-1939) as the hidden hand behind this reactionary religious uprising. British government supported that rebellion because of blocking the effect of increasing German sympathizers in Ottoman Empire for 20 years. Also according to these sources this counter coup was made against Committee of Union and Progress Selanik branch which outmatch the British sympathizer Bitola Branch. Also the aim of that rebellion wasn't made for Abdulhamid II as it seems; Vahdeti would have planned to change Sultan Abdulhamid II if the counter coup had reached a success.

Dervish Vahdeti and supporters were put down by Hareket Ordusu (The Army of Action) constituted in urgency with troops stationed in the Balkans and which rapidly departed from Salonica. Among the officers who entered the capital was Mustafa Kemal.

A few weeks after the re-establishment of order, Sultan Abdul Hamid II himself was deposed and sent to exile in Salonica, and replaced by his brother Mehmed V Reşad.

Effects
The incident led to a change of Grand Vizier, and Ahmed Tevfik Pasha assumed the position.

Memorial
In memorial of the 74 soldiers killed in action during this event, the Monument of Liberty (Abide-i Hürriyet) was erected 1911 in Şişli district of Istanbul.