Revolutions in the Ottoman Empire, Iran,
and Russia, 1905-1908l
Nader Sohrabi
University of Chicago
The Young Turk Revolution of 1908, the Iranian Constitutional
Revolution of 1906, and the Russian Revolution of 1905 unfolded
under the impact of the constitutional revolutionary paradigm. This
article places these revolutions in a common historical context, arguing
that their shared ideology and their method of capturing state
power differentiate them from revolutions of later periods. After
establishing that these revolutions belonged to the same class of
events, this article also explores the differences between the successful
Ottoman and Iranian revolutions and the failed Russian
revolution. The conclusion is that the Ottoman and Iranian legal
assemblies, which were buttressed by extraparaliamentary and extralegal
resources, were far more powerful and effective. Furthermore,
the intrastate cleavages in the Ottoman Empire and Iran
were essential for winning military support in the battle to restore
the constitutional regimes in the aftermath of counterrevolutionary
backlash.
INTRODUCTION