The 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish war was precisely a turning point for the Ottoman Empire and the ethnic groups living in that state. Abdulhamid II’s indefinitely dismissing of the First Turkish Parliament using the war as an excuse, putting aside the Ottoman basic law, and his other applications throughout the following years, led to the formation of an opposition organized around the Young Turks movement. On the other hand, the ordeal that the Ottoman Empire went through during the war and the treaty of San Stefano signed after the war drove Albanians to the concerns that the Ottoman Empire would fail to protect them. Thus, they started to take action towards constructing a national consciousness in order to both protect their lands and national identities against Serbia, Montenegro and Greece that circumvent them. Accordingly, as with many of the late period Ottoman intellectuals, Albanian intellectuals also began to bring forward their ethnic roots and identities, despite their rigorous devotion to the Ottoman identity. In this study, the life, political activities and works of Dervish Hima who is one of the leading figures of both the Young Turks movement and Albanian nationalism, is explained. His activities between 1897 and 1912, his relations with the Young Turks and Albanian nationalist networks, the opposition he pursued against Abdulhamid II and his works published in the construction process of Albanian identity constitute the focal point of this study.
Source: Said Olgun (2018). A Young Turk and Albanian Nationalist: Dervish Hima (1872-1928). History Studies. International Journal of History. Vol. 10. Is. 10: 207-232
Source web-site: http://www.historystudies.net/dergi//bir-jon-turk-ve-arnavut-milliyetcisi-dervis-hima-1872-1928201901b75b729.pdf
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