Historicizing Revolutions: Constitutional Revolutions in the Ottoman Empire, Iran, and Russia, 1905-1908

Abstract

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.