The Ottoman palace coups of 1807-08 refers to several coups and rebellions deposing or restoring the throne of three Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 sultans that took place as a result of the attempted reforms of Selim III

Selim III

Selim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...

.

Causes

The Ottoman Empire was in decline by the early 19th century, and had lost much of the territory it had ruled over only a century earlier. However, the threat of the conservative, traditionalist Janissaries, the sultan's elite troops, prevented reforms from being enacted by more liberal rulers. In 1789, Sultan Abdulhamid I died, and his nephew Selim III

Selim III

Selim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...

, the son of Abdulhamid's predecessor, ascended to the throne. Selim, a composer of some talent as well as an advocate of modernization, was inspired to a certain degree by the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, his efforts at Westernization

Westernization

Westernization or Westernisation , also occidentalization or occidentalisation , is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet,...

 culminating with a levy for new regular troops in 1805. The reforms, particularly the levy, angered the Janissaries and other conservative elements, who rose up and killed leading reform advocates.

First coup d'etat

On May 29, 1807, Selim was deposed by Janissaries led by the rebel leader Kabakçı Mustafa

Kabakçı Mustafa

Kabakçı Mustafa was a rebel leader who caused the delay of Ottoman reformation in the early 19th century.-Yamaks and Kabakçı:Yamaks were a special class of soldiers who were responsible in defending Bosphorous against Cossack pirates from Ukraine. Unlike janissaries they were from Black Sea Region...

 and quickly replaced by his cousin Mustafa IV

Mustafa IV

Mustafa IV was sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1807 to 1808.-Biography:...

, who incarcerated his predecessor in the relative comfort of the royal palace. Mustafa effectively pardoned the rebels and allied himself with the Janissaries, disbanding Selim's newly-formed army.

Murder of Selim and second coup d'etat

However, the influential governor of Ruscuk, Mustafa Bayrakdar, became disenchanted with Mustafa and plotted his downfall. His efforts, along with those of the disgruntled official Mustafa Bayrakdar led to a second revolt in 1808. The imprisoned Selim was murdered on Mustafa's command, but Mustafa's brother and heir, Mahmud

Mahmud II

Mahmud II was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. He was born in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, the son of Sultan Abdulhamid I...

, escaped from his would-be assassins. Meanwhile, rebel troops surrounded the palace, to be mocked by Mustafa and his officials, who even showed the rebels the body of Selim, in the vain hope that it would deter them. The rebels entered the palace anyway, arresting Mustafa and declaring Mahmud sultan.

Attempted reforms and Janissary unrest

While incarcerated in the palace, Selim had taught ideas of reform to Mahmud, who continued the reforms that had been stopped by the Janissary coup in 1807. Mahmud had appointed as grand vizier Mustafa Bayrakdar, leader of the rebellion that had installed him as sultan, and the reforms that the pair implemented angered the Janissaries once again.

In an attempt to cow Mahmud, the Janissaries staged a brief uprising and killed the vizier, forcing the sultan to call off the reforms and disband the army, which had been based on Selim's model, yet again.

Effect on later events

Mahmud, although angering the Janissaries early on, managed to reign for several more decades. By 1826, he had become less afraid of the Janissaries and, in the Auspicious Incident, intentionally, some historians claim, caused the unit to rebel. He called out his regular troops and, using artillery to bombard the Janissary headquarters, destroyed the elite troops' capability to fight. He arrested the survivors, executing them shortly afterward. Now, without having to fear a coup, Mahmud pursued military and social reforms that, although modernizing the empire, did not stop its decline.