Abstract:

Having achieved regime shift and enabled the Constitution to be declared again, one of the first actions of Committee of Union and Progress (İTC) was to strive for cleaning up the staff of Abdul Hamid IInd period. Senior political and bureaucratic staff of the state had been involved in bribery and corruption, so the cleanup process starting from replacing those who had spied and proceeding to civil servants and soldiers of lower ranks aimed to do away with the remnants of the old regime. Severances of 1908 and 1909 were carried out in all offices and departments both in the capital and in the provinces; they were even extended to embassies, namely, foreign representatives. Severances of the trained and experienced staff without a new order had been brought to the bureaucratic structure would cause confusion and chaos before long. Like other offices, Foreign Office was also affected by the severances with major changes occurring both in the centre and in embassies and consulates. Having been stalked abroad by the spies of Abdul Hamid IInd, İTC staff started severances in Foreign Office from these spies and did away with the spying community in the embassies. Not stopping with the cleaning up of the spies, İTC proceeded with a significant reform in the structure of the foreign office abroad; many embassy positions were liquidated in the name of austerity. Besides, those in Foreign Office close to Abdul Hamid were primarily targeted and embassy positions in certain significant centres were decreased and envoys in charge were dismissed. These reforms in embassies upon the request of the İTC apparently observed the international power balances. However, the effects of the severances should also be searched in the foreign political developments in the later years.

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