ABSTRACT
THE YOUNG OTTOMANS’ constitutional ideas were brought to the test by the events leading to the promulgation of the Constitution of 1876. As the leading exponent of constitutionalism, Namık Kemal played an important role in the making of the Constitution. But the man who led the movement to the stage of implementation was an extraordinarily successful governor of non-Muslim and non-Turkish provinces, Midhat Paşa (1822–84). On 30 May 1876 Midhat succeeded in having Abdül-Aziz deposed and, as President of the Council of State under the new ruler Murad V, initiated the formal discussion for a constitutional regime.
