Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 602 The Revival of the Brotherhood

It wasn't just farmers like Wahid who were vehemently criticizing the state of the world; a group of people in Bursa were also vehemently criticizing the government, and their tone was even more intense.

"Damn it, what is Ali Pasha doing? We need them to maintain stability in the country right now, but so much time has passed and there's not a single sign of them."

Bayar, the propaganda minister of the Revival Brotherhood, was extremely dissatisfied with the actions of the current Ottoman government, and he loudly cursed during the gathering.

"Take it easy. Think about it from another angle. At least this way we can play a more effective role when facing the people. Actually, it's not just us; everyone else is dissatisfied with the Grand Vizier."

The speaker was the president of the Brotherhood of Revival. He noticed that Bayar's insults were getting a bit too extreme and tried to dissuade him.

The Brotherhood for the Restoration is a relatively recent social organization that initially operated in Cyprus, Crete, and the Anatolian interior. Ostensibly, it operates under the banner of restoring the glory of the Ottoman Empire, which resonates strongly with disillusioned intellectuals, officers who feel the empire is declining, and people in remote areas who feel neglected by the central government.

At the same time, the Brotherhood also attracted many members of the disbanded Bhaktash Order, which was forced to disband after the Lucky Events but still retained considerable influence among the people. The Brotherhood absorbed some of their strength, and in return, members of the Bhaktash Order supported the Brotherhood's platform.

The Brotherhood's platform, to put it nicely, is to leverage the economic development of neighboring Iran to protect the Ottoman Empire and reform its chaotic economic situation; to put it bluntly, it's about being Iran's lackey and using Iran's influence to improve its own predicament.

This was also determined by the Ottoman diplomatic environment; to the north lay Russia, a country that could threaten their very existence at any moment. Russia was an old acquaintance, having been thoroughly familiar with the nine Russo-Turkish Wars.

Russia sought to control the Bosphorus Strait, the vital passage from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, through the Balkans, thus securing its long-desired only outlet to the sea in the southwest. Therefore, it gloated over the deteriorating situation in the Ottoman Empire and actively intervened, launching the war under the pretext of "saving Christians under Ottoman oppression" and "protecting Slavic brothers."

To the west lies Austria, a power that could threaten its very existence at any moment, and Serbia, which is relying on Russia for leverage. Austria wants Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia wants a Greater Serbia, not to mention the Bulgarians, who are also eager to make their move.

To the south lies its old rival Greece, and across the Mediterranean is Egypt. Egypt is already struggling to survive, so all that's left is Iran to rely on.

Furthermore, the Ottoman Empire and Iran maintained very close economic ties, with most of the industrial goods the Ottoman Empire imported coming from Iran. It had also become a trend for Ottomans to work in Iran, and many had a direct experience of Iran's strength. This led them to praise Iran's development upon returning home, and their spontaneous promotion fostered goodwill towards Iran among the local population.

The public opinion was something that even the Ottoman upper and middle classes couldn't ignore. Moreover, their higher education allowed them to draw a stark contrast between the two countries' past development. After all, thirty years prior, the gap between the two nations was quite significant. The Ottomans were far ahead of Iran in every aspect—population, economy, and military. However, by the time of the Crimean War, Iran's rapid development had left the Ottomans far behind. The subsequent Ottoman-Iranian War severely weakened Iran, further widening the gap between the two countries. The Ottomans could only watch helplessly as their neighbor devoured a wealth of spoils, while they themselves had to cut their losses.

Therefore, many people are reflecting on the importance of a wise monarch to a nation. This is especially true for those dissatisfied with the current state of the Ottoman Empire, who believe that numerous coups have only exacerbated its decline. They argue that the entire Ottoman royal family is incapable of fulfilling the responsibilities of a monarch. So why couldn't they choose a different monarch?

The emergence of such voices reflects the public's dissatisfaction with the current Ottoman royal family and government. Comparisons are inevitable; look at how wise the monarchs of neighboring countries are, and then look at the performance of your own monarch—no wonder such voices have arisen.

The current Sultan Abdulaziz has completely lost the ambition he had when he first came to power, and has begun to turn to other hobbies.

He had a very strange hobby: wrestling with bears. He would keep bears in the palace and wrestle with them to demonstrate his strength, which terrified his ministers and foreign envoys.

Besides wrestling bears, he also collected all sorts of exotic animals and opened a private zoo in the palace. His love for animals reached an absurd level; he even held an extremely lavish funeral for his beloved horses, complete with gold horseshoes.

Furthermore, he had an almost childlike obsession with the navy. He unrealistically demanded that the Ottoman navy become the third largest in the world, after Britain and France. Under his orders, the empire spent huge sums of money ordering a large number of state-of-the-art ships from Britain. However, these expensive "toys" mostly lacked the necessary ammunition, well-trained sailors, and maintenance costs. Many warships never truly achieved combat readiness and were merely moored in the Golden Horn as a source of pride for him.

Most absurdly, he had previously visited Europe, but that trip turned into a disastrous shopping spree. Obsessed with the luxury he saw in Paris and London, he began to imitate it frantically upon returning home. He ordered the construction of several lavish palaces comparable to Versailles' Dolmabahçe Palace, with interiors decorated to the extreme, featuring crystal staircases, gold ornaments, and the world's largest Bohemian crystal chandelier (weighing 4.5 tons), nearly emptying the national treasury.

Compared to this, the appointment and dismissal of ministers—who might be generously rewarded in the morning and dismissed or even exiled in the afternoon for a trivial matter—featured a situation where the appointment and dismissal of high-ranking officials were treated like child's play, leading to extremely low government efficiency and political instability. These other issues seemed insignificant. And when his Grand Vizier warned him that the country was heading towards financial ruin, his response was reportedly: "What do I care about the country's financial problems?"

While this attitude helps him extricate himself from political disputes, it has disappointed many. As the saying goes, comparisons are always detrimental.

Iran now has a constitution with a parliament, government, and courts, while the Ottoman Empire had none. Furthermore, it severely suppressed these systems. However, years of disappointment coupled with the economic crisis led to the emergence of numerous groups like the Brotherhood. Of course, sponsorship from other countries was also indispensable.

(End of this chapter)