MEHMED V

born Nov. 2, 1844, Constantinople died July 3, 1918, Constantinople original name Mehmed Resad Ottoman sultan from 1909 to 1918, whose reign was marked by the absolute rule of the Committee of Union and Progress and by Turkey's defeat in World War I. Having lived in seclusion most of his life, Mehmed Resad became sultan after his brother Abdlhamid II was forced to abdicate. A kind and gentle man, educated in traditional Islamic subjects and Persian literature, he showed a keen interest in Ottoman and Islamic history; nevertheless, he lacked the ability to govern. Attempting to rule as a constitutional monarch, he surrendered all authority to the Committee of Union and Progress, the liberalnationalist organization of the Young Turk movement. On the advice of the committee, the Sultan went on a goodwill tour of Thrace and Albania (1911). In the two Balkan Wars during 191213, however, the Ottomans lost almost all their European possessions, and, in the war with Italy (191112), Tripoli was lost. Although Mehmed was opposed, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and, as caliph, he declared holy war and invited all Muslims, especially those under the rule of the Allies, to rally to the support of Ottomans. By the time of Mehmed's death, most of the empire had fallen to the Allies, and six months later Constantinople was under military occupation.