ve alliance, to preserve itself from destruction; and, to
do this, it must acquire the technique of Western progress and learn the
secrets of European power."

Such, in brief, are the teachings of Djemal-ed-Din, propagated with
eloquence and authority for many years. Given the state of mingled fear
and hatred of Western encroachment that was steadily spreading
throughout the Moslem world, it is easy to see how great Djemal's
influence must have been. And of course Djemal was not alone in his
preaching. Other influential Moslems were agitating along much the same
lines as early as the middle of the nineteenth century. One of these
pioneers was the Turkish notable Aali Pasha, who was said to remark:
"What we want is rather an increase of fanaticism than a diminution of
it."[43] Arminius Vambery, the eminent Hungarian Oriental scholar,
states that shortly after the Crimean War he was present at a militant
Pan-Islamic gathering, attended by emissaries from far parts of the
Moslem world, held at Aali Pasha's palace.[44]

Such were the foundations upon which Sultan Abdul Hamid built his
ambitious Pan-Islamic structure. Abdul Hamid is one of the strangest
personalities of modern times. A man of unusual intelligence, his mind
was yet warped by strange twists which went to the verge of insanity.
Nursing ambitious, grandiose projects, he tried to carry them out by
dark and tortuous methods which, though often cleverly Macchiavellian,
were sometimes absurdly puerile. An autocrat by nature, he strove to
keep the smallest decisions dependent on his arbitrary will, albeit he
was frequently guided by clever sycophants who knew how to play upon his
superstitions and his prejudices.

Abdul Hamid ascended the throne in 1876 under very difficult
circumstances. The country was on the verge of a disastrous Russian war,
while the government was in the hands of statesmen who were endeavouring
to transform Turkey into a modern state and who had introduced all sorts
of Western political innovations, including a parliament. Abdul Hamid,
however, soon changed all this. Taking advantage of the confusion which
marked the close of the Russian war, he abolished parliament and made
himself as absolute a despot as any of his ancestors had ever been.
Secure in his autocratic power, Abdul Hamid now began to evolve his own
peculiar policy, which, from the first, had a distinctly Pan-Islamic
trend[45]. Unlike his immediate predecessors, Abdul Hamid deter