Reproaching Hüseyin (iştirakçi) Hilmi: an Ottoman socialist in early 20th century

Official URL: http://192.168.1.20/record=b1295896 (Table of Contents)

This thesis endeavors to reproach an early twentieth century political figure, a socialist: Hüseyin (İştirakçi) Hilmi. In doing so it also aims to raise critical questions about how history of Ottoman socialism is perceived and briefly addresses the problems of it. Hüseyin Hilmi was an important socialist in the Ottoman political life, he had central roles in two Ottoman socialist parties (Ottoman Socialist Party and Turkish Socialist Party) as their head, and he had been the publisher of several socialist journals and newspapers among which İştirak and İdrak are the most important. He had been a leader in before several workers' strikes; he paid a visit to his French brothers to improve socialist international solidarity. Finally he was assassinated due to his increasing political influence in Mütareke years. However, he was almost always considered as unimportant and naïve. Hilmi was a "normal" socialist when his cotemporaries and the history of socialism in general are considered. This thesis tried to demonstrate that a critical reading of the history writing about Hüseyin Hilmi could help to normalize both narratives about who he was and the history writing of Ottoman socialism as well. That is to say Hüseyin Hilmi was as normal a socialist as his contemporizes in the Empire or Europe were. The fact that he was considered otherwise is due to a set of prejudices that consider Ottoman history a sui generis and incomparable phenomenon. Throughout the thesis I've tried to demonstrate that prejudices that distort how we understand Hüseyin Hilmi, weather due to modernist perspective, Orientalism, dominance of Marxism or methodological nationalism are also stopping us to understand history of Ottoman socialism completely and coherently.