As the Russo-Japanese War broke out, the Ottoman Empire was also undergoing a tremendous upheaval. After the Balkan Wars, pressured by forces both within and without, the Sultan's government was compelled to carry out top-down military and political reforms.
These reforms encompassed religious reform, educational reform, military reform, political-system reform, economic reform, and many other areas. In the short term, the Ottoman Empire's reforms were successful.
It rebuilt a modern army and achieved a measure of progress in education and the economy, but its most troublesome ethnic problem remained unsolved for a long time!
Although the Ottoman Empire still had a population of over twenty million, its core ethnic group was far too small. There were now fewer than seven million true Turks!
Clearly, the Sultan's government reforms had failed to account for the interests of the other ethnic groups within the country, much less resolve its internal ethnic conflicts. Ethnic integration was nothing but a dream!
By early 1906, the Sultan's government had preliminarily completed its internal reforms, and its overall national strength had grown. Especially in military affairs, having learned the lessons of defeat in the Balkans, the Sultan's government spared no expense in purchasing advanced weapons from the Germans and training a new-style army.
Yet before these reforms, the Ottoman Empire's principal ethnic groups—the Turks, Arabs, and Kurds—had already fallen behind in the economic sphere.
The country's main commercial activities were dominated by Greeks and Jews. This was not something that could be changed by a single policy!
But after the reforms, many Ottoman regulations included provisions encouraging Turks to develop industry and commerce, while this provision did not apply to other ethnic groups. This left the Greeks and Jews deeply dissatisfied!
Oh, that was all Ferdinand had learned. He had not even had time to carefully