The Claims of Greek Patriarchate and Bulgarian Exarchate Related to the 1912 Elections in the Provinces of Thessaloniki and Bitola and Their Demands for the Renewal of The Electoral System

Abstract

Elections, which have become indispensable for the participation of the people in administration in today’s political life, have developed in parallel with the emergence of new forms of government after the French Revolution. The Ottoman State also changed its system of government with the declaration of the First Constitutional Monarchy and experienced its first general elections. The 1912 elections were the second general elections of the Second Constitutional Monarchy Period. The 1912 elections, which are called the shadiest elections in the political history of the Ottoman State, took place under the rule of the Union and Progress and under the tension of the political atmosphere. The Unionists, who did not want to lose power, ensured that the elections were held ahead of time by taking advantage of the loopholes in the laws and used all the means of the state to prevent the opposition from entering the Parliament as much as they could. The elections took place in a harsh environment in Thessaloniki and Bitola, as they did throughout the country. In fact, Macedonia, where both provinces were located, was the place where the Constitutional Monarchy was proclaimed and the center from which the Union and Progress drew its power. However, among the nonMuslims in the region, with whom the Union and Progress had initially established good relations, the opposition against the Union and Progress gradually reached its peak. Therefore, the Union and Progress resorted to various methods to prevent opposition non-Muslims from being elected in Thessaloniki and Bitola. Greeks and Bulgarians made many claims about the elections. This study uses archive documents to address the claims of the Greeks and Bulgarians in the Thessaloniki and Bitola provinces regarding irregularities in the 1912 elections and their demands for a new electoral system.