İttihadism was a prominent Nationalist ideology in the Ottoman Empire, that came about after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908. Whilst the Revolution resulted in Educution reform, the Secularization of Ottoman society and the expansion of women's rights, it also led to the rise of Turkish Nationalism, that culminated in the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1917. It was the official ideology of the Committee of Union and Progress.
Beliefs
Nationalism
The leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was always Nationalist, but they didn't stress it until the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, so not to worry the non-Turkish population of the Ottoman Empire. A big problem for the CUP was that the majority of Turks inhabiting the Ottoman Empire didn't see themselves as Turkish, but as Sunni Muslims who spoke the Turkish Language. To overcome this the CUP planned to revolutionise Turkish society to make the Turks aware of their Turkish identity.
Scientocracy
The CUP believed that the reason why the western world had became so successful in spreading their culture and beliefs around the world was their scientific advancement. The CUP wanted to form a "Cult of Science" and they were greatly influenced by Auguste Comte and Gustave Le Bon. The Unionists were strong believers in country's being ruled by a group of Scientists. The main problem preventing this from happening was the fact that the Ottoman Empire was a third world country and that the majority of the Muslim population were illiterate, therefore the population didn't know much about science. The CUP were obsessed with science and many of their leaders were fascinated by chemistry. The Unionists believed that they were "societal doctors" who would apply modern scientific methods to solve all social problems. The CUP saw themselves as the Scientocrats who would save the empire with science.
