Content note: Celebratory 1908 newspaper sheet that labels the former Hamidian informer network a 'hideous sore' and 'mouchards'; includes later handwritten marginalia 'not true'. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Le Progrès de Salonique, supplement 'La fete Nationale' (Salonica, 25 July 1908)
One-sheet supplement celebrating the first days of the restored constitution in Salonica. Headlines announce amnesty, 'no more informers' and an 'enthusiastic reception' for Enver Bey; the lead article calls the old secret-police corps 'une plaie hideuse', and the crowd reports are built from cries of 'Vive la Liberté! Vive la Patrie! Vive la Nation!'.
- Date
- July 25, 1908
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Le Progrès de Salonique (French-language newspaper of Ottoman Salonica)
- Country
- Ottoman Empire
- Medium
- Newspaper pages
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Ottoman Empire
- Leader
- Abdul Hamid II
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Commemorate
- Techniques
- Name-callingGlittering generalities
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (Ottoman Empire, published 1908; Commons: Public domain)
Le Progrès de Salonique, Salonica, 25 July 1908, supplement 'La fete Nationale'; scan via Wikimedia Commons (credit 'Self-scanned').
Text on the object
Le Progrès de Salonique SUPPLEMENT 10 PARAS La fete Nationale Réjouissances publiques — Manifestations touchantes et grandioses LES CONDAMNÉS POLITIQUES AMNISTIÉS — PLUS DE MOUCHARDS! ARRIVÉE D'ENVER BEY — RÉCEPTION ENTHOUSIASTE Samedi 25 Juillet 1908 LA RÉACTION est-elle à craindre ? C'est la question que beaucoup de nos concitoyens se posent devant la réalité d'un succès inattendu. Terrorisés pendant plusieurs lustres par un régime de servitude et de persécution nos bons concitoyens se demandent, avec raison, si la beauté de la situation actuelle, si les bienfaits de cette liberté si chèrement conquise sera assez stable, pour permettre au peuple Ottoman de conserver indéfiniment les droits et prérogatives qu'il vient d'acquérir. [...] Non, mon cher, la Réaction est impossible. Ascher Salem LES ESPIONS Depuis plus de trente ans, une plaie hideuse rongeait la Turquie, le corps des espions de plus en plus nombreux, surveillant avec une vigilance néfaste tous les propos, toutes les conversations, tous les mouvements de ceux qui en Tur[...] [...] Le corps des espions inspirait au peuple un sentiment de terreur si grand que malgré ses méfaits sans nombre personne n'osait en parler autrement qu'à voix basse [...] Une dépêche officielle fut lue hier soir dans la «Place de la Liberté», annonçant la dissolution du corps des espions et l'amnistie de tous les criminels politiques. LA JOURNÉE D'HIER Salonique a célébré dignement le premier jour de la Fête Nationale. Le peuple turc, libre enfin, conscient de ses droits, a tenu à donner à cette fête tout l'éclat d'une manifestation aussi grandiose que spontanée. [...] la joie délirante se répandait en cris, de Vive la Nation! Vive la Patrie! Vive l'Armée! [...] Enver bey acclamé [...] une explosion d'enthousiasme souleva les poitrines et l'air retentit à nouveau des cris de Vive la Liberté! Vive la Patrie! Vive la Nation! [...] [right-hand columns, headings only:] ALLOCUTION D'ENVER BEY / Amnistie générale des condamnés politiques / Suppression des mouchards / Contre l'espionnage [right margin, in later handwriting:] not true
Le Progrès de Salonique SUPPLEMENT 10 PARAS The National Festival Public rejoicings — Touching and grandiose demonstrations THE POLITICAL CONVICTS AMNESTIED — NO MORE INFORMERS! ARRIVAL OF ENVER BEY — ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION Saturday 25 July 1908 IS THE REACTION TO BE FEARED? It is the question that many of our fellow citizens are asking themselves in the face of the reality of an unexpected success. Terrorised for several lustra by a regime of servitude and persecution, our good fellow citizens ask themselves, with reason, whether the beauty of the present situation, whether the benefits of this liberty so dearly won will be stable enough to allow the Ottoman people to keep indefinitely the rights and prerogatives it has just acquired. [...] No, my dear fellow, the Reaction is impossible. Ascher Salem THE SPIES For more than thirty years a hideous sore had been gnawing at Turkey: the corps of spies, ever more numerous, watching with baleful vigilance all the remarks, all the conversations, all the movements of those who in Tur[key] [...] [...] The corps of spies inspired in the people a feeling of terror so great that, despite its countless misdeeds, no one dared speak of it other than in a low voice [...] An official dispatch was read yesterday evening in the 'Place de la Liberté', announcing the dissolution of the corps of spies and the amnesty of all political criminals. YESTERDAY'S DAY Salonica worthily celebrated the first day of the National Festival. The Turkish people, free at last, conscious of its rights, wished to give this festival all the brilliance of a demonstration as grandiose as it was spontaneous. [...] the delirious joy spread in cries of Long live the Nation! Long live the Fatherland! Long live the Army! [...] Enver bey acclaimed [...] an explosion of enthusiasm lifted the chests and the air rang out anew with cries of Long live Liberty! Long live the Fatherland! Long live the Nation! [...] [right-hand columns, headings only:] ADDRESS OF ENVER BEY / General amnesty of political convicts / Suppression of the informers / Against espionage [right margin, in later handwriting:] not true
Selected lines only; body columns continue beyond the quoted passages and are marked [...]. Spelling and capitalisation follow the print ('La fete Nationale' without accent). The two words 'not true' in the right margin are later handwriting, not print.
