quickly followed. On May 30, 1876, a group of leading Ottoman politicians including Midhat Pasha staged a coup d’état and deposed Sultan Abdülaziz. Prince Murad, who was close with the Young Ottomans, was installed to the throne as Sultan Murad V. Murad had promised to institute the constitution, but he began to listen to his Grand Vizier Rüşdi Pasha, who advocated a cautious approach to reform. After the alleged suicide of Sultan Abdülaziz, Sultan Murad’s mental state began to rapidly decline and he became an alcoholic. "The suicide of his uncle and the murder of several members of his cabinet seem to have led to a severe nervous breakdown." As a result, after only three months on the throne, Murad was declared unfit to rule and was replaced by his younger brother, Hamit Efendi, who ascended to the throne on September 1, 1876 as Sultan Abdul Hamid II. First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire The First Constitutional Era began on December 23, 1876, when Sultan Abdul Hamid II appointed Midhat Pasha as Grand Vizier and promulgated the Ottoman constitution of 1876, although his motives for doing so are suspect as they seemed to be aimed at appeasing Europeans who were in Istanbul for a conference. Indeed, Abdul Hamid II "was distrusted by both the Porte and by intellectuals. The ministers knew that he was deceitful and cunning, and they suspected that his rule would mean a return to imperial control over the affairs of the state." The first Ottoman parliament, the General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire, convened from March 19, 1877 to June 28, 1877 and only convened once more before being prorogued by Abdul Hamid II, ironically using his constitutional right to do so on February 13, 1878. He also dismissed Midhat Pasha and banished him from the empire, effectively ending the first constitutional era and marking a return to centralization of power under the Sultan. Ideology The Young Ottomans were not united by a single ideology and their views varied greatly within their own group. Yet they were brought together by a few central shared ideas and a common cause. Constitutionalism The Young Ottomans were brought together by their shared dislike of the bureaucratic and appeasing form that the government had taken on with the advent of the Tanzimat reforms. "Young Ottomans strongly criticized the Tanzimat as a capitulation to European dictates", which they believed was