The CUP, which always greatly admired Japan for modernising itself after the so-called Meiji Restoration of 1867-68, were much impressed by Japan's victory over Russia in 1905, and after the Russian-Japanese war, the CUP was obsessed with the idea of copying the Japanese.
During the early years of the 20th century, and especially from 1906 onwards, the CUP had enjoyed great success in recruiting army officers, especially from the Third Army based in Macedonia.