Evaluate the impact of the Committee of Union and Progress on the Ottoman Empire.

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the impact of the Committee of Union and Progress on the Ottoman Empire. Candidates may refer to the progressive, reformist, and westernizing impact of the Committee, which dominated after 1908. The reduction of the power of the Sultan may be considered. Further effects include the deepening of the Ottoman–German alliance and participation in the First World War, the Committee playing a key role at Gallipoli (1915) and the Armenian genocide. The Committee was terminated in the trials of 1919–1920. Candidates may refer to the Committee’s legacy as a long-term impact, setting the pattern for the worsening relations with the Greek community and the rise of Ataturk and republican Turkey. Candidates may reach a judgment concerning the relative significance of the various effects they have considered.