This article introduces a bottom-up perspective to the history of the
Revolution of 1908 in the Ottoman Empire by focusing on the experiences of
workers in the Imperial Naval Arsenal (Tersane-i Amire) in Istanbul. Drawing
mainly on primary documents, the article explores, from a class-formation perspective,
the struggles and relations of Arsenal workers from the second half of the
nineteenth century until the revolution. The Arsenal workers’ involvement in the
revolution was rooted in their class solidarity, which was revealed in a number of
ways throughout this period. The workers’ immediate embrace of the revolution
was spurred by their radicalization against the state; such radicalization stemmed
from the state’s failure to solve the workers’ persistent economic problems, and its
attempts to discharge them and replace them with military labor. The case of the
Arsenal workers thus points to the role of working-class discontent in the history
of the revolution, a dimension that has thus far been only minimally addressed in
Ottoman historiography.