Abdulaziz

Abdulaziz (Ottoman Turkish: عبد العزيز, romanized: ʿAbdü'l-ʿAzîz; Turkish: Abdülaziz; 8 February 1830 – 4 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother Abdulmejid I in 1861.

Abdulaziz's reign began with the Ottoman Empire resurgent following victory over Russia and two decades of Tanzimat reform. By the end of his reign, the Ottoman Navy became the world's third largest fleet in 1875 (after the British and French navies). He was the first Ottoman sultan that traveled to Western Europe, visiting a number of important European capitals including Paris, London, and Vienna in the summer of 1867. However, the empire continued to spiral into debt, and competent ministers like Fuad Pasha and Aali Pasha were dead by the 1870s. In reaction to the Young Ottomans agitating for a constitution, Abdul Aziz promulgated reactionary ministries. In his last years as sultan, famine, economic crisis, diplomatic isolation, and uprisings by Christian minorities culminated into a general international crisis. He was deposed by the Young Ottomans on the grounds of having mismanaged the Ottoman economy on 30 May 1876, and was found dead six days later in mysterious circumstances.