Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)

The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was a political organization in the late Ottoman Empire that emerged in the early 20th century. It started as a secret society advocating for reform but later became a dominant political party. The CUP played a key role in modernizing the empire’s government and was influential during the Balkan Wars and World War I. Ultimately, it aimed to strengthen and preserve the empire through various reforms, but its leadership and policies also contributed to internal conflicts and ethnic tensions. The CUP's influence declined after the empire’s collapse and the Turkish Republic's establishment.