Donation Receipt 1910 to the Committee of Union and Progress - İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti WW1

Donation Receipt to the Committee of Union and Progress (İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti) – 1910

Description:
An authentic Ottoman donation receipt (iane bileti) issued by the Committee of Union and Progress (İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti) the dominant political organization that shaped the final decade of the Ottoman Empire. The receipt, dated 1 Nisan 1326 (14 April 1910), was issued by the Dersaadet (Istanbul) Central Finance Branch of the Committee and records a donation of 124 kuruş made by member no. 7212.

The document bears official stamps and signatures, with a handwritten note on the reverse indicating that the payment was received aboard the Haydar Paşa ferry by a certain Safvet Bey. Measuring from the early constitutional period of the Ottoman Empire, this piece captures a moment when İttihad ve Terakki was consolidating power following the 1908 Young Turk Revolution.

The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), founded in 1889, was instrumental in the restoration of the Ottoman constitution in 1908, and governed the empire until its collapse in 1918. It played a crucial role in modernization, centralization, and wartime administration during World War I. Documents bearing its insignia and financial records are among the most historically significant remnants of late Ottoman political history.

Key Features:

• Type: Donation receipt (İane Makbuzu)
• Organization: İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti (Committee of Union and Progress)
• Branch: Dersaadet (Istanbul) Central Finance Office
• Date: 1 Nisan 1326 (14 April 1910)
• Donor ID: Member no. 7212
• Amount Donated: 124 kuruş
• Reverse Note: Payment acknowledged aboard Haydar Paşa ferry by Safvet Bey
• Language: Ottoman Turkish
• Condition: Stamped and signed; handwritten annotations on reverse
• Historical Context:
  • Issued during the early years of constitutional reform and political transformation under the CUP.
  • Reflects the internal funding and organization of one of the most influential political movements in Ottoman history.
  • An important artifact from the pre–World War I era, linking the CUP’s financial operations to its central leadership in Istanbul.