Abd-ul-Hamid II, ahbd'ul ha meed', (1842-1918), thirty-fourth sultan of the Ottoman Empire, son of Abd-ul-Medjid, succeeded to the throne on the deposition of his brother, Murad V. The country at his accession was in a disturbed condition, to which the declaration of war by Russia in 1877 came as a climax. The Turks were defeated, and the Empire might have been completely overthrown, had not the European powers, fearing that Russia would grow too powerful, interfered in the peace negotiations. Turkey did, however, lose all claim to Bosnia, Bulgaria, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Roumania and Servia. The sultan was also obliged to promise a reform in his treatment of his Christian subjects, but these promises he never fulfilled. However, by constantly playing the European nations against one another, he succeeded in warding off their interference. He was notorious for the bloody massacres of Armenians in 1894-96. In 1908 he was compelled by the Young Turks to grant a constitution, and in April, 1909, he was deposed.