Turkish pasha, born at Bagdad, and from early youth showed marked qualities of intellect and personality. He received his military training at the military college in Constantinople, 1875–80, and after a very brief period of service with the troops was given an appointment on the general staff. Von der Goltz, who at that time was reorganizing the Turkish army, thought very highly of the young Şevket, and it was through his agency that the latter was sent to Germany to manage the re-equipment of the Turkish army. As a result he remained from 1884 to 1894 in the small arms factory of Mauser Bros., at Oberndorf on the Neckar. He also studied armament problems in France for a short time, and in 1894, as the reward of his labours, was made inspector of military arsenals in Constantinople. From 1901 to 1903 he was military governor of the Hejaz, in Arabia, then in what amounted to a state of war. He next went in a like capacity to Kossovo (Uskub), and there came in contact with the Young Turk movement, which had its headquarters in Salonika. In 1908. Abdul Hamid averted the break-up of the old régime by summoning a National Assembly. This state of things, however, did not last long. In the spring of 1909 the Old and Young Turks were struggling for supremacy. A powerful Old Turk counter-revolution was prepared, but, in mid-April, the III. Army Corps, under Hussein Husni Pasha, marched from Salonika against Constantinople. At San Stefano Mahmud Şevket took over the command, and, after heavy fighting, forced his way on April 4th into Constantinople. Impressed by his victory the National Assembly no longer dared to oppose the will of the Young Turks, and on April 26th voted the deposition of Abdul Hamid. Mahmud Şevket was the hero of the day. But he did not care for politics, which he considered had been the ruin of the Turkish corps of officers, and preferred to confine his activities to purely military matters. The next few years afforded him plenty of opportunities. In 1910 and 1911 he put down a revolt of the Malissors with great energy, and in 1912 fought against the rebels in Albania. In the summer of 1912 he became Minister of War, and in January 1913 succeeded Kiamil as Grand Vizier. He took a very active part in army reforms, but he came into conflict with the Union Libérale, which took its orders from Sherif Pasha in Paris, and he was murdered by one of its members on the 11th of June 1913.
