In the first decades of the new century, the changes discussed above became an integral and accepted part of life for almost everyone living in Palestine. Palestine was already ‘modern’, or at least modernized. A further upheaval was looming, however. Palestine was about to enter the Great War, in which it was a secondary arena, but a bloody one nonetheless. The war was an all-encompassing event, whereas the impact of the political activity before and after would be felt only later.

The period began with the last years of Abdul Hamid's reign, which ended in 1908. He was a reactionary tyrant, who resented many of the reforms introduced by his predecessors after 1839. Some of the reforms were almost lost when Abdul Hamid expelled, executed or simply marginalized the reformers. But he was no conventional reactionary. He transformed the empire, but in his own way. He expanded the railway infrastructure, introduced direct taxation and conscription, and promoted the idea of Ottoman citizenship. Unlike his predecessors, he was concerned about the loyalty of his Arab citizens. By then he was losing the loyalty of many groups within the empire, Greeks, Bulgarians and Armenians, to name a few, and hoped that by presenting himself as a reborn Muslim caliph he would induce the Arabs to remain within his grip. His empire was shrinking at an alarming pace. It had become prey to both European colonial greed and the national aspirations of ethnic and religious groups.