Sultan during a tumulteous period in Ottoman history, Abdul Hamid II ruled as an autocrat. Initially he promulgated the Ottoman Empire's first constitution, but he also saw multiple setbacks, including uprisings in the Balkan and a war against the Russian Empire. Later in his reign his rule became more autocratic out of paranoia for a coup. Nonetheless, Abdul Hamid modernised the Ottoman Empire's railways, implemented bureacratic reforms and most importantly reformed the education system - the latter crucial to the development of the Young Turks movement.