Intellectual foundations of Arab nationalism

In this study, it will be examined how the idea of Arab Nationalism was shaped and what it contains in its basis. It is possible to evaluate Arab nationalism by dividing it into three periods. The first period covers the period up to the end of World War I. The scope of the study is the first period. The nation-building process in the Arab world has emerged because of some historical events and problems. The origins of the Arab nation, which is an imaginary community and the product of the modern period, are also based on religious and cultural ties. It is like the type of cultural nationalism. The basis for the emergence of Arab nationalism among Muslim and Christian subjects and the desire for a new state are different. The Muslim thinkers of the period sought a solution if the Ottoman Empire entered in the last period. While the transfer of the caliphate authority to the Arabs and the idea of decentralization gained weight among Muslims towards the end of the 19th century, ideas such as the tendency to be an independent state and nation or to appoint protectors from European states developed among the Muslims. For centuries, the Ottoman Empire has been a dominant power in the areas defined as the Middle East, the Balkans and Africa, especially in the Anatolian lands. Its dominance in a wide area enabled the Ottoman society to be composed of various ethnic and religious groups. In this social structure known as the "Millet System", the identity of the religious communities is more important than the ethnic identity besides the Ottoman supra-identity. With the occupation of Egypt by France between 1798-1801, the ideology of nationalism began to spread in the Arab provinces. The reforms of Mehmet Ali Pasha, the development of the commercial relations of the Arab provinces with the Western states and the missionary activities are the beginning of the Arab cultural awakening. The modernization process experienced in the Ottoman Empire, which gradually lost its power in the 19th century, laid the groundwork for the dissolution of the millet system. The heavy land losses experienced in this period and the nationalist movements that started in the Balkans also showed themselves in the Arab provinces over time. By the end of the 19th century, Turks and Arabs were concentrated in the remaining lands. The decisions taken by the Ottoman administration of the period to preserve the limited piece of land, the centralization policies, caused an increase in the unrest that existed in the Arab provinces before. Finally, the onset of the First World War dragged the bilateral relations into a dead end. In this context, the emergence of Arab nationalism, which has emerged as a cultural type of nationalism, and the development of the idea of pan-Arabism will be examined.