Of all the non-Turkish ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire, the Arabs were the sultan’s least troublesome during the nineteenth century. Attached to the Ottoman state through deeply ingrained habits of loyalty and the perception of the sultan/caliph as protector of the Islamic community, or umma, the Arabs, unlike the Balkan Christians, Kurds, and Armenians, experienced no surge of nationalism and made no demands for independence or greater autonomy. This changed in the years directly preceding the outbreak of World War I, when Arab nationalism suddenly intensified. It gained strength during the Arab revolt against the Ottomans in World War I and has continued to be a significant part of the region’s politics to the present day.Although Arab nationalism became a political force only on the eve of World War I, its roots can be traced back to the nineteenth century, when publications of Arabic language printing houses and the establishment of schools and universities in major Arab cities under the auspices of French Jesuit and American Protestant missionaries sparked renewed interest in Arab history and literature. These same missionary schools also introduced Arab students to Western science and Western ideas of constitutionalism and liberalism. Continued Ottoman misrule and military losses in the Balkans also encouraged the growth of Arab consciousness. The Ottoman Empire, some suggested, was no longer capable of defending the interests of Islam, and a few went further to suggest that the Islamic community would continue to decline until its founders and natural leaders, the Arabs, regained control.
Arab discontent intensified after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908. Although many Arabs had supported the Young Turks’ political agenda before the revolution, they turned against the new regime after it replaced Arab officials with Turks, stripped many old Arab families of their local authority, mandated the use of Turkish throughout the empire, and encouraged the further secularization of education and the law. Arab political organizations formed in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, and Aleppo, with some advocating greater Arab autonomy within the empire, and others demanding Arab independence.
Independence clearly was the goal of the author or authors of the “announcement” to the Arabs that I would like you to read (you can read it by clicking here), which appeared in Cairo in the summer of 1914. It may have been written by a supporter of Major Aziz Ali-al-Misri, a decorated Arab officer in the Ottoman Army and founder of the Covenant, an organization of Arab officers dedicated to Arab independence. Arrested and condemned to death by Ottoman officials in early 1914, he was released later in the year and allowed to go to Cairo as a result of foreign pressure and public outcry among the Arabs.
After reading the document, I would like you to consider and discuss the following: The author’s nationalism is directed against both the Turks and the West. What, specifically, are his views of each? Does he have a deeper aversion for the Turks or for the Western nations? Why? In the view of the author, what lessons can the Arabs learn from the Armenians? How does the author define “Arab?” What role does religion play in connection with the author’s nationalism? How committed is he to Islam? What are the author’s goals for the Arab people? How does he believe these goals can be attained? Your thoughts…
16 comments:
i do see good in the thinking of arab nationalism. in the document, the author spoke of christians and jews combining with arabs to kick out the europeans: "And O ye Christian and Jewish Arabs, combine
with your brethren the Muslim Arabs, and
do not follow in the footsteps of him who says to
you". i like what i saw. i do think that the ottomans were a terrible empire in the sense of its governing. they ignored the west and they paid for it, and now others within the empire are questioing their methods of control.
First of all, i have to say that he was pretty harsh, a good speaker!
one humungo thing i noticed was that the narrarator talks not only about arab muslims uniting but the christians, jews, and muslims for their state!! wow!! there is actually something on unity in those three religions..that is some totally serious nationalism.
the narrarator talks about the turks as not brothers evn if they are muslim...its kind of like german unity(even if they wer two different religions they were both german so they stuck togethr)...they aren't brothers because they are commiting atrocities on the arabs even if they are of the same religion.
he talks about the Europeans like they truly are..they recognize them for who they are!!
i liked reading this, it just seemed so interesting comparing it to european nationalism..
The Nationalism here is sparked by the Turks forcefully promoting their language and tradions over the Arabs... and that really angers the Arabs. In this document, the Arab nation and this author seems very hostile to the turks, but the also dislike the Christian Westerners too. It mentions that not only the Turks are the enemies of the Islamic nation, but the Westerners are "out to destroy them" too. This is interesting because it is the first nationalistic movement in the Arab world and the are going against such huge and influentail rulars. The author also notices the more respect and tolerance of the Armanians because they already are independent. They have parlementary representation, which the arabs think that is the reason that they have the honor and respect of the Turks. The Arabs want that respect from the Turks, and don't want to be forced into new traditons, languages and customs. It seems that the author is very connected to religion and beleives that all the Turks and Westerners religion is to accuse and totally control/over throw the Arab world! He apparently wants the arabs to have representation in the government and that means not having languages of the Turks pushed on them and spreading Islam!
ok mr. prill so let me get this straight, we r having just 1 big reading quiz on friday for this weej right?
yep, over text and documents... i hope everyone is reading these...
Yeesh, this guy has anger issues. Talk about over exagerating. "Who built a tower composed of the heads of eighty thousand arabs in Aleppo!" yeesh, chill out! The author doesn't like the fact aht the turks are imposing their languages on the arab ppl, saying that the ARabic language is the basis for Islam because that is what the Quran is written in. I had trouble finding his views on the west. He says that the Armenians have a large place in the turkish government, which was probably anotehr exageration, and that the arabs should fight for these same rights. Once again he quickly goes back to saying how the turks are supressing the arabs. I was surprised when the author mentioned Christians and Jews. He says that they are all followers of God and that they should help each otehr wherever there is a tyrranical government.
I didn't think this guy was a very good speaker. I picture him standing over a crowd screaming at everyone. He basically says the same thing over and over again, "Kill the turks!"
He is calling Arabs to arms. He's uniting them and calling them and provoking their sense of loyalty to their religion.
He really doesn't like the young turks, saying that they're trying to kill other cultures.
He wants their country to be united and under Arab rule, using their own language and government based on their religion.
This document is saying that since the Turks have forced their language, culture, religion, etc down their throats they are now ready to rebel against these people! They go to the lengths of even uniting together with Jews and Christians in order to kick these people out!!
This document is used to stands up against the Turks after having their culture, language, etc. down the Arabs throats for so long. They even go to the lengths to unite the Jews and Christans with them in order to kick these people out of the land!
The author keeps talking about the enemies of Islam and stuff and he mentions it a lot, so he must be pretty dedicated to it. He really understood that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism aren't that different and that they CAN come together, but he's still dedicated to Islam.
He says that the Armenians become independent, so maybe they can learn from them how to achieve a successful rebellion against the Turks?
I think this was good for the Ottoman empire as a whole. The people in power were not arabs they were turks and as long as the turks were in power with the janassaries running the military nothing was going to get done and the Ottomans would always be behind the West. So therefore I think that the Arabs of the Ottoman Empire deserved a right to nationalism i just which they would have done more to try and gain independence or take down istanbul. However, the British likely would not have let this happen like the attempt from the Egyptians.
they are tired of being to conform to other culture. they are ready to kick the Young Turks out. it is time for them to have their traditions back. like Lora said...they are kinda crazy! they even wanna go to the extent to unite the christians and jews to kick them out of their lands.
the arabs all seem to come together here. Eeven though theyre different religions and ebverything like som are jews som are christian and som a muslim, they all want to come together and show nationalism. They also have a common enemy: the Turks. But although they are of different religions, they have a common belief. They all believe in God, and that they are all God's children and don't deserve the harsh treatment that they receive.
He is humiliated by the Arabs because they give up without protest against foreign countries. He states that all religions of the area, including muslims, christians, and jews, should stand together for the interest of their country. Dont view each other as different because they are all God's creation and worhship the same God. He is worried that if the Arabian culture is dead, then the traditions of the Arabs and the Quran will die together as a whole. The Turks have been forcing their language into the Arabian country and even their prayers. they must not allow them too take over their county and they must stand together.
It seems heavily focuse on their religion. Why is that?
He sees both the West and the Turks to be Arab-haters. "...you have become a plaything in the
hand of him who has no religion but to kill the Arabs and forcibly to seize their possessions?" Obviously using a religious and nationalist appeal in propaganda, especially with the comment "...who built a tower composed of the heads of eighty thousand Arabs in Aleppo." He uses very strong, very offensive language to attack the Turks especially who have recently taken contorl of the Ottomans and make the mistake of shoving Turkish people on other cultures, such as Slavs and Arabs, this document is a response by an Arab Nationalist to strike back at the Turks.
He seems to dislike Westerners more, cause even though the Turks are directly mistreating them, they are Muslim and both are enemies of Western rule, nd he believes they will unite one day again to build a strong nation.
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