The Formation of Arab National Thought in Levant

This thesis studies the process of formation of Arab nationalist ideas in the period from the second half of the 19th century to 1914. According to the theoretical works on nationalism of Miroslav Hroch and Ernest Gellner it examines the causes and influences, as well as the most important milestones of the development of the Arab nation building process. The work traces the origins of Arab nationalism in the evolution of predecessor ideologies such as Islamic modernism, Ottomanism and Arabism, and studies their mutual relations. In addition to that, it conducts the study of the social aspects of early adherents of Arabism and Arab nationalism. The research is based on primary sources of the participant on the Arab national movement as well as on secondary historical works. Keywords Arab Nationalism, National identity, Arabism, Ottomanism, Secularism, Islamic modernis