 | |
| Author | George Antonius |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | History |
| Published | 1938 (Hamish Hamilton) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 470 pp |
The Arab Awakening is a 1938 book byGeorge Antonius, published in London byHamish Hamilton. It is viewed as the foundational textbook of the history of modernArab nationalism. According toMartin Kramer,The Arab Awakening "became the preferred textbook for successive generations of British and American historians and their students".[1]
It generated an ongoing debate over such issues as the origins of Arab nationalism, the significance of theArab Revolt of 1916, and the machinations behind thepost-World War I political settlement in the Middle East.
Antonius traced Arab nationalism to the reign ofMuhammad Ali Pasha inEgypt. He argued that the Arab nation (which consists of racial and cultural-linguistic elements) was "dormant" for centuries, and that institutions established byProtestantmissionaries and educators from theUnited States had a specific role in the renewal and "awakening" ofArabic as a national language. He saw the role of theAmerican University of Beirut (originally the Syrian Protestant College) as central to this development, although he noted that by the end of the 19th century that role had diminished because the college initiated instruction in English. According to Antonius, American missionaries, educators and institutions played a critical role in the development of Americansoft power during theEdwardian era and afterWorld War I.
By the end of the 19th century, the torch of Arab nationalism had been passed to Arab intellectuals (residing in theregion of Syria and in Europe) and to Arab officers in theOttoman Army that formed asecret society to ultimately promote Arab nationalist interests. These officers proved particularly useful during World War I after the leadership of the movement openly shifted allegiance to support theEntente. Other than tracing the birth of the Arab national movement, Antonius also argues that it wasBritain that dishonoured its prior commitments to the Arabs, and instead pursued its own colonial interests at the expense of what Antonius calls the "true will of the people," namely unity and independence of the would-be Arab state.
The book was only the second time that an authoritative translation of theMcMahon letters had been published. This correspondence between theBritish High Commissioner inEgypt and theSherif of Mecca occurred between October 1915 and January 1916 and was not officially released until the1939 London Conference.[2] Antonius concluded thatSherif Hussein understood these documents to mean that the British government was offering him an independent state if hejoined the British in the war against theOttoman Empire. This state would includePalestine. It was with these assurances that, on June 10, 1916, the Sherif ordered his army toattack the garrison in Mecca.[3]
Isaiah Friedman, A Twice Promised Land? Vol. 1. The British, the Arabs, and Zionism, 1915-1920, New Brunswick, NJ, 2000
