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From Pan-Ottomanism to Pan-Sharqism: The Eastern Scene in Berlin, 1919-1924
Abstract
This paper examines the origins of pan-Sharqism (pan-Easternism) as adopted and promoted by members and activists affiliated with the Egyptian organization known as al-Hizb al-Watani (The National Party) between 1919 to 1924. A great deal of scholarly interest in the pan-Sharqism, most studies analyze these networks of ideas as a response to the colonialism and Western hegemony. But, until recently no real attempt has been made to examine connections between their pan-Ottomanism activities, in the late Ottoman period and the formulation of pan-Sharqism idea, in the post Ottoman period. The main argument of this paper is that the various expressions of Pan-Ottomanism which characterized members of al-Hizb al-Watani embraced were deeply connected to their Pan Eastern visions. Following after al-Hizb al-Watani's member, who stayed in Berlin between 1919 to 1924, such as ‘Abd Al-Aziz Jawish (1872-1929), 'Aziz 'Ali al-Misri (1879-1965), and Mansur Rif'at (1883-1926) the paper sketches the Eastern, pan-Ottoman and pan-Islamic scene in Berlin, and the city's many contributions to the formulations of pan- Sharqism idea. I will examine how and why people who supported in the Ottoman Empire in Ottoman Egypt adopted pan-Sharqism in the post Ottoman period. Analyzing the activities of al-Hizb al-Watani's members in the Eastern scene in Berlin, I suggest, sheds light on the continuities between the Ottoman and post Ottoman periods and presents pan- Sharqism in its full complexity, namely not only as a response to Western hegemony but also, and more crucially, as an attempt to preserve the imperial framework that disappeared with the end of the First World War as a regional vision, an anticolonial strategy, and an active regional network.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Egypt
Europe
Sub Area
None