Editing Arab Revolt (section)

== Background ==
{{Further|Second Constitutional Era}}
[[File:علم الثورة العربية الكبرى في متحف صرح الشهيد.jpg|thumb|upright|The flag of the Arab Revolt in the [[Martyrs' Memorial (Amman)|Martyrs' Memorial]], Amman, Jordan.]]
The [[rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire]] dates from at least 1821. [[Arab nationalism]] has its roots in the [[Mashriq]], the Arab lands east of [[Egypt]], particularly in countries of the [[Levant]]. The political orientation of Arab nationalists before [[World War I]] was generally moderate. Their demands were of a reformist nature and generally limited to autonomy, a greater use of [[Arabic]] in education and changes in peacetime [[conscription in the Ottoman Empire]] to allow Arab conscripts local service in the Ottoman army.<ref>Zeine N. Zeine (1973) ''The Emergence of Arab Nationalism'' (3rd ed.). Delmar, New York: Caravan Books Inc. {{ISBN|0882060007}}. pp. 60–61, 83–92.</ref>

The [[Young Turk Revolution]] began on 3 July 1908 and quickly spread throughout the empire. As a result, Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] was forced to announce the restoration of the [[Constitution of the Ottoman Empire|1876 constitution]] and the reconvening of the [[General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman parliament]]. The period is known as the [[Second Constitutional Era]]. In the 1908 elections, the Young Turks' [[Committee of Union and Progress]] (CUP) managed to gain the upper hand against the [[Freedom and Accord Party|Liberal Union]], led by [[Sultanzade Sabahaddin]]. The new parliament had 142 [[Turkish people|Turks]], 60 [[Arabs]], 25 [[Albanians]], 23 [[Greeks]], 12 [[Armenians]] (including four [[Dashnaks]] and two [[Social Democrat Hunchakian Party|Hunchaks]]), five [[Jews]], four [[Bulgarians]], three [[Serbs]] and one [[Vlachs|Vlach]].

The CUP now gave more emphasis to centralisation and a modernisation.<ref>Ahmad, Feroz. The Young Turks: The Committee of Union and Progress in Turkish Politics, 1908-1914. Clarendon Press, 1969. {{ISBN|978-0198214755}}</ref> It preached a message that was a mixture of [[pan-Islamism]], [[Ottomanism]], and [[pan-Turkism]], which was adjusted as the conditions warranted. At heart, the CUP were Turkish nationalists who wanted to see the Turks as the dominant group within the Ottoman Empire, which antagonised Arab leaders and prompted them to think in similarly nationalistic terms.<ref>Zeine, pp. 79–82.</ref>

Arab members of the parliament supported the [[31 March Incident|countercoup of 1909]], which aimed to dismantle the constitutional system and to restore the absolute monarchy of Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]]. The dethroned sultan attempted to restore the [[Ottoman Caliphate]] by putting an end to the [[secularity|secular policies]] of the Young Turks. He was driven away to exile in Selanik by the [[31 March Incident]], in which the Young Turks defeated the countercoup. He was eventually replaced by his brother [[Mehmed V]].<ref>Zürcher, Erik Jan. ''Turkey: A Modern History''. I.B. Tauris, 1993. {{ISBN|978-1-86064-958-5}}.</ref>

In 1913, intellectuals and politicians from the Mashriq met in Paris at the [[Arab Congress of 1913|First Arab Congress]]. They produced a set of demands for greater autonomy and equality within the Ottoman Empire, including for elementary and secondary education in Arab lands to be delivered in Arabic, for peacetime Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army to serve near their home region and for at least three Arab ministers in the Ottoman cabinet.<ref>Zeine, pp. 91–93.</ref>