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INTELLECTUAL BEGINNINGS The first stirrings of a specifically Arab nationalism were in Greater Syria , where in the aftermath of the sectarian disturbances in Mount Lebanon in 1860 Boutros Al-Boustani launched his newspaper ''Nafir Suria''. He called for a non-sectarian patriotism and the separation of state and religion, declaring that "love of the fatherland is faith". Other thinkers, mainly Syrians, followed in his footsteps, and the formation of patriotic secret societies, notably the Beirut Secret Society formed in 1875 which rapidly gained branches in Damascus , Tripoli and Sidon is evidence of an increasingly active proto-nationalist movement. The emigration of numerous Syrian Christian intellectuals to Egypt , where under Muhammad Ali Pasha and his successors they enjoyed greater freedom of expression than at home, was another factor in the spread of nationalist discourse. THE RISE OF ARAB NATIONALISM The political orientation of Arab nationalists in the years prior to the First World War was generally moderate. Their demands were of a reformist nature, limited in general to autonomy within the Ottoman Empire , greater use of Arabic in education, and local service in peacetime for Arab conscripts to the imperial army. Some radicalisation followed the 1908 revolution in the empire and the Turkicisation programme imposed by the new Committee Of Union And Progress (CUP, often known as the ''Young Turks'') government. However, Arab nationalism was not yet a mass movement, even in Syria where it was strongest. Many Arabs gave their primary loyalty to their religion or sect, their tribe, or their own particular governments. The ideologies of Ottomanism and Pan-Islamism were strong competitors of Arab nationalism. In 1913 , Arab intellectuals and some politicians met in Paris at the first Arab Congress. They produced a set of demands for greater autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. They also requested that Arab conscripts to the Ottoman army not be required to serve in other regions except in time of war.
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