Britain defended Ottoman integrity chiefly to block Russian expansion

Evidence

Palmerston, however, was concerned above all about the dangers that the Pasha’s territorial expansion were causing to Istanbul. These military activities, Palmerston rightly believed, were pushing Istanbul to seek assistance from the Russians who were only too eager to provide the Sultan with all the help he needed, thus giving them the perfect opportunity to interfere in Ottoman affairs. It was the prospect of Russia’s increased influence in Istanbul and its southward expansion towards India rather than any loss of actual or potential markets in the eastern Mediterranean that inflamed Palmerston’s feelings against Mehmed Ali’s monopoly policies. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1569 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Like St. John’s book, this study has tried to avoid the trap of writing Egypt’s history in the first half of the nineteenth century as if it were Mehmed Ali’s biography. Ideally it would have been better to avoid referring to him altogether, but that would have given a version of Egypt’s history as incomplete as a history of Germany in the 1930s without mention of Hitler. Instead, this book, by concentrating on his army, the key institution around which all his reforms were centered, challenged the nationalist version of Egyptian history that sees in Mehmed Ali a proto-nationalist leader. It argued that the Pasha did not aim to achieve independence for “Egypt,” but intended to carve out a small empire for himself and for his children after him. It also argued that Great Britain, who is usually taken to have opposed Mehmed Ali ferociously and to have “prevented Egypt from reaping the fruits of her military victories” was not antagonistic to the Pasha’s “reform” policies in Egypt, but was against his empire-building efforts that she saw as challenging and endangering her own possessions in Asia. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1686 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Ottoman collapse removed a nominal counterweight to Egyptian dependence on Britain; Fear of Russian influence, not trade loss, drove Palmerston against Mehmed Ali; Britain opposed Ali because his expansion risked Russian interference in its Asian possessions (+3 more)

Related

• Britain opposed Ali because his expansion risked Russian interference in its Asian possessions (similarity 0.95)
• Britain opposed Mehmed Ali over his Ottoman expansion, not his industries (similarity 0.90)
• Fear of Russian influence, not trade loss, drove Palmerston against Mehmed Ali (similarity 0.89)
• Mehmed Ali mistakenly believed his expansion could shield British India from Russia (similarity 0.89)
• Fear of Russian expansion, not lost Mediterranean markets, drove Palmerston’s opposition to Mehmed Ali (similarity 0.89)
• British hostility to Mehmed Ali came from his military expansion, not his domestic reforms. (similarity 0.86)
• Fear of Russian expansion toward India, not lost markets, drove Palmerston’s opposition. (similarity 0.86)
• Britain opposed Mehmed Ali because his expansion threatened British India and Istanbul influence (similarity 0.86)
• Mehmed Ali’s expansion beyond Egypt forfeited the British protection he depended on (similarity 0.85)
• Britain held Turkey to be the buffer protecting India from Russia. (similarity 0.84)
• Mehmed Ali’s expansion policy cost him essential British support (similarity 0.84)
• Palmerston opposed Arab independence only because it would dismember Turkey. (similarity 0.83)
• British hostility targeted Mehmed Ali’s expansion, not his industrialization or trade (similarity 0.83)
• British refusal of naval aid pushed the Sultan into a Russian alliance in 1833 (similarity 0.83)
• Britain backed the Sultan only on condition Egypt declared independence. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Fear of Russian expansion, not lost Mediterranean markets, drove Palmerston’s opposition to Mehmed Ali #corroborates (0.90) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1569
• Britain opposed Ali because his expansion risked Russian interference in its Asian possessions #corroborates (0.70)
• Britain opposed Mehmed Ali over his Ottoman expansion, not his industries #corroborates (0.60) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1686
• Britain rejected Mehmed Ali’s proposed anti-Russian coalition as too risky #corroborates (0.50)