British officers commanding the Egyptian army suppressed Egyptian soldiers’ patriotism

Evidence

Moreover, the main criticism that this book has leveled against the nationalist version of Egyptian history is its assumption that “Egypt” has always had a unified, self-contained, clearly recognizable identity, and that its inhabitants have always realized – through their strong attachment to its soil, and through their conscious links to its history that they are, and have always been, clearly and exclusively “Egyptians.” In other words, the main problem of Egyptian nationalist historiography, like all nationalist historiographies, is the assumption that Egypt is an undivided subject and that the Egyptian nation is a primordial, eternal entity possessing a unified, conscious will potentially capable of autonomy and sovereignty. Studying the army of Egypt in the first half of the nineteenth century, an army that is supposed to have been the national institution par excellence, this book found no evidence that this central institution functioned along national lines. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1691 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

If any- thing clearly emerges from these parallels it is that the idea of colonialism was much more fluid, much less dependent on the European model. After all, Egyptians in 1882 were negotiators familiar with the Ottoman Empire and fearful of the threat of European colonization, and yet also eager to see themselves as a nation in a synonymous position of power. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 527 (#expands, via linked claim)

In the same speech, Kämil praised the memory of Colonel Sèves, the French officer who had reorganized the Egyptian army during Muhammad Alï’s reign, not only for helping to instill a sense of patriotism among Egyptians but also for repatriating himself and converting to Islam, thus proving his personal commitment to Egypt. — <cite>Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 719</cite> (#complicates`, via linked claim)

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

Related

• British officer control of the Egyptian army suppressed Egyptian patriotic feeling. (similarity 0.87)
• Egyptian soldiers under British command felt their service was forced labor. (similarity 0.83)
• Egyptian soldiers served under Turkish officers in the reformed army (similarity 0.82)
• Egyptian soldiers felt the loss of Sudan more personally than other Egyptians did. (similarity 0.81)
• Egyptian conscripts saw their own officers as the enemy rather than the Ottomans (similarity 0.81)
• Circassians monopolized high military ranks in Egypt, shutting out Egyptians (similarity 0.80)
• Ottoman officers readily defected to serve in the Egyptian army (similarity 0.80)
• British officers held a monopoly on the Egyptian army’s strategic knowledge and command (similarity 0.80)
• Egyptian officers were simultaneously targets and agents of colonial power (similarity 0.80)
• Egyptian army officers joined the Mahdist cause mainly from resentment at the khedive’s betrayal (similarity 0.79)
• Egyptian colonial officers simultaneously resented and reproduced colonial hierarchies. (similarity 0.79)
• Egyptian nationalism grew from Ottoman elite domination, not patriotic awakening (similarity 0.79)
• Some Egyptians saw themselves as empire builders in Sudan, not merely colonial subjects (similarity 0.79)
• Turkish officers routinely abused and cheated their Egyptian conscript soldiers (similarity 0.79)
• Ottoman Egyptian military ranks were reserved almost exclusively for Circassians (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Egyptian officers were simultaneously targets and agents of colonial power #expands (0.60) — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 527
• The Egyptian army did not function along national lines in this era. #qualifies (0.60) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1691
• A French officer once built Egyptian patriotic pride that British officers later destroyed #complicates (0.55) — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 719
• British treated exiled Egyptian rebel soldiers as dishonored prisoners, not comrades #expands (0.50) — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 513