Egyptian Mehmed Ali mythology parallels French belief in Napoleon’s savior role

Evidence

In a nutshell this is how Egyptian historiography of Mehmed Ali is written, although never so passionately and seldom so eloquently. In a sense it calls to mind Marx’s comment on the place of Napoleon in French historical consciousness. “Historical tradition,” he said, “gave rise to the belief of the French peasants in the miracle that a man named Napoleon would bring all the glory back to them. And an individual turned up who gave himself out as the man … ” Marx could very well have been referring to the Egyptian fascination with Mehmed Ali. Like Napoleon III, Mehmed Ali “turned up” (“es fand sich” are Marx’s untranslatable words), mysteriously appearing on the Egyptian historical landscape. Answering Egypt’s pleas, the Great Pasha descended from heaven to deliver her from oppression, and to lift her from the dark recesses of centuries of Ottoman neglect and misery into the bright sunlight of dignity and national independence. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 86

Categorization

• XREF: The Marx Napoleon III analogy parallels how the reader’s own treatment of Ottoman pashas and British lords must contend with retrospective heroic framing. — connects to: Mehmed Ali consciously modeled himself as a second Napoleon; French historians framed Mehmed Ali as a Napoleon for Egypt — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1672; French historians cast Mehmed Ali as a Napoleon whose dreams Britons frustrated — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1672 (+1 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Mehmed Ali consciously modeled himself as a second Napoleon; French historians framed Mehmed Ali as a Napoleon for Egypt — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1672; French historians cast Mehmed Ali as a Napoleon whose dreams Britons frustrated — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1672 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• French historians cast Mehmed Ali as a Napoleon whose dreams Britons frustrated #corroborates (0.92) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1672