Egyptian national identity was forged by army discipline, not pre-existing sentiment.

Evidence

This book challenges this powerful, monolithic discourse of Egyptian nationalism. It argues that the Pasha’s army did indeed turn the population of Egypt into loyal and devoted citizens of Egypt. This it managed to do, however, not by “opening their eyes” to their true identities, or helping them to discover their hidden sentiments, but by subjecting them to a rigorous and tight disciplining regime whereby their bodies and minds were minutely controlled so that the Pasha and his elite could accomplish their own ambitions. In that sense the Pasha’s army was crucial for “educating” the population of Egypt to believe that fighting for Mehmed Ali and his family was tantamount to giving one’s life for the sake of the “nation,” a nation that was now thought to have always already existed and which, moreover, demanded the sacrifices of its own citizens. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 93

Categorization

• XREF: Fits the broader constructivist historiography of nations (Anderson, Hobsbawm) and parallels the reader’s interest in tactical conscription’s civic effects.