Egyptian peasants experienced conscription as oppressive taxation rather than patriotic service

Evidence

The problem with this argument insofar as it pertains to the army, besides the obvious one of lumping together the entire rural population of Egypt under the general rubric of “fellahin,” is that the population of Egypt, far from enthusiastically flocking to serve in the army, was in fact very resentful of military service and strongly resisted serving in the army. … Recognizing that the scale of this resistance was alarming, that it was not localized but was widespread throughout Egypt, and that the rural population went out of their way to make this resistance obvious, it is still commonplace to argue that this was only a temporary reaction caused above all by “the fellah’s strong attachment to his land and the unfamiliarity of military life to him.” — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 92 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Egyptian peasant conscription began as a three-year substitute for Turkish troops; Egyptian conscription seized men arbitrarily, roping them by the neck in groups; Conscription transformed the relation between Egyptian government and governed (+12 more)

Related

• Egyptian peasants strongly resisted conscription into the modern army (similarity 0.93)
• Egyptian peasants overwhelmingly resisted conscription despite ideological appeals, via open rebellion (similarity 0.91)
• Egyptian peasants maimed themselves to escape conscription into Mehmed Ali’s army (similarity 0.89)
• Conscription transformed the relation between Egyptian government and governed (similarity 0.89)
• Egyptian peasants universally hated conscription into Mehmed Ali’s army (similarity 0.88)
• Egyptian peasants strongly resisted conscription into Mehmed Ali’s army. (similarity 0.88)
• Egyptian peasant conscription began as a three-year substitute for Turkish troops (similarity 0.88)
• Egyptian peasants blinded and mutilated themselves to evade conscription. (similarity 0.88)
• Conscription pressure drove Egypt’s first national census by 1845 (similarity 0.87)
• Over 30,000 Egyptians rebelled against Mehmed Ali’s conscription in 1824 (similarity 0.86)
• Egyptian conscripts served Mehmed Ali’s army entirely against their will (similarity 0.86)
• Conscription drove Egyptian peasants to refuse marriage and childbearing (similarity 0.85)
• Egyptian conscripts resisted the Pasha’s army through desertion and self-mutilation (similarity 0.85)
• Fellahin resistance to Mehmed Ali’s conscription was pervasive. (similarity 0.84)
• Peasant resistance to conscription catalyzed a new regime of state control (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Egyptian peasants strongly resisted conscription into the modern army #corroborates (0.85)
• Egyptian peasants strongly resisted conscription into Mehmed Ali’s army. #corroborates (0.80) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 92
• The Egyptian army did not function along national lines in this era. #corroborates (0.60)