Egyptian peasants strongly resisted conscription into Mehmed Ali’s army.
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
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the standard nationalist historiography of Mehmed Ali’s army, which Fahmy is here dismantling — echoes debates in other postcolonial army histories. — connects to: The new Egyptian army suppressed a peasant revolt by killing thousands including kin; Over 30,000 Egyptians rebelled against Mehmed Ali’s conscription in 1824; Egyptian peasants overwhelmingly resisted conscription despite ideological appeals, via open rebellion (+16 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 92
Broader Connections
- Conscripts’ disaffection forced Mehmed Ali to let families accompany troops
#expands(0.70) - Mehmed Ali first looked to Sudanese slaves rather than Egyptian peasants for his army
#qualifies(0.60)