Egyptian soldiers served under Turkish officers in the reformed army

Evidence

Second, all modern armies are a microcosm of their larger societies in a crucial sense: by erecting and maintaining clear distinctions (in dress, pay, rights and duties) between soldiers and officers and in sharpening distinctions within each group by an elaborate hierarchical structure, armies reflect the class divisions within society at large. This sharp stratification was even more apparent in the case of Mehmed Ali’s army than with most other contemporary armies since the officer corps was ethnically and linguistically different from the overwhelming majority of the soldiery. Studying the internal relationship between soldiers and officers within that army, therefore, allows us to see how a representative proportion of the masses dealt with members of the elite and how these conflictual boundaries between the Turkish-speaking elite and the Arabic-speaking lower classes were constantly fought and challenged. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 118 (#expands, via linked claim)

It could be argued, however, that Mehmed Ali’s army was instrumental in propagating the idea of Egyptian nationalism, albeit unwittingly. It did this not because the Pasha, his son, or any of their chief military commanders thought of the various wars they waged as “national”; the dynastic aspect of these successive military confrontations, as was shown above, was clear to all to see, and Ibrahim, in spite of his often-quoted “Egyptian” sentiments, had no doubts about it. … Nevertheless, the army did unwittingly contribute to the rise of Egyptian nationalism by homogenizing the experience of tens of thousands of Egyptians over a period that exceeded twenty years by instilling in them the feeling of hatred of the “Ottomans,” and thus helped in their collective “imagination” of the nation. This creation of the “other” that wars are singularly successful at doing was operational in Mehmed Ali’s army not in directing the men’s sentiments of animosity against the army of the Greek rebels, or the Wahhabi brigands, let alone the army of the Ottoman Sultan, but against their own Turkish-speaking officers. These feelings of animosity towards the “Ottoman” eventually came to fruition two or three generations later when the frustrated leaders of these fellah-soldiers, the middle-ranking, Arabic-speaking officers, broke out in open rebellion together with other disgruntled members of Egyptian society against Turco-Circassian domination. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1371 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Sudanese slave deaths and Turkish troop distress prompted conscribing Egyptian fellahin; Egyptian peasant conscription began as a three-year substitute for Turkish troops; Foreign Ottomans entering service made up the officers’ third component (+10 more)

Related

• The ‘Urabi Revolt was partly a revolt of Arabic-speaking officers against Turkish-speaking superiors. (similarity 0.89)
• Mehmed Ali barred Arabic-speaking officers from high army and bureaucratic ranks (similarity 0.87)
• Mehmed Ali’s army unwittingly fostered Egyptian nationalism by turning fellahs against their Turkish officers (similarity 0.87)
• Turkish officers routinely abused and cheated their Egyptian conscript soldiers (similarity 0.87)
• Bilingual intermediaries linked Egypt’s Turkish-speaking elite and Arabic-speaking masses (similarity 0.87)
• Mehmed Ali’s officer corps spoke Turkish while common soldiers spoke Arabic. (similarity 0.87)
• Egyptian conscripts saw their own officers as the enemy rather than the Ottomans (similarity 0.87)
• Bilingual NCOs and scribes mediated between Turkish officers and Arabic soldiers (similarity 0.87)
• Ottoman officers readily defected to serve in the Egyptian army (similarity 0.86)
• Mehmed Ali’s officers were foreign newcomers with no roots in Egypt (similarity 0.86)
• Mehmed Ali’s army split officers and soldiers along Turkish-Arabic linguistic lines (similarity 0.85)
• The officer corps served the Pasha’s dynasty rather than any Egyptian nation (similarity 0.84)
• The army’s story centers on conscripted men, not the commanding Pasha (similarity 0.83)
• Egyptian soldiers were Arab recruits while officers were Turks. (similarity 0.82)
• Officers in Mehmed Ali’s army behaved as mercenaries loyal to pay, not national identity (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Mehmed Ali’s officer corps spoke Turkish while common soldiers spoke Arabic. #expands (0.70) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 118
• Ottoman officers readily defected to serve in the Egyptian army #corroborates (0.60)
• Turkish officers routinely abused and cheated their Egyptian conscript soldiers #expands (0.60)
• Mehmed Ali’s army unwittingly fostered Egyptian nationalism by turning fellahs against their Turkish officers #expands (0.60) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1371
• Shared grievance against Turkish elites, not victory in battle, forged Egyptian national identity. #expands (0.60)
• Egyptian conscripts saw their own officers as the enemy rather than the Ottomans #expands (0.55) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1670
• Bilingual NCOs and scribes mediated between Turkish officers and Arabic soldiers #expands (0.55)
• Captured Ottoman officers were promoted over their own captors solely for Turkish identity #expands (0.55)
• Bilingual intermediaries linked Egypt’s Turkish-speaking elite and Arabic-speaking masses #expands (0.50)
• The ‘Urabi Revolt was partly a revolt of Arabic-speaking officers against Turkish-speaking superiors. #expands (0.50) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1368