Fellahin soldiers resisted conscription rather than seeing the army as theirs

Evidence

Could it be argued, however, that given time this was exactly how the soldiers came to think of the army, i.e. that it was “ours” rather than “theirs”? This and the previous chapters have shown the authorities attempting to capture the fellahin’s bodies and minds, and the fellahin, on the other hand, resisting these manipulative attempts of the state. Yet, was there no positive incentive that induced the fellahin to join the army out of their own accord, or, having joined it, to think about it in some positive way? The following chapter deals with this question, namely, the possibility that soldiers might have thought of it as a national army fighting for their own country. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1184

Categorization

• QUESTION: Wait to see whether the next chapter’s national-army argument actually resolves this — the framing here hints it may not.