Mehmed Ali’s victories rested on raw military force and a slow, unprepared Istanbul government

Evidence

Nevertheless, and on a pure military level, the fact remains that the victories his armies managed to accomplish on the battle front were swift, stunning and highly successful. One can argue that this impressive accomplishment was made possible by the relatively feeble government in Istanbul that was caught unawares and was not quick or flexible enough to face this challenge coming from unexpected quarters. Above all, however, it was made possible by relying on naked force. It was the modern army that Mehmed Ali started to build in 1820-1 that enabled him to expand his sphere of influence to cover such wide areas of the Ottoman Empire. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 267

Categorization

• XREF: Pins down the causal mix behind the army’s success the reader asked about: military modernization plus Ottoman weakness, not European patronage.