Mehmed Ali barred Arabic-speaking officers from high army and bureaucratic ranks

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 (#corroborates, 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: Mehmed Ali staffed his top military posts with relatives and freed slaves — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 925; Foreign-born officers could not sell nationalism to Mehmed Ali’s conscripts.; Egyptian fellahs were barred from promotion beyond captain in Muhammad Ali’s army (+4 more)

Related

• Mehmed Ali’s officer corps spoke Turkish while common soldiers spoke Arabic. (similarity 0.90)
• Mehmed Ali’s officers were foreign newcomers with no roots in Egypt (similarity 0.88)
• Egyptian soldiers served under Turkish officers in the reformed army (similarity 0.87)
• Mehmed Ali deliberately kept Turkish-speaking officers above Arab fellah conscripts to preserve his regime (similarity 0.87)
• Mehmed Ali’s Turkish-speaking officer corps felt no national loyalty to Egypt (similarity 0.86)
• Mehmed Ali’s army split officers and soldiers along Turkish-Arabic linguistic lines (similarity 0.85)
• Arabic-speaking officers were barred from senior army ranks spoken in Turkish (similarity 0.85)
• Egyptian fellahs were barred from promotion beyond captain in Muhammad Ali’s army (similarity 0.85)
• Mehmed Ali’s army unwittingly fostered Egyptian nationalism by turning fellahs against their Turkish officers (similarity 0.85)
• Ibrahim ultimately sided with the Turkish officer elite over his Arabic-speaking soldiers. (similarity 0.84)
• Mehmed Ali staffed his top military posts with relatives and freed slaves (similarity 0.84)
• Mehmed Ali engineered a senior officer corps deliberately loyal to himself (similarity 0.83)
• Ethno-linguistic segregation of officers from soldiers was deliberate regime self-preservation. (similarity 0.83)
• Bilingual intermediaries linked Egypt’s Turkish-speaking elite and Arabic-speaking masses (similarity 0.83)
• The ‘Urabi Revolt was partly a revolt of Arabic-speaking officers against Turkish-speaking superiors. (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Mehmed Ali’s officer corps spoke Turkish while common soldiers spoke Arabic. #corroborates (0.55) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 118
• Mehmed Ali’s army unwittingly fostered Egyptian nationalism by turning fellahs against their Turkish officers #expands (0.50) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1371
• Mehmed Ali engineered a senior officer corps deliberately loyal to himself #corroborates (0.50)