Ottoman defeats stemmed from internal feuds and untrusted European advisors, not just later start.
Evidence
There are, however, much more important reasons for the contrasting performances of the two armies. First, there was the important factor that the Mansure army of the Sultan lacked a commander of the caliber of Ibrahim Pasha. Second, although the army of the Sultan had been able to secure the services of some European advisors, these were neither authorized nor trusted enough to be given high positions in the army; this at a time when Süleyman Pasha had been able to rise up in the military hierarchy until he became second-in-command after Ibrahim Pasha. Third, the Ottoman army never witnessed anything like the superb working relationship between Mehmed Ali, Ibrahim Pasha and Süleyman Pasha; instead, it was a battle-ground for intrigues and internal fights among various officials. A significant factor in the defeat of the Ottoman army in the battle of Horns, for example, was the fact that the Serasker, Husrev Pasha, was jealous of the authority of Hüseyin Pasha, who was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the army that was to fight Ibrahim Pasha. To curb his influence, Husrev had Mehmed Pasha, one of his protégés, appointed to Hüseyin’s staff as second-in-command although the two men could neither work together nor agree on common tactics. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1384
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- XREF: Central to the reader’s question about why Egypt’s army beat the Ottomans; connects to earlier chapters on the Egyptian military’s cohesion.
Related
- Ottoman defeats stemmed from command dysfunction, not merely a later start to reform (similarity 0.90)
- Ottoman defeats stemmed from leadership factionalism, untrusted advisors, and weak officer training, not timing (similarity 0.88)
- Contrasting internal army dynamics explain Egyptian victories over Ottoman forces (similarity 0.83)
- Egyptian scribes felt deep ambivalence about defeating the Ottoman sultan’s army (similarity 0.80)
- Ottoman military reform failure explains Ibrahim’s victories more than Egyptian strength. (similarity 0.80)
- Ibrahim Pasha won by superior supply infrastructure and Ottoman command failure (similarity 0.79)
- The Morean war was a testing ground that revealed the futility of Ottoman collaboration (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- The Morean war was a testing ground that revealed the futility of Ottoman collaboration
#exemplifies(0.65) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 182