Personal hostility toward Sultan Mahmud II, not strategy, triggered the Syrian invasion

Evidence

Acknowledging that there were deep-seated reasons for Mehmed Ali to contemplate invading Syria this chapter attempts to argue that what finally prompted him to do so was the feeling of hostility and mistrust that he felt toward Sultan Mahmud II personally, and the “men in Istanbul,” i.e. the Ottoman viziers and courtiers in Istanbul in general. It was during the Morean war and specifically the years 1825–27 that this feeling of animosity was intensified and proved decisive in turning the Pasha against his Sultan. This was the period that witnessed Mahmud’s success in abolishing the old Janissary corps, thus strengthening his control over the capital and making Mehmed Ali wary of his Sultan’s increased military power; and it was also the period that witnessed the Sultan’s ever increasing demands on Mehmed Ali to help him in his fight against the Greeks. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 217

Categorization

• XREF: The argument that deep-seated causes existed but a personal rupture with the Sultan provided the trigger parallels other cases of empire-against-suzerain breakaways.