The Middle East in the 19th Century, Part 1: Egypt

#1. Napoleon in Egypt (1798-1801)

went for (1) natural resources such as cotton and grain (2) second reason was to
win the rivalry between England and France (India)
by going to Egypt Napoleon was trying to disrupt Britain's access to India
(before the Suez Canal)
very significant because since the Middle Ages, Europeans have not been able
to invade a Muslim country
first major depiction of Orientalism by bringing over 160 scientists, scholars,
archaeologists, etc., to study Egypt and categorize and classify everything that
they see
the British and the Ottoman's make an alliance and successfully kick Napoleon
out of Egypt (this feat is in charge and done by Muhammad Ali)
#2. Reign of Muhammad Ali (r. 1805-1848)
who is he?
o often called father of modern Egypt
o Ottoman general and Albanian origin
what did he want?
o kick French out of Egypt
o he wanted to rule Egypt and to set up a dynasty
o wanted to modernize it
how did he take charge?
o mamluks (military elite)
o wanted to destroy them all so he set up a banquet with all the mamluk
leaders and murdered them all
internal politics and administration
o conscription: modern European army and goes for the peasants
o when they weren't fighting, the army was forced to work
o battalion of one eyed man (very ruthless man)
o forces over 100,000 peasants to join the army
economy
o the economy is going to suffer because all the peasants working the field
was forced to join the military
o now women had to do all the work (family structure was ruined)
o state monopoly: when the government is in charge of all the economy
(taxes, farms, and factories) [got rid of capitulation]
directly undermining European profits
foreign policy
o Arabia, 1811
Muhammad Ali's son Ibrahim led a campaign to capture Mecca and
Medina and establish an Egyptian presence in the Hejaz
o Sudan, 1820
Northern Sudan and the Red Sea came under Egyptian dominion
enslave the Sudanese and make them an army of slaves
o Syria, 1831-1832
to obtain raw materials lacking in Egypt, Muhammad Ali invaded
Syria, defeated the Ottoman forces there
Ibrahim served as governor of Syria from 1833 to 1840, where he
imposed a monopoly system and established a market for Egyptian
textiles
o Treaty of London, 1841

forced Muhammad Ali to withdraw from all the territories he had

occupied except the Sudan and you can only keep 18,000 men
(London)
o Treaty of Balta Liman (1838)
force to end state monopolies (Europeans are far more militarily
superior) (Balta Liman)
o Ottoman Empire drew the line when he conquered Damascus and Aleppo,
and Mecca/Medina
the Ottoman asked Britain and France for help and the European
helped because it's better to have a weak Ottoman Empire than a
strong Egyptian Empire
o Assessment: Nationalist or Dynast?
first leader in any Middle Eastern country that tried to modernize the
country based on European themes and technology (modernizer)
example of the Westerners coming to Egypt and screwing
everything of
o death bed words
"my son (Ibrahim) is old and sick, (my grandson) Abbas is indolent,
and then children will rule Eygpt. How will they keep Eygpt?
#3. Reign of Ismail the Magnificent (r. 1868-1879) Muhammad Ali's grandson
"my country is no longer in Africa, it is now Europe"
o called himself magnificent
o spoke French better than Arabic, eventually alienating his people
o he doesn't have money to make it just like European (overestimates
the power of cotton)
o opera houses, Blvd.
o set up conscription and forced peasants away from the farm and to the
battlefield
issue of cotton
o the textile industry began for the soldier's uniforms
o the American's are having a civil war (England can no longer get it from
America, so they need to get it from Egypt
o 10-20 years the sale of cotton skyrockets
o then the civil war ends
o Ismail only focuses on cotton, and no other industry and devoted all of
Egypt to the production of cotton
o the economy of Egypt collapses
Suez Canal opened in 1969 (Verdi's Aida)
o cuts the distance in half from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arabian
Peninsula to get to India
debt
o goes into massive debt
o Britain and France are very welcoming because they know he will never
give it back so they can easily conquer with that excuse
#4. Reign of Tawfiq (r. 1979-1892), Ismail's son
the Urabi (Egyptian officer) revolt (1882): "Egypt for Egyptians"
o majority of the population is poor
o see Europeans coming and becoming prosperous, while the Egyptians
are starving
o wanted foreigners out, wanted the country back and
political/economical reforms
British take over

o beginning of British colonization because they can't pay back the

debts, and maintain their own people