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179-650: The modern army was established during the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha (1805–1849), widely considered to be the "founder of modern Egypt". Its most significant engagements in the 20th century were in Egypt's five wars with the State of Israel (in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1967–1970, and 1973), one of which, the Suez Crisis of 1956, also saw it do combat with the armies of the United Kingdom and France . The Egyptian army

358-400: A navy . By the end of the 1830s, Egypt's war industries had constructed nine 100-gun warships and were turning out 1,600 muskets a month. However, the industrial innovations were not limited to weapons production. Muhammad Ali established a textile industry in an effort to compete with European industries and produce greater revenues for Egypt. While the textile industry was not successful,

537-594: A British expedition to relieve the Egyptian governor of Equatoria made its way through central Africa. The governor, Emin Pasha , was rescued, though the expedition was not without its failures, such as the disaster that befell the rear column. According to the Hewett Treaty of 3 June 1884, Ethiopia agreed to facilitate the evacuation of Egyptian garrisons in southern Sudan. In September 1884, Ethiopia reoccupied

716-584: A Camel Corps, support services and various local militia groups. It was organised, expanded and equipped by the British during the prewar years, and led by British officers. Although a few field artillery units participated voluntarily in the defence of the Suez Canal in early 1915, the Egyptian Army was primarily employed to maintain order in the troubled Sudan. Because of the strategic importance of

895-766: A Mahdist army invaded Ethiopia, seized Dembea , burned the Mahbere Selassie monastery and advanced on Chilga . King Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam led a successful counteroffensive as far as Gallabat in Sudan in January 1887. A year later, in January 1888, the Mahdists returned, defeating Tekle Haymanot at Sar Weha and sacking Gondar . This culminated in the end of the Ethiopian theatre at the Battle of Gallabat In

1074-713: A Mahdist force in the Battle of Atbara in April 1898, the Anglo-Egyptians reached Omdurman , the Mahdist capital, in September. The bulk of the Mahdist army attacked , but was cut down by British machine-guns and rifle fire. The remnant, with the Khalifa Abdullah, fled to southern Sudan. During the pursuit, Kitchener's forces met a French force under Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand at Fashoda , resulting in

1253-559: A School of Medicine for women. Clot-Bey had been invited in 1827 by Muhammad Ali to found the Qasral-‘Ayni School of Medicine at the Army hospital of Abou Zabel which later transferred to Cairo. The Army Medical School had a difficult beginning with religious officials against dissection of corpses for anatomy lessons. The medical school for women would produce hakimas, "doctoress", to treat women and children. French women adherents of

1432-459: A dawn assault on 7 June 1882, which slaughtered the entire army. The rebels gained vast stores of arms, ammunition, military clothing and other supplies. With the Egyptian government now passing largely under British control, the European powers became increasingly aware of the troubles in Sudan. The British advisers to the Egyptian government gave tacit consent for another expedition. Throughout

1611-760: A dispute about the UN's role. But after 1991, many more United Nations Military Observers and troops were dispatched, alongside police in some cases. Military observers served in Western Sahara (MINURSO), Angola (UNAVEM II), the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Mozambique, Georgia, Macedonia, Eastern Slavonia, UNMOP (Prevlaka), and Sierra Leone. UN official sources say Egypt participated in UNCRO, but Berman and Sams, citing official Egyptian sources at

1790-623: A finger of the right hand, so as to be unable to fire a rifle. Beyond building a functioning, industrial economy, Muhammad Ali also made an effort to train a professional military and bureaucracy. He sent promising citizens to Europe to study. Again the driving impulse behind the effort was to build a European-style army. Students were sent to study European languages, primarily French, so they could in turn translate military manuals into Arabic. He then used both educated Egyptians and imported European experts to establish schools and hospitals in Egypt. European education also provided talented Egyptians with

1969-653: A flat tax was imposed on farmers and small traders and collected by government-appointed tax collectors from the Sha'iqiyya tribe of northern Sudan. In bad years, and especially during times of drought and famine, farmers were unable to pay the high taxes. Fearing the brutal and unjust methods of the Sha'iqiyya, many farmers fled their villages in the fertile Nile Valley to the remote areas of Kordofan and Darfur . These migrants, known as "jallaba" after their loose-fitting style of dress, began to function as small traders and middlemen for

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2148-497: A free hand to attempt reforms similar to those first begun by Selim III. Muhammad Ali's goal was for Egypt to leave the Ottoman Empire and be ruled by his own hereditary dynasty. To do that, he had to reorganize Egyptian society, streamline the economy, train a professional bureaucracy, and build a modern military. His first task was to secure a revenue stream for Egypt. To accomplish this, Muhammad Ali 'nationalized' all

2327-568: A fundamental role in reducing the incidence of smallpox during the 19th century by vaccinating approximately 600 children a month in the Civil Hospital. They checked and treated women, mainly prostitutes, for venereal diseases. Another important task was the "forensic examination" of women. In this respect, hakimas operated in a legal setting. Their examination was used as evidence in cases involving unnatural death, suspected premarital loss of virginity, or miscarriage. Although one task of

2506-721: A heavy defeat at the hands of the Ethiopians at Adwa , the Italian position in East Africa was seriously weakened. The Mahdists threatened to retake Kassala, which they had lost to the Italians in 1894. The British government decided to assist the Italians by making a military demonstration in northern Sudan. This coincided with the increased threat of French encroachment on the Upper Nile regions. Lord Cromer , judging that

2685-846: A means of social mobility. A by-product of Muhammad Ali's training program was the establishment of a professional bureaucracy . Establishing an efficient central bureaucracy was an essential prerequisite for the success of Muhammad Ali's other reforms. In the process of destroying the Mamluks, the Wāli had to fill the governmental roles that the Mamluks had previously filled. In doing so, Muhammad Ali kept all central authority for himself. He partitioned Egypt into ten provinces responsible for collecting taxes and maintaining order. Muhammad Ali installed his sons in most key positions; however, his reforms did offer Egyptians opportunities beyond agriculture and industry. A 2015 study found that Ali's economic policies had

2864-695: A message was sent for the main army corps. Most Egyptian cities lacked city walls and other defenses. Following his seizure of power in Egypt, and declaration of himself as khedive of the country, Muhammad Ali Pasha set about establishing a bona fide Egyptian military. Prior to his rule, Egypt had been governed by the Ottoman Empire , and while he still technically owed fealty to the Ottoman Porte , Muhammad Ali sought to gain full independence for Egypt. To further this aim, he brought in European weapons and expertise, and built an army that defeated

3043-517: A monthly allowance from the state. Graduates served at the Civil Hospital in Cairo or at health centres throughout Egypt. Some stayed at the school to serve as instructors. Marriages were arranged by the state to male doctors. Once married, hakimas were given the title of Effendi , the rank of second lieutenant, and a monthly salary of 250 piasters. Licensed hakimas treated women and children, providing vaccinations and delivering children. They served

3222-449: A positive impact on industrialization in Egypt. The purpose of the law was to represent Muhammad Ali in his absence. Muhammad Ali's initial focus was on reforming the criminal law, passing his first penal legislation in 1829. By this time, Muhammad Ali was already moving towards an establishment of an independent state, which he first expressed in 1830, by creating a state of "law and order", where Christians within Egypt can be safe, which

3401-459: A rejection of material wealth by its wearer and a commitment to a religious way of life. Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi decreed that this garment should be worn by all his soldiers in battle. The decision to adopt the religious garment as military dress enforced unity and cohesion among his forces, and eliminated traditional visual markers differentiating potentially fractious tribes. During the years of conflict between Mahdist and Anglo-Egyptian forces at

3580-542: A reward for Muhammad Ali's hard work, his uncle gave him the rank of " Bolukbashi " for the collection of taxes in the town of Kavala. Muhammad Ali later married his cousin Amina Hanim , a wealthy widow. She was the daughter of Ali Agha and Kadriye (Zeynep's sister). After Muhammad's promising success in collecting taxes, he earned the rank of Second Commander under his cousin Sarechesme Halil Agha in

3759-576: A set distance between each other and every building had an assigned location within the camp. All of these policies were designed to instill discipline and a sense of collective regularity in every soldier. Passing laws with a strict punishment regime was not sufficient for the soldiers to internalize the different army regulations that they were asked to obey. For this to succeed these soldiers had to be interned and isolated from outside influences. They then had to be taught to follow rules and regulations that came with army life. This process helped to transform

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3938-466: A sign of reform but Ali furthering his military goals. For example, their treatment of venereal diseases was intended to curb its incidence among soldiers and smallpox vaccinations increased the pool of potential soldiers by reducing childhood mortality rate. Furthermore, the hakimas allowed for increased state control over social life. This is observed in the use of hakimas to collect statistics on childbirth, either personally or through dayas, as well as in

4117-583: A small mobile force built around a light car regiment, and eight artillery groupings of various sizes. Upon Italian entry into World War II, the Italian Tenth Army launched the Italian invasion of Egypt from Cyrenaica in September 1940. Egypt severed relations with the Axis powers after the Italians invaded, but remained technically neutral up until near the end of the war. Italy sought to control

4296-567: A split had been developing since 1929-30 between college educated younger officers, who had been dispatched to take staff course in the United Kingdom, and the "older ill-educated top-ranking officers [who] were apparently keeping them from promotion. During the Palestine War the extent of the graft and corruption among these older officers became apparent to an alarming degree, and during 1950 the younger officers succeeded in forcing

4475-480: A station at Wadi Halfa : the first rebuilt Isma'il Pasha's abortive and ruined former line south along the east bank of the Nile to supply the 1896 Dongola Expedition and a second, carried out in 1897, was extended along a new line directly across the desert to Abu Hamad —which they captured in the Battle of Abu Hamed on 7 August 1897 —to supply the main force moving on Khartoum. It was not until 7 June 1896 that

4654-760: A strategic retreat to Kordofan , where he was at a distance from the seat of government in Khartoum . This movement, posed as a triumphant progress, incited many of the Arab tribes to rise in support of the Jihad the Mahdi had declared against the Egyptian government. The Mahdi and the forces of his Ansar arrived in the Nuba Mountains of south Kordofan around early November 1881. Another Egyptian expedition dispatched from Fashoda arrived around one month later; this force

4833-641: A thorough investigation of the Arms Scandal, resulting in the retirement of the majority of the top-ranking generals, including Haidar Pasha, the Commander-in-Chief, Osman Mahdi Pasha, the Chief of Staff, and Sirry Amer Pasha, Commander of the elite Frontier Corps (Egypt) . However, not long ago after the retirement of these officers, they were quietly reappointed to their old positions by the King, and

5012-532: A thriving international trading community with well-developed markets throughout the Levant ; in addition, it would be a captive market for the goods now being produced in Egypt. Yet perhaps most of all, Syria was desirable as a buffer state between Egypt and the Ottoman Sultan. A new fleet was built, a new army was raised and on 31 October 1831, under Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian invasion of Syria initiated

5191-441: A unique number that identified their unit and their role within it, and officers were expected to use lists with these numbers to keep a close watch on the men and ensure every man performed his clearly assigned duty. This was particularly useful in identifying deserters who often fled in the chaos of massed movement, such as during forced marches or relocation to a new encampment. The soldiers were placed under strict surveillance in

5370-429: A year, an unmaintainable expense. It was therefore decided by the Egyptian government, under pressure from their British advisors, that the Egyptian presence in Sudan should be withdrawn and the country left to some form of self-government, likely headed by the Mahdi. The withdrawal of the Egyptian garrisons stationed throughout the country, such as those at Sennar , Tokar and Sinkat, was therefore threatened unless it

5549-426: Is a better deterrent for crimes than public physical punishments are. However, corporal punishment was not entirely removed. Oftentimes, corporal punishment, such as whipping, will be used along with imprisonment. Prison sentences were divided into three types: light house arrest, heavy house arrest, and imprisonment in the camp jail. Light house arrest had the soldier in isolation for up to two months. Heavy house arrest

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5728-574: Is given the chance to do so," feeling it would be a slight on his honour to abandon any Egyptian soldiers to the Mahdi. He also became increasingly fearful of the Mahdi's potential to cause trouble in Egypt if allowed control of Sudan, leading to a conviction that the Mahdi must be "crushed," by British troops if necessary, to assure the stability of the region. It is debated whether or not Gordon deliberately remained in Khartoum longer than strategically sensible, seemingly intent on becoming besieged within

5907-454: Is limited to one month and has a guard watching over the prisoner and the last option is imprisonment in the camp jail for up to fifteen days. Policies was also enacted to modernize the army in the way they are structured outside the battlefield. Soldiers were given identification numbers to use on paperwork. A wider variety of uniforms were used to differentiate between ranks. Even buildings has regulations placed on them. Tents were to be placed

6086-678: The Anazeh in Syria and those bred in the Nejd . While his immediate successor had minimal interest in the horse breeding program, his grandson, who became Abbas I shared this interest and further built upon his work. Though Muhammad Ali's chief aim was to establish a European-style military, and carve out a personal empire, he waged war initially on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud II , in Arabia and Greece, although he later came into open conflict with

6265-623: The Arab World as the Tripartite Aggression. Just before the Suez Crisis , politics rather than military competence was the main criterion for promotion. The Egyptian commander, Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer , was a purely political appointee who owed his position to his close friendship with Nasser. A heavy drinker, he would prove himself grossly incompetent as a general during the Crisis. Rigid lines between officers and men in

6444-535: The Battle of Serobeti and the First Battle of Agordat . In December 1893, Italian colonial troops and Mahdists fought again in the Second Battle of Agordat ; Ahmed Ali campaigned against the Italian forces in eastern Sudan and led about 10,000–12,000 men east from Kassala , encountering 2,400 Italians and their Eritrean Ascaris commanded by Colonel Arimondi. The Italians won again, and the outcome of

6623-572: The Conservative-Unionist government in power would favour taking the offensive, managed to extend the demonstration into a full-fledged invasion. In 1897, the Italians gave the British control of Kassala, in order to gain international recognition of Italian Eritrea . Herbert Kitchener , the new Sirdar (commander) of the Anglo-Egyptian Army, received his marching orders on 12 March, and his forces entered Sudan on

6802-588: The Ecole Polytechnique . Additionally, by hiring European managers, he was able to introduce industrial training to the Egyptian population. To staff his new industries, Muhammad Ali employed a corvée labor system. The peasantry objected to these conscriptions and many ran away from their villages to avoid being taken, sometimes fleeing as far away as Syria . A number of them maimed themselves so as to be unsuitable for combat: common ways of self-maiming were blinding an eye with rat poison and cutting off

6981-500: The Egypt-Libya border had been raised to full strength and were dug in. They were bolstered by several Sa'ka Forces commando battalions and support units, while a third division stationed near Cairo and other commandos were ready to relocate on short notice. A total of over 40,000 troops were deployed to the border during the war. The army had an estimated strength of 320,000 in 1989. About 180,000 of these were conscripts. Beyond

7160-543: The Fashoda Incident . They finally caught up with Abdullah at Umm Diwaykarat , where he was killed, effectively ending the Mahdist regime. The casualties for this campaign were: The British set up a new colonial system, the Anglo-Egyptian administration , which effectively established British domination over Sudan. This ended with the independence of Sudan in 1956. Textiles played an important role in

7339-625: The First Turko-Egyptian War . For the sake of appearance on the world stage, a pretext for the invasion was vital. Ultimately, the excuse for the expedition was a quarrel with Abdullah Pasha of Acre . The Wāli alleged that 6,000 fellahin had fled to Acre to escape the draft, corvée, and taxes, and he wanted them back. (See also: 1834 Arab revolt in Palestine ) The Egyptians overran most of Syria and its hinterland with ease. The strongest and only really significant resistance

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7518-584: The Golan Heights to coincide with the Egyptian offensive and initially made threatening gains into Israeli-held territory. As Egyptian president Anwar Sadat began to worry about Syria's fortunes, he believed that capturing two strategic mountain passes located deeper in the Sinai would make his position stronger during the negotiations. He therefore ordered the Egyptians to go back on the offensive, but

7697-484: The Janissaries . Consequently, he was deposed and ultimately killed in 1808. Muhammad Ali shared some traits with common warlords seeking to gain the upper hand at the expense of the weakened imperial power, but scholars have noted that Muhammad Ali's rule was the first significant program of Europeanization of the military and its supporting institutions. Unlike Selim, he had dispatched his chief rivals, giving him

7876-519: The Khedive announcing Egypt's intentions to leave Sudan. Gordon's orders, by his own request, were unambiguous, leaving little room for misinterpretation. Gordons orders were: 1) to evacuate all Egyptian garrisons from Sudan (including both soldiers and civilians) and 2) to leave some form of indigenous (but not Mahdist) government behind him. He was given no timeline for either. Gordon arrived in Khartoum on 18 February, and immediately became aware of

8055-436: The Levant , Crete and parts of Greece . He was a military commander in an Albanian Ottoman force sent to recover Egypt from French occupation under Napoleon . Following Napoleon's withdrawal, Muhammad Ali rose to power through a series of political maneuvers, and in 1805 he was named Wāli (governor) of Egypt and gained the rank of Pasha . As Wāli , Ali attempted to modernize Egypt by instituting dramatic reforms in

8234-535: The Nuba Mountains , and west and south Sudan, all incorporated into a foot regiment known as the Gihadiya (pronounced Jihadiya in non-Egyptian Arabic) which were composed of the recently defeated Shaigiya who now took service under the invaders in exchange for keeping their domains. Ali's reign in Sudan, and that of his immediate successors, is remembered in Sudan as brutal and heavy-handed, contributing to

8413-727: The Ottoman Sultan , wresting control from the Porte of the Levant , and Hejaz . The Egyptian Army was involved in the following wars during Muhammad Ali's reign: and during the reign of khedives Abbas I , Sa'id Pasha , Isma'il Pasha and Tewfik Pasha : as well as several expeditions in Sudan during the 1850s, 60s and 70s, and rebellions (mainly in Upper Egyptian Provinces in the 1860s and 1870s, most notably The Axes' Rebellion that occurred from 1864 to 1865 and

8592-530: The Quran was added "Yā allah yā ḥayy yā qayūm yā ḍhi’l-jalāl wa’l-ikrām" (O Allah! O Ever-living, O Everlasting, O Lord of Majesty and Generosity) and the highly charged claim "Muḥammad al-Mahdī khalifat rasūl Allah" (Muḥammad al-Mahdī is the successor of Allah’s messenger). After the fall of Khartoum, a "Tailor of Flags" was set up in Omdurman. The production of flags became standardised and regulations concerning

8771-632: The Rumelia Eyalet , to an Albanian family from Korça region. He was the second son of a Bektashi Albanian tobacco and shipping merchant named Ibrahim Agha, who also served as an Ottoman commander of a small unit in their hometown. His mother was Zeynep, the daughter of Çorbaci Husain Agha, another Muslim Albanian notable in Kavala. When his father died at a young age, Muhammad was taken and raised by his uncle Husain Agha with his cousins. As

8950-744: The Saint-Simonian social reform movement were living in Egypt during 1833–36 and studied or provided medical care under Clot Bey's direction. French sage-femme (midwife) Suzanne Voilquin writes of assisting during the cholera epidemic of 1834. Several of the French women contracted cholera and died. Ali's military and economic goals required a healthy army and population from which young boys could be conscripted. Venereal diseases, especially syphilis, were common among soldiers and smallpox outbreaks led to high childhood mortality rates. Clot Bey argued that female-provided health care for women and children

9129-609: The Sinai (30,000 in two divisions) or in the Canal Zone (one division). The field formations were preoccupied with changing over from British and American to Soviet military equipment. But after the Israeli attack started, "[t]he Egyptians in the Sinai never had a chance.' The Israelis seized the advantage, severed all the fragile seams in the organisation of the Egyptian forces, and destroyed their defences. Nasser ordered retreat from

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9308-410: The Sinai Peninsula . The forward Egyptian forces were shattered in three places by the attacking Israelis, including at the Battle of Abu-Ageila (1967) , and a retreat to the mountain passes fifty miles east of the canal was ordered. This developed into a rout as the Israelis harried the retreating troops from the ground and from the air. After the 1967 disaster, two field armies, the Second Army and

9487-432: The Third Army , both stationed on the Suez, were established. The armed forces also fought in the 1969–1970 War of Attrition against Israeli positions especially in the Sinai. The October War of 1973 began with a massive and successful Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal . After crossing the cease-fire lines, Egyptian forces advanced virtually unopposed into the Sinai Peninsula . The Syrians coordinated their attack on

9666-470: The United Kingdom stepped in and repaid his loans in return for controlling shares in the canal. As the most direct route to India , the jewel in the British Crown, the Suez Canal was of paramount strategic importance, and British commercial and imperial interests dictated the need to seize or otherwise control it. Thus an ever-increasing British role in Egyptian affairs seemed necessary. With Khedive Ismail's spending and corruption causing instability, in 1873

9845-528: The bastinado and the whip to control and punish the soldiers. Muhammad not only wanted his soldiers to be disciplined, but he also created many military codes to regulate the definitions of crime and punishment, this helped to create blind obedience to the laws. A large part of Ali's goal of a European-style military was through the creation of new labelling and organizational systems to identify soldiers, distinguish officers from enlisted men, structure units, and properly distribute salaries. Soldiers were given

10024-451: The forces east of the canal , under whose command the two armies (the Second and the Third ) and the military regions ( central , northern , western , and southern ), in contrast to the rest of the forces, bodies, departments, and auxiliary agencies. Before the June 1967 War, the army divided its personnel into four regional commands (Suez, Sinai, Nile Delta, and Nile Valley up to the Sudan). The remainder of Egypt's territory, over 75%,

10203-468: The iltizam lands of Egypt, thereby officially owning all the production of the land. He accomplished the state annexation of property by raising taxes on the ' tax-farmers ' who had previously owned the land throughout Egypt. The new taxes were intentionally high and when the tax-farmers could not extract the demanded payments from the peasants who worked the land, Muhammad Ali confiscated their properties. The other major source of revenue Muhammad Ali created

10382-438: The 18th. Numbering at first 11,000 men, Kitchener's force was armed with the most modern military equipment of the time, including Maxim machine-guns and modern artillery, and was supported by a flotilla of gunboats on the Nile. Their advance was slow and methodical, while fortified camps were built along the way, and two separate 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) Narrow gauge railways were hastily constructed from

10561-419: The 9th, 2nd, and 7th Divisions of the Army had been ordered into Cairo to help restore order. On 3 July 2013, the Egyptian Armed Forces launched a coup d'état against the elected government of Mohamed Morsi following mass protests demanding his resignation. On 8 July 2013, clashes between the Republican Guard and pro-Morsi supporters left 61 protestors killed. On 14 August 2013, the Egyptian Army along with

10740-412: The Armed Forces. As of 2023, the army has an estimated strength of 310,000 of which approximately 90,000–120,000 are professionals and the rest conscripts. There exists an additional 375,000 reservists. For most of its long history, ancient Egypt was unified under one government. There were three kingdoms and two intermediate periods. During the three kingdoms Egypt was unified under one government. During

10919-412: The British government supported a program whereby an Anglo-French debt commission assumed responsibility for managing Egypt's fiscal affairs. This commission eventually forced Khedive Ismail to abdicate in favor of his son Tawfiq in 1879, leading to a period of political turmoil. Also in 1873, Ismail had appointed General Charles "Chinese" Gordon to be Governor of the Equatorial Provinces of Sudan. For

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11098-489: The Egyptian Army into the Gulf War coalition of 1990–91, during which the Egyptian II Corps under Major General Salah Halabi , with 3rd Mechanized Division and 4th Armoured Division , fought as part of the Arab Joint Forces Command North. The deployed force performed appallingly. It was unable to move up the first attack time after a request from overall commander U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf ; halted after 'desultory' Iraqi artillery fire; continued to move so slowly that on

11277-523: The Egyptian Army led to a mutual "mistrust and contempt" between officers and the men who served under them. Egyptian troops were excellent in defensive operations, but had little capacity for offensive operations, owing to the lack of "rapport and effective small-unit leadership". Tsouras writes that the mobilised strength of the army in October 1956 was 100,000, in 18 brigades (of which 10 were infantry, 2 armoured, 1 armoured training, and 1 medium machine-gun). The main manoeuvre formations were concentrated in

11456-402: The Egyptian Delegation to the United Nations, say this is incorrect. Troops were dispatched to UNPROFOR (a battalion of 410 men), UNOSOM II in Somalia, the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) (328 troops in June 1999), and MONUC (15 troops in 2004). The Egyptian contribution in the Congo expanded significantly after 2004; in 2013, an Egyptian battalion was part of

11635-514: The Egyptian army marched north into Anatolia . At the Battle of Konya (21 December 1832), Ibrahim Pasha soundly defeated the Ottoman army led by the sadr azam Grand Vizier Reshid Pasha. There were now no military obstacles between Ibrahim's forces and Constantinople itself. Through the course of the campaign, Muhammad Ali paid particular focus to the European powers. Fearing another intervention that would reverse all his gains, he proceeded slowly and cautiously. For example, Muhammad Ali continued

11814-428: The Egyptian field commanders complained of a total lack of topographical maps causing a real problem in the first months of the war. There was a separate command for the Egyptian Army (created) on March 25, 1964, but it was officially abolished after the Six-Day War of 1967 , so that the command of the land formations returned directly to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces , and the ground formations were divided to

11993-442: The Egyptian's lax religious standards and willingness to appoint non-Muslims such as the Christian Charles Gordon to high positions, and Sudanese Sufi resistance to "dry, scholastic Islam of Egyptian officialdom." Another widely reported source of frustration was the Egyptian abolition of the slave trade, one of the main sources of income in Sudan at the time. In the 1870s, a Muslim cleric named Muhammad Ahmad preached renewal of

12172-421: The Kavala Volunteer Contingent of Albanian mercenaries that was sent to re-occupy Egypt following General Napoleon Bonaparte's withdrawal. In 1801, his unit was sent, as part of a much larger Ottoman force, to re-occupy Egypt following a brief French occupation that upended Mamluk dominance in Egypt. The expedition, aboard xebecs , landed at Aboukir in the spring of 1801. One of his trusted army commanders

12351-408: The Levant; in return, he and his descendants were granted hereditary rule over Egypt and Sudan. His dynasty would rule Egypt for over a century, until the revolution of 1952 when King Farouk was overthrown by the Free Officers Movement led by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser , establishing the Republic of Egypt . Muhammad Ali was born in the Sanjak of Kavala (modern-day Kavala ), in

12530-408: The Mahdi assembled an army of about 40,000 men and drilled them rigorously in the art of war , equipping them with the arms and ammunition captured in previous battles. On 3 and 4 November 1883, when Hicks' forces offered battle, the Mahdist army was a credible military force, which defeated Hicks' army with only about 500 Egyptians surviving the Battle of El Obeid . At this time, the British Empire

12709-536: The Mahdi legitimized his movement by drawing deliberate parallels to the life of Muhammad . He called his followers Ansar , after the people who greeted Muhammad in Medina , and he called his flight from the British, the hijrah , after Muhammad's flight from the Quraysh . The Mahdi also appointed commanders to represent three of the four Righteous Caliphs ; for example, he announced that Abdullahi ibn Muhammad , his eventual successor, represented Abu Bakr Al Sidiq , Muhammad's successor. The Egyptian administration in

12888-472: The Mahdi. When this idea was vetoed by the British government, Gordon proposed a number of alternative means to salvage his situation successively to his British superiors. All were similarly vetoed. Among them were: Eventually it became impossible for Gordon to be relieved without British troops. An expedition was duly dispatched under Sir Garnet Wolseley , but as the level of the White Nile fell through

13067-519: The Mahdist War progressed, these textiles became more standardised and specifically colour coded to denote military rank and regiment. Sufi flags typically feature the Muslim shahada – "There is no God but Allah; Muḥammad is Allah’s Messenger" – and the name of the sect’s founder, an individual usually regarded as a saint. The Mahdi adapted this form of flag for military purposes. A quotation from

13246-461: The Mahdist dispositions, both men wrote detailed accounts of their experiences in Sudan. Written in collaboration with Reginald Wingate , a proponent of the reconquest of Sudan, both works emphasized the savagery and barbarism of the Mahdists, and through the wide publicity they received in Britain, served to influence public opinion in favour of military intervention. In 1896, when Italy suffered

13425-430: The Ottoman Empire. He used several new strategies to ensure the success of his new military. First new recruits were isolated from the environment they were used to. They began housing soldiers in barracks, leadership enforced a strict regime of surveillance, roll call was done several times a day, and corporal punishment used to ensure the new fighting force grew to become a strong disciplined military. The army often used

13604-426: The Pasha enforced conscription in 1822 and the new military recruits were mostly Egyptian farmers, also known as fellah . Because of harsh military practices, the 130,000 soldiers conscripted in 1822 revolted in the south in 1824. The Pasha's goal was to create military order through indoctrination by two new major key practices: isolation and surveillance. In previous times, the wives and family were allowed to follow

13783-724: The Saudis began conquering parts of Arabia. This culminated in the capture of the Hejaz region by 1805. With the main Ottoman army tied up in Europe, Mahmud II turned to Muhammad Ali to recapture the Arabian territories . Muhammad Ali in turn appointed his son, Tusun , to lead a military expedition in 1811. The campaign was initially turned back in Arabia; however, a second attack was launched in 1812 that succeeded in recapturing Hejaz. While

13962-625: The Second Army and Third Army in the east, most of the remaining troops were stationed in the Nile Delta region, around the upper Nile, and along the Libyan border. These troops were organised into eight military districts, later reduced to five major regions. Commando and airborne units were stationed near Cairo under central control but could be transferred quickly to one of the field armies if needed. District commanders, who generally held

14141-614: The Sinai campaign and would perform even greater service and hardships during the coming Palestine campaign. It has been estimated that a million Egyptians (seemingly labourers) participated in the First World War during the reign of Hussein Kamel of Egypt , of whom half a million perished. Before the Second World War, "military service was compulsory for men between the ages of nineteen and twenty-seven, but because of

14320-474: The Sinai which turned into a rout. By November 1957, the CIA wrote that the Egyptian ground forces were estimated to have a strength of 70,000 in combat units, and a total strength of 100,000. While there were three infantry divisions & one armoured division headquarters, they only performed administrative duties. The largest Egyptian combat units were the seven infantry brigades and four armoured groups. Later,

14499-703: The Sinai. In the weeks before the Six-Day War began, Egypt made several significant army organisational changes. Field Marshal Amer created a new command interposed between the general staff and the Eastern Military District commander, Lieutenant General Salah ad-Din Muhsin . This new Sinai Front Command was placed under General Abdel Mohsin Murtagi , who had returned from Yemen in May 1967. Six of

14678-407: The Sudan, now thoroughly concerned by the scale of the uprising, assembled a force of 4,000 troops under Yusef Pasha. In mid-1882, this force approached the Mahdist gathering, whose members were poorly clothed, half starving, and armed only with sticks and stones. However, supreme overconfidence led the Egyptian army into camping within sight of the Mahdist 'army' without posting sentries. The Mahdi led

14857-406: The Sudan. During Muhammad Ali Pasha 's reign, the Egyptian army became a much more strictly regimented and professional army. The recruits were separated from daily civilian life and a sense of impersonal law was imposed. Muhammad Ali Pasha previously attempted to create an army of Sudanese slaves and Mamluks , but most died under the intense military training and practices of the Pasha. Instead,

15036-558: The Suez Canal but halted their advance at Sidi Barrani , waiting for engineers to build a road, and further supplies. A British counter-offensive, Operation Compass , began in December 1940 with the invasion of Libya. After significant gains, they were repulsed by German reinforcements under German General Erwin Rommel , who reinvaded Egypt and again were pushed out after the Second Battle of El-Alamein . U.S. diplomats wrote in 1952 that

15215-686: The Suez Canal, the Ottomans attempted multiple raids and campaigns against the Sinai, in hopes to cut off British shipping and take British Egypt. Ultimately, the Ottomans were repulsed and the British advanced into Palestine. By 1917, 15,000 Egyptian volunteers were serving in the Egyptian Army, deployed mainly in the Sudan with three battalions in the Egyptian Expeditionary Force , along with 98,000 labourers, 23,000 of whom were serving overseas. The number of Egyptian enlistments could not be increased as conscription could threaten

15394-681: The army fought in the North Yemen Civil War from 1962 to 1967, and the 1967 Six-Day War . Within three months of sending troops to Yemen in 1962, Nasser realized that the engagement would require a larger commitment than anticipated. By early 1963, he would begin a four-year campaign to extricate Egyptian forces from Yemen, using an unsuccessful face-saving mechanism, only to find himself committing more troops. A little less than 5,000 troops were sent in October 1962. Two months later, Egypt had 15,000 regular troops deployed. By late 1963,

15573-432: The army wherever they camped. This was no longer the case. The Pasha sought to create a whole new life for the soldier distinct from that of civilian life. In order to be completely indoctrinated and adapted to the military, they needed to be stripped of their daily lives, habits, and practices. Inside these barracks, soldiers were also subjected to new practices. The rules and regulations were not made to inflict punishment on

15752-584: The attack was quickly repulsed. The Israelis then counterattacked at the juncture of the Second and Third Armies, crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt, and began slowly advancing southward and westward in over a week of heavy fighting which inflicted heavy casualties on both sides. Between the 18th and 22 of October, the IDF fought in the Port City of Ismalia in order to encircle Egypt's second army, but failed to capture

15931-740: The balance of power in the East Mediterranean. On 20 October 1827 at the Battle of Navarino , while under the command of Muharram Bey, the Ottoman representative, the entire Egyptian navy was sunk by the European Allied fleet, under the command of Admiral Edward Codrington . If the Porte was not in the least prepared for this confrontation, Muhammad Ali was even less prepared for the loss of his highly competent, expensively assembled and maintained navy. With its fleet essentially destroyed, Egypt had no way to support its forces in Greece and

16110-498: The barracks. In order to accomplish this Muhammad Ali relied on the Bedouins to guard the troops that were sent to the training camps. Despite being hired to control the troops the Bedouins were actually a menace to the government who often had to use the army to control the Bedouins. In order to combat this the government slowly switched from using Bedouins to guard the soldiers and to capture deserters and instead attempted to set up

16289-558: The battle constituted "the first decisive victory yet won by Europeans against the Sudanese revolutionaries". A year later, Italian colonial forces seized Kassala after the successful Battle of Kassala . In 1891 a Catholic priest, Father Joseph Ohrwalder , escaped from captivity in Sudan. In 1895 the former Governor of Darfur, Rudolf Carl von Slatin , managed to escape from the Khalifa's prison. Besides providing vital intelligence on

16468-405: The camp surveillance, the soldier is still closely watched. The Pasha himself also served as a form of surveillance. The law and its strict implementation thereof gave the impression of the Pasha's constant presence. The Pasha highly regarded law and fabricated in his society a strong link between crime and punishment. If a soldier committed crime, its discovery was assumed to be definite along with

16647-537: The campaign was successful, the power of the Saudis was not broken. They continued to harass Ottoman and Egyptian forces from the central Nejd region of the Peninsula. Consequently, Muhammad Ali dispatched another of his sons, Ibrahim, at the head of another army to finally rout the Saudis. After a two-year campaign, the Saudis were crushed and most of the Saudi family was captured. The family leader, Abdullah ibn Saud ,

16826-416: The capacity to produce a further 50,000 rounds per week, and 7,000 Egyptian soldiers. But outside the walls, the Mahdi had mustered about 50,000 Dervish soldiers, and as time went on, the chances of a successful breakout became slim. Gordon had enthusiastically supported the idea of recalling the notorious former slaver Al-Zubayr Rahma from exile in Egypt to organize and lead a popular uprising against

17005-700: The cases where a hakima was used to examine a woman. In the 1820s, Muhammad Ali sent the first educational "mission" of Egyptian students to Europe. This contact resulted in literature that is considered the dawn of the Arabic literary renaissance, known as the Nahda . To support the modernization of industry and the military, Muhammad Ali set up a number of schools in various fields where French texts were studied. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi supervised translations from French to Arabic on topics ranging from sociology and history to military technology. In 1819/21, his government founded

17184-593: The city after heroic resistance. On October 22 a United Nations-brokered ceasefire quickly unraveled, with each side blaming the other for the breach. By October 24, the Israelis had improved their positions considerably and completed their encirclement of Egypt's Third Army and the city of Suez. This development led to tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. As a result, a second ceasefire

17363-556: The colour and inscriptions of the flags were established. As the Mahdist forces became more organized, the word "flag" (rayya) came to mean a division of troops or a body of troops under a commander. The flags were colour coded to direct soldiers of the three main divisions of the Mahdist army – the Black, Green and Red Banners (rāyāt). The patched muraqqa'a , and later, the jibba , was a garment traditionally worn by followers of Sufi religious orders. The ragged, patched garment symbolised

17542-411: The conflict drew on, the local populace grew weary of the power struggle. In 1801, he allied with the Egyptian leader Umar Makram and Egypt's Grand Imam of al-Azhar . During the infighting between the Ottomans and Mamluks between 1801 and 1805, Muhammad Ali carefully acted to gain the support of the general public. In 1805, a group of prominent Egyptians led by the ulama (scholars, savants) demanded

17721-696: The decaying Ottoman Empire. He summed up his vision for Egypt as follows: I am well aware that the (Ottoman) Empire is heading by the day toward destruction... On its ruins I will build a vast kingdom... up to the Euphrates and the Tigris. Sultan Selim III (reigned 1789–1807) had recognized the need to reform and modernize the Ottoman military , along European lines, to ensure that his state could compete. Selim III, however, faced stiff local opposition from an entrenched clergy and military apparatus, especially from

17900-445: The entire endeavour employed tens of thousands of Egyptians. Muhammad Ali used contracts called concessions to build cheap infrastructure – dams and railroads – whereby foreign European companies would raise capital, build projects, and collect most of the operating revenue but would provide Ali's government with a portion of that revenue. Ali also granted Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin permission to build technical schools modeled after

18079-558: The exercise was Israel. The exercises in the Sinai were part of a larger exercise that involved 35,000 men in total. Egypt conducted another Badr exercise, the largest military exercise since 1996 in 2014. Up until the end of the Cold War, Egyptian military participation in UN peacekeeping operations had been restricted to a battalion with ONUC in the Congo. The Egyptians appear to have arrived by September 1960, but left by early 1961 after

18258-571: The expectation of internment from the beginning of the soldiers stay at the training camps in order to deter them from deserting the military in the first place. Muhammad Ali's first military campaign was an expedition into the Arabian Peninsula . The holy cities of Mecca , and Medina had been captured by the House of Saud , who had recently embraced a literalist Hanbali interpretation of Islam . Armed with their newfound religious zeal,

18437-530: The faith and liberation of the land, and began attracting followers. Soon in open revolt against the Egyptians, Muhammad Ahmad proclaimed himself the Mahdi , the promised redeemer of the Islamic world. In August 1881 the then-governor of the Sudan, Rauf Pasha , sent two companies of infantry each with one machine gun to arrest him. The captains of the two companies were each promised promotion if their soldiers were

18616-615: The fellah into disciplined soldiers. In 1882, with the Anglo-Egyptian War , the independence of Egypt ended when it came under British occupation . Though it maintained a level of autonomy, it was essentially a British protectorate . Under British control it participated in World War I against the Ottoman Empire. In 1914 the Egyptian Army was a largely native home-defence force. It comprised 17 battalions of infantry (8 Sudanese and 9 Egyptian), 3 companies of mounted infantry,

18795-585: The fertile Nile River valley. Nevertheless, the great expanses of the desert formed a barrier that protected the river valley and was almost impossible for massive armies to cross. The Egyptians built fortresses and outposts along the borders east and west of the Nile Delta, in the Eastern Desert, and in Nubia to the south. Small garrisons could prevent minor incursions, but if a large force was detected

18974-585: The first indigenous press in the Arab World, the Bulaq Press . The Bulaq press published the official gazette of Muhammad Ali's government. Among his personal interests was the accumulation and breeding of Arabian horses . In horses obtained as taxes and tribute , Muhammad Ali recognized the unique characteristics and careful attention to bloodlines of the horses bred by the Bedouin , particularly by

19153-553: The first serious engagement of the campaign occurred, when Kitchener led a 9,000 strong force that wiped out the Mahdist garrison at Ferkeh . In 1898, in the context of the scramble for Africa , the British decided to reassert Egypt's claim on Sudan. An expedition commanded by Kitchener was organised in Egypt. It was composed of 8,200 British soldiers and 17,600 Egyptian and Sudanese soldiers commanded by British officers. The Mahdist forces were more numerous, numbering more than 60,000 warriors, but lacked modern weapons. After defeating

19332-538: The foreign trading companies that had established themselves in the cities and towns of central Sudan. The jallaba were also known to be slave trading tribes. By the middle 19th century the Ottoman Imperial subject administration in Egypt was in the hands of Khedive Ismail . Khedive Ismail's spending had put Egypt into a large amount of debt, and when his financing of the Suez Canal started to crumble,

19511-581: The greatest threat to Muhammad Ali. They controlled Egypt for more than 600 years, and over that time they extended their rule systematically south along the Nile River to Upper Egypt. Muhammad Ali's approach was to eliminate the Mamluk leadership, then move against the rank and file. Muhammad Ali invited the Mamluk leaders to a celebration at the Cairo Citadel in honour of his son, Tusun Pasha , who

19690-411: The hakimas was overseeing childbirth, the majority of the population continued to use the dayas. Hakimas performed almost no deliveries and often were only called upon during difficult deliveries. However, dayas were required to have a certificate to perform deliveries, which could only be obtained from hakimas. They were also expected to report statistics on births to the hakimas. A significant issue

19869-480: The individual farmers, as the average wage increased fourfold. In addition to bolstering the agricultural sector, Muhammad Ali built an industrial base for Egypt. His motivation for doing so was primarily an effort to build a modern military. Consequently, he focused on weapons production. Factories based in Cairo produced muskets and cannons . With a shipyard he built in Alexandria , he began construction of

20048-666: The initial party of a group of about 30 officers. After the defeat of the Egyptian army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , dissatisfied Egyptian officers created a secret organisation, the Free Officers . Led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser , the Free Officers overthrew King Farouk in the Egyptian coup d'état of 1952 . The Free Officers then concluded the Anglo–Egyptian Agreement of 1954 , made during

20227-677: The intent of conquering the territory and subjugating it to his authority. Ali's troops made headway into Sudan in 1821, but met with fierce resistance by the Shaigiya . Ultimately, the superiority of the Egyptian troops and firearms ensured the defeat of the Shaigiya and the subsequent conquest of the Sudan. Ali now had an outpost from which he could expand to the source of the Nile in Ethiopia , and Uganda . His administration captured slaves from

20406-546: The intermediate periods between kingdoms government control was in the hands of the various nomes (provinces within Egypt) and various foreigners. This circumstance set the stage for many of Egypt's military conquests. They weakened their enemies by using small projectile weapons, like bows and arrows. They also had chariots which they used to charge at the enemy. The arid plains and deserts surrounding Egypt were inhabited by nomadic tribes who occasionally tried to raid or settle in

20585-495: The intervening years, Egypt had not renounced their claims over Sudan, and the British authorities considered these claims legitimate. Under strict control by British administrators, Egypt's economy had been rebuilt, and the Egyptian army reformed, this time trained and led by British officers and non-commissioned officers . The situation evolved in a way that allowed Egypt, both politically and militarily, to reconquer Sudan. Since 1890, Italian troops had defeated Mahdist troops in

20764-477: The island of Crete in exchange for his support in putting down the revolt. Muhammad Ali sent 16,000 soldiers, 100 transports, and 63 escort vessels under command of his son, Ibrahim Pasha . After Ibrahim sustained successive defeats in Greece (see Ottoman–Egyptian invasion of Mani ) Britain , France , and Russia intervened to aid the Greek revolution as a check on Ibrahim's expansionist agenda which threatened

20943-558: The junior officers again found themselves the victims of graft, corruption and favoritism by the Palace clique." By 1950, King Farouk was recruiting former German Wehrmacht army officers to advise the army, replacing the British Military Mission, which had left Egypt in 1947. Generals Wilhelm Fahrmbacher and Oskar Munzel led the advisors, who stayed until 1958. Fahrmbacher and six aides arrived in Egypt in 1950 as

21122-432: The limited size of the army—about 23,000 in 1939—few were actually conscripted. During World War II, Egypt's army grew to about 100,000 troops. Britain maintained a strong influence […] and provided it with equipment, instruction, and technicians. Under the terms of the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 , British troops remained in the country to defend the Suez Canal." In 1940 the Egyptian Army included three infantry brigades,

21301-525: The lower levels of command. A shortage of well-trained enlisted personnel became a serious problem for the army as it adopted increasingly complex weapons systems. Observers estimated in 1986 that 75 percent of all conscripts were illiterate when they entered the military. Since the 1980s the army has built closer and closer ties with the United States , as evidenced in the bi-annual Operation Bright Star exercises. This cooperation eased integration of

21480-560: The military, economic and cultural spheres. He also initiated a violent purge of the Mamluks , consolidating his rule and permanently ending the Mamluk hold over Egypt. Militarily, Ali recaptured the Arabian territories for the sultan, and conquered Sudan of his own accord. His attempt at suppressing the Greek rebellion failed decisively, however, following an intervention by the European powers at Navarino . In 1831, Ali waged war against

21659-558: The mission, with at least a company stationed at the Kavumu airfield in South Kivu . Today conscripts without a college degree serve three years as enlisted soldiers. Conscripts with a General Secondary School degree serve two years as enlisted soldiers. Conscripts with a college degree serve 14 months as enlisted or 27 months as a reserve officer. On 31 January 2011, during the Egyptian revolution of 2011 , Israeli media reported that

21838-465: The month of October, with Great Britain. It stipulated a phased evacuation of British troops from the Suez base, agreed to withdrawal of all troops within 20 months (that is, June 1956); maintenance of the base was to be continued; and allowed Britain to hold the right to return for seven years. The last British combat unit left by 24 March 1956. Soon afterwards, the Suez Crisis arose, known in Egypt and

22017-410: The morning of the third day of the war, still had not taken their first day's objectives; and could not reorient themselves in order to take up an invitation to join a ceremonial joint Arab entry into Kuwait City until Schwarzkopf was able to get Hosni Mubarak to give a direct order to the Egyptian commander to do so. The Army conducted Exercise Badr '96 in 1996 in the Sinai. The virtual enemy during

22196-406: The next three years, General Gordon fought against a native chieftain of Darfur , Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur . Upon Ismail's abdication in 1877, Gordon found himself with dramatically decreased support. Exhausted by years of work, he resigned his post in 1880 and left early the next year. His policies were soon abandoned by the new governors, but the anger and discontent of the dominant Arab minority

22375-536: The number was increased to 36,000; and in late 1964, the number rose to 50,000 Egyptian troops in Yemen. Late 1965 represented the high-water mark of Egyptian troop commitment in Yemen at 55,000 troops, which were broken into 13 infantry regiments of one artillery division, one tank division from the Egyptian Armoured Corps and several Special Forces as well as airborne regiments (Aboul-Enein, p21). All

22554-400: The ones to return the Mahdi to the governor. Both companies disembarked from the steamer that had brought them up the Nile to Aba Island and approached the Mahdi's village from separate directions. Arriving simultaneously, each force began to fire blindly on the other, allowing the Mahdi's scant followers to attack and destroy each force in turn at the Battle of Aba . The Mahdi then began

22733-543: The organisation of the Mahdist forces. The flags, banners, and patched tunics ( jibba ) worn and used in battle by the anṣār had both military and religious significance. As a result, textile items like these make up a large portion of the booty which was taken back to Britain after the British victory over the Mahdist forces at the Battle of Omdurman in 1899. Mahdist flags and jibbas were adapted from traditional styles of textiles used by adherents of Sufi orders in Sudan. As

22912-540: The outside world. Gordon's position in Khartoum was very strong, as the city was bordered to the north and east by the Blue Nile , to the west by the White Nile , and to the south by fortifications (dry ditch and ramparts constructed by Gordon's predecessor, colonel De Coetlogon) looking on to a vast expanse of desert. Gordon had food for an estimated six months, several million rounds of ammunition in store, with

23091-699: The peace were that Ali would withdraw his forces from Anatolia and receive the territories of Crete (then known as Candia) and the Hijaz as compensation, and Ibrahim Pasha would be appointed Wāli of Syria. The peace agreement fell short, however, of granting Muhammad Ali an independent kingdom for himself, leaving him wanting. Mahdist War Allied victory British-Egyptian expeditions (1885–1889) Ethiopian campaigns (1885–1889) Italian campaigns (1890–1894) British-Egyptian reconquest (1896–1899) The Mahdist War ( Arabic : الثورة المهدية , romanized :  ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya ; 1881–1899)

23270-537: The police carried out the Rabaa massacre , killing more than 987 people. Human Rights Watch wrote: Muhammad Ali of Egypt Muhammad Ali (4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849) was the Ottoman Albanian viceroy and governor who became the de facto ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, widely considered the founder of modern Egypt . At the height of his rule, he controlled Egypt, Sudan , Hejaz ,

23449-526: The popular independence struggle of the self-proclaimed Mahdi , Muhammad Ahmad , in 1881. While Muhammad Ali was expanding his authority into Africa, the Ottoman Empire was being challenged by ethnic rebellions in its European territories. The rebellion in the Greek provinces of the Ottoman Empire began in 1821. The Ottoman army proved ineffectual in its attempts to put down the revolt as ethnic violence spread as far as Constantinople. With his own army proving ineffective, Sultan Mahmud II offered Muhammad Ali

23628-457: The practice of using the sultan's name at Friday prayers in the newly captured territories and continued to circulate Ottoman coins instead of issuing new ones bearing his likeness. So long as Muhammad Ali's march did not threaten to cause the complete collapse of the Ottoman state, the powers in Europe remained as passive observers. Despite this show, Muhammad Ali's goal was now to remove the current Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II and replace him with

23807-612: The production of much needed food and cotton and the stability of Egypt. Also by this time, much of the railway lines in Egypt that were not crucial to the production of cotton, sugar, cereals and forages, had already been lifted and used on the military railway, except the Khedivial Railway from Alexandria to Dabaa which was available for emergencies. The Egyptian Labour Corps and the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps performed invaluable service during

23986-551: The province of Bogos , which had been occupied by Egypt, and began a long campaign to relieve the Egyptian garrisons besieged by the Mahdists. The bitter campaigning was led by the Emperor Yohannes IV and Ras Alula . The Ethiopians under Ras Alula achieved a victory in the Battle of Kufit on 23 September 1885. Between November 1885 and February 1886, Yohannes IV was putting down a revolt in Wollo . In January 1886,

24165-484: The punishment thereof. For example, a deserter would receive 15 days imprisonment and 200 lashes for his crime. The harsh punishment, coupled with the fact that roll was called three times daily, dispelled any thought of desertion on the part of the soldier. The previous conception of punishment changed from vengeance to certainty. By far the biggest military reform in this period was crafting the military mindset into one of absolute obedience to prevent any want of dissent. As

24344-457: The rank of major general, maintained liaison with governors and other civil authorities on matters of domestic security. Decision making in the army continued to be highly centralized during the 1980s. Officers below brigade level rarely made tactical decisions and required the approval of higher-ranking authorities before they modified any operations. Senior army officers were aware of this situation and began taking steps to encourage initiative at

24523-415: The recruits but rather to impose a sense of respect for the law; the threat of punishment was enough to keep them in line and from deserting . The roll-call was taken twice a day and those found missing would be declared deserters and would have to face the punishment for their actions. Troops were kept busy to prevent the men from being left idle in the camps. The trivial tasks that filled the soldiers live

24702-496: The replacement of Wāli (governor) Ahmad Khurshid Pasha by Muhammad Ali, and the Ottomans yielded. In 1809, though, Ali exiled Makram to Damietta . According to Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti , Makram had discovered Muhammad Ali's intentions to seize power for himself. Sultan Selim III could not oppose Muhammad Ali's ascension. By appearing as the champion of the people, Muhammad Ali was able to forestall popular opposition until he had consolidated his power. The Mamluks still posed

24881-421: The same destructive behavior. Thus, with the new isolation practices, there was more peace in civilian life. Isolation also allowed for more intense surveillance. The idea was to promote order through initial obedience rather than through punishment. Though this idea seems humane in nature, the change in mindset went from trust to mistrust and the consequences of disobedience were often fatal. Complete subservience

25060-636: The scale of the conflict to include not only Britain and Egypt but also the Italian Empire , the Congo Free State and the Ethiopian Empire . Following Muhammad Ali 's invasion in 1819, Sudan was governed by an Egyptian administration . Throughout the period of Egyptian rule, many segments of the Sudanese population suffered extreme hardship because of the system of taxation imposed by the central government. Under this system,

25239-425: The seven divisions in the Sinai (with the exception of the 20th Infantry 'Palestinian' Division ) had their commanders and chiefs of staff replaced. What fragmentary information is available suggests to authors such as Pollack that Amer was trying to improve the competence of the force, replacing political appointees with veterans of the Yemen war. After the war began on 5 June 1967, Israel attacked Egypt and occupied

25418-411: The soldiers left their old lives for their new military life, they learned their new place in society through their own unique law code and practice. The transition from corporal punishment as the official policy for punishment to imprisonment is important to the modernization of Egypt's army. The reasoning was that the law can always be applied and a soldier can always be punished for his crimes and that

25597-437: The state. The state in turn resold Egyptian goods, within Egypt and to foreign markets, and retained the surplus. The practice proved very profitable for Egypt with the cultivation of long staple cotton , a new cash crop . To help improve production, he expanded the land used for agriculture and overhauled the irrigation system, largely completed by the corvée , or forced peasant labor. The new-found profits also extended down to

25776-440: The sultan , capturing Syria, crossing into Anatolia and directly threatening Constantinople , but the European powers forced him to retreat. After a failed Ottoman invasion of Syria in 1839, he launched another invasion of the Ottoman Empire in 1840; he defeated the Ottomans again and opened the way towards a capture of Constantinople. Faced with another European intervention, he accepted a brokered peace in 1842 and withdrew from

25955-409: The sultan's son, the infant Abdülmecid . This possibility so alarmed Mahmud II that he accepted Russia's offer of military aid resulting in the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi . Russia's gain dismayed the British and French governments, resulting in their direct intervention. From this position, the European powers brokered a negotiated solution in May 1833 known as the Convention of Kutahya . The terms of

26134-446: The summer of 1883, Egyptian troops were concentrated at Khartoum, eventually reaching the strength of around 7,300 infantry , 1,000 cavalry , and an artillery force of 300 personnel hauling between them 4 Krupp 80mm field guns, 10 brass mountain guns and 6 Nordenfeldt machine guns. This force was placed under the command of a retired British Indian Staff Corps officer William Hicks and twelve European officers. The force was, in

26313-491: The town. Gordon's brother, H. W. Gordon, was of the opinion that the British officers could easily have escaped from Khartoum up until 14 December 1884. Whether or not it was the Mahdi's intention, in March 1884, the Sudanese tribes to the north of Khartoum, who had previously been sympathetic or neutral towards the Egyptian authorities, rose in support of the Mahdi. The telegraph lines between Khartoum and Cairo were cut on 15 March, severing communication between Khartoum and

26492-443: The two actions it fought, it failed to change the military situation and was withdrawn. These events temporarily ended British and Egyptian involvement in Sudan, which passed completely under the control of the Mahdists. Muhammad Ahmad died soon after his victory, on 22 June 1885, and was succeeded by the Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad , who proved to be an able, albeit ruthless, ruler of the Mahdist State . Between 1886 and 1889

26671-433: The vast difficulty of the task. Egypt's garrisons were scattered widely across the country; three— Sennar , Tokar and Sinkat—were under siege, and the majority of the territory between them was under the control of the Mahdi. There was no guarantee that, if the garrisons were to sortie , even with the clear intention of withdrawing, they would not be defeated by the Mahdist forces. Khartoum's Egyptian and European population

26850-424: The wheels for the conquest of Syria were set in motion. Like other rulers of Egypt before him, Ali desired to control Bilad al-Sham (the Levant), both for its strategic value and for its rich natural resources; nor was this a sudden, vindictive decision on the part of Ali since he had harboured this goal since his early years as Egypt's unofficial ruler. For not only had Syria abundant natural resources, it also had

27029-425: The winter, muddy 'beaches' at the foot of the walls were exposed. With starvation and cholera rampant in the city and the Egyptian troops' morale shattered, Gordon's position became untenable and the city fell on 26 January 1885, after a siege of 313 days. The British Government , under strong pressure from the public reluctantly sent a relief column under Sir Garnet Wolseley to relieve the Khartoum garrison. This

27208-430: The words of Winston Churchill , "perhaps the worst army that has ever marched to war" —unpaid, untrained, and undisciplined, its soldiers having more in common with their enemies than with their officers. El Obeid , the city whose siege Hicks had intended to relieve, had already fallen by the time the expedition left Khartoum, but Hicks continued anyway, although not confident of his chances of success. Upon his approach,

27387-417: Was Miralay Mustafa Bey, who had married Muhammad's sister Zubayda and was the ancestor of the Yeghen family. The French withdrawal left a power vacuum in Egypt. Mamluk power had been weakened, but not destroyed, and Ottoman forces clashed with the Mamluks for power. During this period of turmoil, Muhammad Ali used his loyal Albanian troops to work with both sides, gaining power and prestige for himself. As

27566-451: Was a gifted officer, who had gained renown commanding Imperial Chinese forces during the Taiping Rebellion . However, he was also renowned for his aggression and rigid personal honour , which, in the eyes of several prominent British officials in Egypt, made him unsuitable for the task. Sir Evelyn Baring was particularly opposed to Gordon's appointment, but was overruled by Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Earl Granville . Gordon

27745-477: Was a new tax on waqf endowments, which were previously tax-free. Through these endowments, personal income could be set aside for schools or other charitable purposes. As well as raising revenue to fund his new military, this tax took revenue away from the local elite, Mamluks and the ulama, weakening opposition to Muhammad Ali's reforms. In practice, Muhammad Ali's land reform amounted to a monopoly on trade in Egypt. He required all producers to sell their goods to

27924-546: Was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese , led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah , who had proclaimed himself the " Mahdi " of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt , initially, and later the forces of Britain . Eighteen years of war resulted in the creation of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1899–1956), a de jure condominium of the British Empire , and the Kingdom of Egypt , in which Britain had de facto control over Sudan. The Sudanese launched several unsuccessful invasions of their neighbours, expanding

28103-554: Was a way Muhammad Ali was able to pull influence from Europe. He started gradually reforming the government in a way that increased his influence and reduced that of the Sultan. He implemented a police force (principally in Cairo and Alexandria) that combined public order and prosecutorial functions. Strict Shari'a rules of evidence were relaxed, and modern evidence, particularly autopsy reports, became increasingly important in investigations and trials. In 1832, Muhammad Ali allowed Antoine Clot , known as "Clot Bey" in Egypt, to establish

28282-405: Was also engaged heavily in the protracted North Yemen Civil War , and the brief Egyptian–Libyan War in July 1977. Its last major engagement was Operation Desert Storm , the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, in which the Egyptian army constituted the second-largest contingent of the allied forces. The Egyptian Ground Forces are under the direct command of the Chief of Staff of

28461-447: Was ambushed and slaughtered on the night of 9 December 1881. Like the earlier Aba Island force, this force consisted of two 200 man strong Egyptian raised infantry companies, this time augmented with an additional 1,000 native irregulars , the force commander – Colonel Rashid Bay Ahman – and all his principal leadership team were killed. It is unknown if any of Colonel Ahman's troops survived. As these military incursions were happening,

28640-409: Was an attempt to keep the men constantly engaged in useful tasks and not thinking about leaving. There were also many other reasons why the Pasha enforced this strict isolation. Previously, soldiers would ransack towns and cause mayhem wherever they went. Military disobedience was so frequent that the Bedouins were employed to keep the soldiers in check. This backfired when the Bedouins also indulged in

28819-478: Was conducted in an orderly fashion. The Egyptian government, through British Consul-general in Egypt Sir Evelyn Baring (later the Earl of Cromer ), asked for a British officer to be sent to the Sudan to co-ordinate the withdrawal of the garrisons. It was hoped that Mahdist forces would judge an attack on a British subject to be too great a risk, and hence allow the withdrawal to proceed without incident. The British government proposed to send Charles Gordon . Gordon

28998-685: Was crucial to maintain a healthy population. He believed that the untrained local dayas (midwives) were unable to provide appropriate care and under Egyptian law, male doctors could not treat women. Clot Bey's solution was a school to train female doctors. The school of medicine for women followed a French model. The first two years of training provided Arabic literacy in order to communicate with patients. The following four included training in: obstetrics, pre- and post-natal care, dressing wounds, cauterization, vaccination, scarification, cupping, application of leeches, identification/preparation of common medicines. Students were provided housing, food, clothes and

29177-544: Was described in some British papers as the 'Gordon Relief Expedition', a term Gordon strongly objected to. After defeating the Mahdists at the Battle of Abu Klea on 17 January 1885, the column arrived within sight of Khartoum at the end of January, only to find they were too late: the city had fallen two days earlier, and Gordon and the garrison had been massacred. The British also sent an expeditionary force under Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Graham , including an Indian contingent, to Suakin in March 1885. Though successful in

29356-481: Was eventually given the mission, but he was to be accompanied by the much more level-headed and reliable Colonel John Stewart . It was intended that Stewart, while nominally Gordon's subordinate, would act as a brake on the latter and ensure that Sudan was evacuated quickly and peacefully. Gordon left England on 18 January 1884 and arrived in Cairo on the evening of 24 January. Gordon was largely responsible for drafting his own orders, along with proclamations from

29535-477: Was forced to withdraw. Ultimately the campaign cost Muhammad Ali his navy and yielded no tangible gains. In compensation for his loss at Navarino, Muhammad Ali asked the Porte for the territory of Syria . The Ottomans were indifferent to the request; the Sultan himself asked blandly what would happen if Syria was given over and Muhammad Ali later deposed. But Muhammad Ali was no longer willing to tolerate Ottoman indifference. To compensate for his and Egypt's losses,

29714-412: Was greater than all the other garrisons combined, including 7,000 Egyptian troops and 27,000 civilians and the staffs of several embassies. Although the pragmatic approach would have been to secure the safety of the Khartoum garrison and abandon the outlying fortifications and their troops to the Mahdi, Gordon became increasingly reluctant to leave the Sudan until "every one who wants to go down [the Nile]

29893-428: Was imposed cooperatively on October 25 to end the war. At the conclusion of hostilities, Israeli forces were just 42 kilometres (26 mi) from Damascus and 101 kilometres (63 mi) from Cairo . Egypt claimed victory in the October War because its military objective of capturing a foothold of Sinai was achieved. In 1977 the army fought in the Libyan-Egyptian War . By early July 1977, the two divisions deployed to

30072-437: Was increasingly entrenching itself in the workings of the Egyptian government. Egypt was struggling under a barely maintainable debt repayment structure for its enormous European debt. For the Egyptian government to avoid further interference from its European creditors , it had to ensure that the debt interest was paid on time, every time. To this end, the Egyptian treasury, initially crippled by corruption and bureaucracy ,

30251-402: Was left unaddressed. Although the Egyptians were fearful of the deteriorating conditions, the British refused to get involved, as Foreign Secretary Earl Granville declared, "Her Majesty’s Government are in no way responsible for operations in the Sudan". Among the forces seen as the causes of the uprising were ethnic Sudanese anger at the foreign Egyptian rulers, Muslim revivalist anger at

30430-432: Was offered the command of the newly formed Egyptian Army, which he accepted. On his arrival at Cairo , however, the offer was withdrawn and he only obtained command of the Egyptian police. In this post he devoted by far the greater amount of his energy to the training of the gendarmerie, which he realised would be the reserve of the purely military forces. Egypt was then involved in the long-running 1881–1899 Mahdist War in

30609-423: Was placed by the British almost entirely under the control of a financial advisor , who exercised the power of veto over all matters of financial policy. The holders of this office, first Sir Auckland Colvin , and later Sir Edgar Vincent —were instructed to be as frugal possible in Egypt's financial affairs. Maintaining the garrisons in the Sudan was costing the Egyptian government over 100,000 Egyptian pounds

30788-401: Was put up at the port city of Acre . The Egyptian force eventually captured the city after a six-month siege, which lasted from 3 November 1831 to 27 May 1832. Unrest on the Egyptian home front increased dramatically during the course of the siege. Ali was forced to squeeze Egypt more and more in order to support his campaign and his people resented the increased burden. After the fall of Acre,

30967-399: Was reached in 1846. Contemporary and modern historians have viewed the creation of a school of medicine for women and the position of hakima as an example of modernization and reform for women under Muhammad Ali. Khaled Fahmy argues against this view. Fahmy states that, because the reasons for the creation of the school are primarily for the maintenance of a healthy army, the school was not

31146-402: Was recruitment of students. Egyptian culture at the time opposed the education of women. Therefore, the first students at the medical school were young slave girls. Slaves continued to be recruited through slave auctions as well as orphans from hospices. Despite the modest success of the school and its graduates, increasing enrolment remained a consistent problem, though the limit of 60 students

31325-587: Was sent to Istanbul, and executed. Muhammad Ali next turned his attention to military campaigns independent of the Porte , beginning with the Sudan which he viewed as a valuable additional resource of territory, gold, and slaves. The Sudan at the time had no real central authority, as since the 18th century many petty kingdoms and tribal sheikhdoms had seceded from the declining Sultanate of Sennar , fighting each other with Medieval weaponry. In 1820 Muhammad Ali dispatched an army of 5,000 troops commanded by his third son, Ismail, and Abidin Bey , south into Sudan with

31504-403: Was started by tens of thousands of Upper Egyptian separatist fellahin led by Sheikh Ahmad Al Tayyib which started with a minimal victory for them in the beginning, successfully seizing all of Upper Egypt under their control. Later in war, the Egyptian government forces managed to defeat the rebels in a series of battles and recaptured all of Upper Egypt. In 1882 Valentine Baker ("Baker Pasha")

31683-428: Was the Pasha's ultimate goal. An example of this extreme surveillance was the Tezkere. The Tezkere was a certificate with a military official's stamp of approval that allowed the soldier to leave the camp premises. The certificate specified the soldier's reason for and specific details of his absence. The soldier would be invoked to show his certificate when he traveled to prove the legitimacy of his excursion. Even outside

31862-420: Was the sole responsibility of the Frontier Corps (Egypt) . In May 1967, Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran to passage of Israeli ships. On 26 May Nasser declared, "The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel". Israel considered the closure of the Straits of Tiran a casus belli . The Egyptian army then comprised two armoured and five infantry divisions, all deployed in

32041-410: Was to lead a military expedition into Arabia . The event was held on 1 March 1811. When the Mamluks had gathered at the Citadel, they were surrounded and killed by Muhammad Ali's troops. After the leaders were killed, Muhammad Ali dispatched his army throughout Egypt to rout the remainder of the Mamluk forces. Muhammad Ali transformed Egypt into a regional power which he saw as the natural successor to

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