Still with the Ottoman Empire, and "Ibrahim Pasha", who is completely crushing the Ottoman army at the battle of "Nezib".. and the commander of the Ottoman fleet "Ahmed Pasha", who heads for Alexandria, and bows before "Muhammad Ali Pasha" in the "Ras El-Tin" citadel.. and hands over to him the Ottoman fleet under his command.
In the tens, and perhaps hundreds of thousands.. of military commanders throughout history.. only 44 commanders of them.. in the history of the world since man set foot on earth did not lose any war they entered.. 7 of them are from Egypt.. among them "Ibrahim Pasha", the son of "Muhammad Ali".
The British consul "Barker" in 1832 sent a letter to England saying that "Muhammad Ali Pasha" had a project of his own: to liberate the Arab peoples, unify their countries, and build a unified Arab army capable of standing up to Europe when necessary.. Barker's letter was taken seriously by no one, until "Ibrahim Pasha" won at "Nezib".. and the road became open to the heart of Constantinople.. inside Europe itself.
With the death of the Ottoman Sultan "Mahmud II" from the shock, "Abdulmejid I" ascends the throne in his place, in an extremely bad position.. there is no army and no fleet.. and "Muhammad Ali" meets the new Sultan.. in a diplomatic encounter.. and imposes his conditions, which are a return to the borders of the Treaty of Kütahya.. and rule over Egypt with its new borders for him and his children by inheritance.. and at the same time "Ibrahim Pasha" was threatening him on the borders, so he throws himself into the lap of Europe.
And to pressure the Ottoman Empire.. "Ibrahim Pasha" advances towards the gates of Constantinople.. and the Sultan "Abdulmejid" trembles, and was about to accept "Muhammad Ali's" conditions in fact.. had it not been that a message reached the Ottoman Sultan from the European states together that he must not agree.. and that they were committed to protecting the Ottoman Sultanate.
Europe saw that the danger, the whole danger, was that a strong Egypt would replace the frail Ottoman Empire, and that "Muhammad Ali" the strong would remain in their midst, in the heart of Europe, instead of any drunken Ottoman sultan who might kill his own brother for a handful of concubines and two barrels of wine.. and that "Muhammad Ali" would then have the final say if a war broke out against Russia.. and on the other side.. Russia saw that he would have the final say if it decided to fight Europe.. and England saw that he simply must not remain in rule over Egypt.. because his presence threatened its influence and its navigation routes and its trade in India.. so in 1840 England invited the rest of Europe's states to London, and they held a special conference to discuss the question they called the "Eastern Question".
The only one that took a side at the time was France.. and it dreamed of taking a privileged position in the East, and of keeping the trade routes and the straits of Europe open before it as an ally.. but the European states came out with a treaty called the "Quadruple Alliance Treaty, or the Treaty of London".. and in this treaty they stipulated the evacuation of "Muhammad Ali" from all the lands of the Levant, while he kept "Acre" for the rest of his life.. on condition that the rule of Egypt and Sudan be hereditary for him and his family.. and they gave him a deadline of ten days to respond.
But "Muhammad Ali" ignored the deadline completely.. and in exasperation.. the European states granted him another deadline, but they withdrew "Acre" from the offer. And this time the Ottoman Sultan informed him that if he did not respond to the offer, he would depose him from the governorship of Egypt.
As we said, the Ottomans' problem all along was "denial".. denial that they were a splinter group of gangs.. denial that they were a band of addicted criminal thugs.. denial that they had no covenant and no religion.. denial that they were killers who killed one another over spoils and posts.. denial that Egypt had escaped from under their filthy hands long ago.. I mean, "Abdulmejid I" still thought that Egypt was subordinate to him after all that!
But after "Muhammad Ali" returned from the meeting with the Sultan, and while waiting for the response in Alexandria, strange mysterious symptoms suddenly appeared in him.. he was struck by violent pains in his stomach and began to vomit and lose weight.. and the doctors were baffled by the case.. some diagnosed it as gastroenteritis and others confirmed it was dysentery.. so they began treating him with silver nitrate.. without his health improving for unknown reasons.
And the new deadline passed without "Muhammad Ali" responding either.. so the European states cut off relations with Egypt.. and shipped their forces to Constantinople, whose walls "Ibrahim Pasha" was threatening.
And for the first time in the history of the world, almost all the powers of the earth gathered, and their armies stood side by side, enemies and friends, to stand up to a single man named "Ibrahim Pasha".. beneath the walls of Constantinople.
And "Ibrahim" was determined to storm Constantinople.. and to bring down the Ottoman Empire forever, with no return.. and he differed sharply with his father over this matter.. but "Muhammad Ali's" symptoms had begun to develop in a strange, sudden way.. his memory began to waver.. and for the first time the case appeared clear and easy to diagnose, with symptoms that looked like the symptoms of poisoning with lead.. and he felt that his hour was approaching.. and here he faced a harsh choice.
Either he pushes "Ibrahim" to fight all of Europe at Constantinople.. and that means "Ibrahim" would face nearly five million horsemen and soldiers.. and more than 20,000 cannons.. and if "Muhammad Ali" died during that.. there would be no commander in Egypt and it would be attacked.. and of course there would be no army.. and the land would be laid open.
Or he accepts the European offer.
And during "Muhammad Ali's" deliberations and letters with his son.. all the fleets of the world moved, from the heart of Europe, and cut the sea routes between Egypt and Turkey.. meaning the supply lines between "Muhammad Ali" and Ibrahim".
And there is still a cold-blooded, brainless buffalo with no drop of blood worthy of mention, who after all these historical facts has the nerve to tell you "Europe created Muhammad Ali to bring down the Muslim Ottomans"..!
And "Muhammad Ali" was determined to preserve the life of "Ibrahim" Pasha whatever the price.. because Ibrahim was the only strong man fit to rule Egypt after him.. after it became clear to "Muhammad Ali" that "Abbas son of Ahmed Tosun".. was a worthless, backward brat.. and he was completely at odds with the policy of his uncle and his grandfather.. to the point that he smuggled one of the brothers of "Muhammad Abdul Wahhab" of the Wahhabi movement out of the Egyptian prisons.. and when "Muhammad Ali" sent him to "Ibrahim" in the wars of the Levant.. "Ibrahim" sent him back to him once more and told him that he was useless and of no real benefit in the field.
And "Muhammad Ali" realizes in a black moment.. that if "Ibrahim" dies.. then Egypt is lost.
And the Austrian, Russian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian fleets move towards the Egyptian coasts, threatening a total war.. if "Muhammad Ali".. did not let the Ottoman Empire live.
And "Muhammad Ali" had to choose immediately between war or negotiations...
And for the first time in its history, the Alexandrian citadel lowers its artillery.. and the Egyptian fleet withdraws, as a signal of not fighting.
And the strange thing is that this behaviour worried the commander of the English fleet intensely.. and he imagined it was a trap.. so he raised the flag of negotiations.. and advanced to the shore in a boat.. and met "Muhammad Ali".. who was in an extremely bad state of health.. and had already made his decision.. that he would lean towards peace.
And with the English admiral, "Muhammad Ali" signed an agreement stipulating that he would accept the decision of the European states.. on condition that the rule of Egypt be hereditary for his family.. and here the European fleets withdrew.. and "Muhammad Ali" returned the Ottoman fleet to Constantinople, and issued his order to "Ibrahim Pasha" to return.
But the Ottoman Sultan, emboldened by England.. rejected this agreement.. and decided that the deadline had ended.. and issued his firman in the year 1841, deposing "Muhammad Ali" from the rule of Egypt.
And matters become critical once again, and the situation suddenly heats up.. and it seems the talk has run long today, so we will continue our words later.
And the talk.. has a remainder.
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- Previous posts in the first comment.
- The picture is of the palace of "Muhammad Ali Pasha", which he built at Ras El-Tin in Alexandria, with the aim of returning it once again to its former state, as a "global cosmopolitan" city and a centre of trade.. and he finished building it before, fortunately, the contractor-artist "Mmmmm" and his hoofed followers appeared.
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#The_Ottoman_Caliphate 39