Egypt in the Reign of Muhammad Ali (Cambridge Middle East Library)

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Summary: The Birth of Modern Egypt
Review: This is an excellent book and it effectively describes the social, economic and indistrial transformation of Egypt during the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha, often referred to as the founder of modern Egypt. As governor since 1805, in the aftermath of Napoleon's invasion of 1798 and subsequent British aided Ottoman intervention in 1801, he undertook a series of policies aimed at re-organizing the authority through the centralization of military and economic power to make Egypt an imperial state within the Ottoman Empire. Muhammad Ali instituted a policy of military conscription that effectively replaced the Janissary system that had existed prior to the nineteenth century. He shunned the influence of Istanbul in favour of France, whose expertise in military arts and technical advances were necessary to accomplish the reforms required to modernize the army and society.
A principal characteristic of these reforms was a process of industrialization conceived to build local capacity and in the manufacture of military equipment and a parallel capacity in the production of consumer goods to do away with dependency on imports. The state managed the industrialization process and the economy in general through a system of protective trade mechanisms and monopolies intended to guarantee the state's exclusive ownership of the means of production and distribution. Significant advancements in infrastructure and an administrative shift in the organization of land tenure that renewed agricultural growth accompanied the industrialization drive. By the end of his reign Muhammad Ali succeeded in establishing a hereditary governorship in Egypt and de-facto autonomy from Istanbul, though his ambitious industrial experiment did not survive him.
The high costs of manufacturing and idiosyncrasies inherent in the monopolistic management system dealt a deathblow to Egyptian industry by the middle of the nineteenth century. The book analyzes these issues through a study of the characteristics and effects of industrialization under Muhammad Ali through an analysis of his administrative and agricultural reforms, a survey of the military and consumer manufacturing activities. It also discusses the problems that eventually caused the failure of industrialization in Egypt.