Pax Britannica and the Anti-Systemic Movement of Viceroy Mehmet Ali Pasha of Egypt

PAX BRITANNICA AND THE ANTI-SYSTEMIC MOVEMENT OF VICEROY MEHMET ALI PASHA OF EGYPT A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY OKYANUS AKIN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DECEMBER 2019 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Yaşar Kondakçı Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Oktay Tanrısever Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Fatih Tayfur Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı (METU, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Fatih Tayfur (METU, IR) Prof. Dr. Çınar Özen (Ankara Uni., IR) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: Okyanus Akın Signature: iii ABSTRACT PAX BRITANNICA AND THE ANTI-SYSTEMIC MOVEMENT OF VICEROY MEHMET ALI PASHA OF EGYPT Akın, Okyanus M.S., Department of International Relations Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Fatih Tayfur December 2019, 234 pages The Pax Britannica, as a system, defined the political-economy of the nineteenth century. Throughout this period, the state and the market became increasingly liberal, the “political” and the “economic” became further interdependent, and interests of the dominant Powers were extended throughout the world. Great Britain turned out to be the leading state in this context and, with her ever-increasing power, embarked upon setting the systemic norms. Her strength relied on the will and ability to synthesise instruments of state, commerce, and capital. She would not only determine the course of the Pax Britannica, but would also derive from the impulse to re-systematise any trajectory deviating from that course. The present study attempts to analyse one of such examples: the anti-systemic movement, which, embodied by Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Pasha, challenged the system’s fundamentals in multiple directions from Egypt during the first half of the nineteenth century. In this regard, the study addresses the following: how the said entity would be placed under the spotlight of the system in terms of its characteristics as well as its ambitions; the damage it would produce on the functioning of the system at the regional and international levels; and the inevitable reaction by the various forces of the system against Mehmet Ali’s movement. The thesis essentially examines the incompatibility between the iv Pax Britannica and Mehmet Ali as an anti-systemic entity; tries to question the Pax Britannica’s function in the rise and fall of Mehmet Ali’s Egypt; and addresses Egypt’s re-orientation within the system in its post-Mehmet Ali form. Keywords: Pax Britannica, Mehmet Ali Pasha, Monopolies in Egypt, Cotton in Egypt, Mehmet Ali Pasha’s revolt in the Ottoman Empire. v ÖZ PAX BRITANNICA VE MISIR VALİSİ MEHMET ALİ PAŞA’NIN SİSTEM KARŞITI HAREKETİ Akın, Okyanus Yüksek Lisans, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. M. Fatih Tayfur Aralık 2019, 234 sayfa 19. yüzyıl siyasi iktisadı, bir sistem olarak Pax Britannica tarafından belirlenmiştir. Bu dönem süresince, devlet ve piyasa daha da liberalleşmiş, “siyasi” olanla “ekonomik” olan birbirine daha fazla bağlı hale gelmiş, başat güçlerin çıkarları dünya sathında şekillendirilmiştir. Büyük Britanya, bu bağlamda öncü rolü üstlenmiş ve her alanda artan gücüyle sistemik normları büyük oranda tasarlayabilmiştir. Britanya’nın gücü, devlet, ticaret ve sermayenin araçlarını sentezleme arzusu ve maharetinden kaynaklanmıştır. Pax Britannica yolunu belirlerken, aynı zamanda, oluşacak herhangi bir anti- sistemik gidişata müsaade etmeme ve bunu sisteme yeniden dahil etme güdüsüyle hareket etmiştir. Mevcut çalışma, bu duruma örnek teşkil eden hususlardan biri olan, 19. yüzyılın ilk yarısında, sistemin temellerini Mısır’dan, muhtelif yönlerden sınayacak ve Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Paşa’nın şahsında tezahür edecek sistem karşıtı hareketin durumunu incelemektedir. Bu çalışma, anılan anlayışla, şu konulara değinmektedir: bu hareketin nitelikleri ve amaçları temelinde nasıl sistemin odak noktası haline geldiği; sistemin bölgesel ve uluslararası düzeylerdeki işleyişine verdiği zarar; sistemin, muhtelif erkleriyle söz konusu harekete yönelik kaçınılmaz tepkisi. Bu çalışma esasen Pax Britannica ve sistem karşıtı bir hareketin lideri olarak Mehmet Ali Paşa arasındaki uyuşmazlığı ele almakta, Pax Britannica’nın, vi Mehmet Ali Paşa’nın Mısır’ının yükselişi ve çöküşündeki işlevini sorgulamakta, ayrıca Mehmet Ali sonrası Mısır’ın Pax Britannica içerisinde yeniden konumlandırılmasına değinmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Pax Britannica, Mehmet Ali Paşa, Mısır’da tekelcilik, Mısır’da pamuk, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Mehmet Ali Paşa isyanı. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to express his utmost gratitude to his supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Fatih Tayfur, whose guidance and encouragement for this long overdue work have been of paramount importance. The author cannot thank him enough for it has been his patience and understanding that helped realise the present thesis. The author would also like to thank the examining committee members, Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Bağcı and Prof. Dr. Çınar Özen, who graciously spared their time to assess this study. In all gratefulness, the author is wholeheartedly indebted to the following beloved people, who extended every invaluable support throughout the making of this research: Hüsam Akın, Funda Akın, Atlas Akın, Şeniz Çelebioğlu, Reyhan Çelebioğlu, Cemil Çağdaş Yıldırım, Levent Kızılbağlı, Mehmet Akyıldız, Hüseyin Alper Özcan, Umut Topcuoğlu, Beste Gülgün, and his dear Denil Ertuğ. Their assistance has been very precious and will always be treasured. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................. ix LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................ xi LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................... xii NOTE ON TRANSLITERATIONS ........................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1 1.1. Objective ............................................................................................. 1 1.2. Delimitation ......................................................................................... 4 1.3. Methodology ....................................................................................... 5 2. THE POLITICAL-ECONOMIC CONTOURS OF THE POST-1815 WORLD ......................................................................................................... 9 2.1. Institutions: Systemic Parameters ....................................................... 9 2.1.A. The Liberal State ........................................................................ 10 2.1.B. The Liberal Market .................................................................... 12 2.1.C. The Global Extension of Interests .............................................. 14 2.1.D. The Interdependence between Peace and Trade ........................ 16 3. THE PAX BRITANNIC EXERCISE ...................................................... 22 3.1. Global Patterns Set by Political-Economic Clout ............................. 24 3.1.A. State Power for Shaping Global Markets to Britain’s Benefit ... 24 3.1.B. Increasing Merchant Activity in an Informal Empire ................ 31 3.2. Cotton: The Primary Instrument of British Commercial Expansion . 37 3.3. Geopolitics of the British Approach vis-à-vis the Near East ............ 45 3.3.A. The Mediterranean as a Pathway to India .................................. 46 3.3.B. The Mediterranean as a European Issue ..................................... 48 4. THE ANTI-SYSTEMIC MOVEMENT IN EGYPT ............................... 56 4.1. Mehmet Ali: From Tobacco Merchant to the Vali of Egypt ............. 59 ix 4.2. Mehmet Ali’s Ambitions ................................................................... 65 4.3. Mehmet Ali’s Methods ...................................................................... 70 4.3.A. The Vali’s Rule .......................................................................... 72 4.3.B. The Vali’s Military ..................................................................... 76 4.3.C. The Vali’s Economy .................................................................. 83 5. THE SYSTEM CHALLENGED BY THE VALI ................................... 91 5.1. The Primary Instrument for Mehmet Ali’s Expansion: Cotton ......... 93 5.2. The Jumel Cotton .............................................................................. 97 5.3. Extensive Plantation, Increasing Trade, Rising

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