Abstract:

Upon Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, the Ottomans, who cooperated with the British, drove the French away from the Eastern Mediterranean. The fate of Egypt will be the work of Mehmet Ali Pasha (1771-1849), who came to power shortly after the French occupation and symbolized an important history with her long reign (1805-1848). In Egypt, both the beginning of a "modern" nation-state" and the formation of a "regional empire" will be experienced as a unique experience in provincial autonomy. Naturally, Egypt's break with the Ottoman Empire will be the main topic of the "Eastern Question" of an international crisis, the effects of which were felt until the 1840s. In this process, each state wanted the continuation or solution of this issue according to its own interests. France has made moves by developing policies according to the attitude of its biggest rival England. The French public opinion, on the other hand, gave serious support to Mehmet Ali Pasha as well as supporting the Greeks in the Greek rebellions. Because Napoleon wanted to annex Egypt to France. On the other hand, the Egyptian army had devastated the Ottoman army thanks to the technical equipment and power provided by the French engineers. In fact, Mehmet Ali Pasha was familiar with French culture and technique, so, Egypt was very close to France and could be a valuable ally, limiting British interests in the Mediterranean on behalf of France. So, France's support of Mehmet Ali Pasha instead of the Ottoman Empire would be a natural consequence of the Eastern policy. In this case, other states will also be against this policy. In this study, the chapter titled "Statesmen and Events in Turkey in 1839", which is in the collection of Emile Desages manuscript , who knows all the secrets of French diplomacy, is taken up in a multi-faceted manner. Within the framework of this report, the diplomatic developments and events of the the subject period and allegations about the statesmen were examined.