XVIIIᵉ siècle – XIXᵉ siècle
Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
A long transformation through which Egyptian production and political structures were increasingly integrated into the Europe-based capitalist world-economy. The process involved fiscal crisis, external military competition, Muhammad ‘Ali’s state-building, cotton production, intensified taxation and labor control, and culminated in the ‘Urabist revolt of 1881–2 and the establishment of British colonial rule.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Before the transformation, Egypt’s production belonged to the division of labour of the Ottoman world-empire. It served both as a granary and as a major transit point in long-distance intercontinental trade. During the second half of the eighteenth century, internal contradictions and declining demand for earlier exports produced a fiscal crisis, while increased taxation encouraged peasant resistance through the abandonment of cultivated land.
The expanding capitalist world-economy sought to draw Egyptian production into its network. France and England competed militarily for control of the region at the end of the eighteenth century, while Muhammad ‘Ali responded by attempting to modernize Egypt. His economic program established a stable agricultural export, favoring long-staple cotton over wheat because of Egypt’s ecological and political conditions.
Cotton production required changes in irrigation and in social relations of production. Muhammad ‘Ali established a state monopoly of trade, placed tax collection in the hands of salaried bureaucrats, regulated peasant production, and used impressment for infrastructure and military service. Corvée labor on large private estates expanded sharply, and the resulting transformation created a substantial stratum of landless rural workers.
The process intensified after Muhammad ‘Ali’s death through further peasant expropriation and increased supervision of agricultural labor. These pressures contributed to the peasant-supported ‘Urabist revolt of 1881–2. The revolt was among the factors that led to the establishment of British colonial rule in Egypt.
XVIIIᵉ siècle – XIXᵉ siècle
Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
A long transformation through which Egyptian production and political structures were increasingly integrated into the Europe-based capitalist world-economy. The process involved fiscal crisis, external military competition, Muhammad ‘Ali’s state-building, cotton production, intensified taxation and labor control, and culminated in the ‘Urabist revolt of 1881–2 and the establishment of British colonial rule.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Before the transformation, Egypt’s production belonged to the division of labour of the Ottoman world-empire. It served both as a granary and as a major transit point in long-distance intercontinental trade. During the second half of the eighteenth century, internal contradictions and declining demand for earlier exports produced a fiscal crisis, while increased taxation encouraged peasant resistance through the abandonment of cultivated land.
The expanding capitalist world-economy sought to draw Egyptian production into its network. France and England competed militarily for control of the region at the end of the eighteenth century, while Muhammad ‘Ali responded by attempting to modernize Egypt. His economic program established a stable agricultural export, favoring long-staple cotton over wheat because of Egypt’s ecological and political conditions.
Cotton production required changes in irrigation and in social relations of production. Muhammad ‘Ali established a state monopoly of trade, placed tax collection in the hands of salaried bureaucrats, regulated peasant production, and used impressment for infrastructure and military service. Corvée labor on large private estates expanded sharply, and the resulting transformation created a substantial stratum of landless rural workers.
The process intensified after Muhammad ‘Ali’s death through further peasant expropriation and increased supervision of agricultural labor. These pressures contributed to the peasant-supported ‘Urabist revolt of 1881–2. The revolt was among the factors that led to the establishment of British colonial rule in Egypt.