Collective Violence In Ancient Egypt

Egypt has an expansive, colorful, and intriguing history by any metric but this is especially true of its history of collective violence. Egypt has played an important role in history starting back in ancient times with a mighty empire and lasting all the way to the present day with a current propensity towards military authoritarian rule. As with any country, especially one that’s been around in one form or another for so long, there have been many periods of turmoil and violence along the way that make Egypt an unfortunately excellent case study of the phenomenon of collective violence. To keep a modern focus on Egypt’s run ins with collective violence it makes the most sense to start with Egypt’s unique experience under the Ottoman Empire and move forward from there. Looking at the significant events within this period, from assimilation into the Ottoman Empire, to British occupation, to military coups, and its experience of the Arab Spring, it is clear to see many of the …show more content…
Muhammad Ali set out to build a modern Egyptian state with its own military, strong central government, and capable education system with the intent of full independence from the Ottoman Empire. Collective violence during this period was minimal in part because Ali’s government was effective in meeting the needs of Egyptians internally while the Egyptian military was engaged in interstate conflicts abroad. The Ottoman rule was even more distant than before and Ali instituted sound social programs that benefitted most Egyptians, making those conflicts from previous social inequality diminish. Unfortunately for the Egyptians all these attempts at modernizing the state led to bankruptcy and another imperial power occupation, this time from the British