Above all, however, it was made possible by relying on naked force. It was the modern army that Mehmed Ali started to build in 1820–1 that enabled him to expand his sphere of influence to cover such wide areas of the Ottoman Empire. How Mehmed Ali was able to create that army and have it trained, paid and supplied in a manner that made these successive victories possible is the story of the following chapters.

Builds on: "Conscription and modern state institutions created Muhammad Ali's new army."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 267