My severe psychological sickness in collecting pocket watches has led me to Geneva, where Ismail Pasha’s watch was up for auction. I knew some of Pasha’s history, but upon reading the auction book, I was fascinated and began researching his accomplishments. I soon realized that Ismail Pasha was a genius Egyptian ruler who fooled the whole world for the benefit of Egypt. He did not steal money to get rich or act illegally. Rather, he built his country to an unprecedented level, and made Cairo into a city unparalleled even to Paris and London. I now see him as the supreme designer of a system that built his country at any cost, even if the country could not afford it. Other smart democratic rulers have done the same thing, and in the following paragraphs, I will compare Pasha’s time with 2 periods in the US – the Roaring 20s and the years of the subprime mortgage the (late 1990s and early 2000s).
First, we examine Ismail Pasha’s innumerable contributions to Egypt. Ismail Pasha was the ruler of Egypt for only 15 years, from 1863 to 1879. In 1863, the American Civil War drastically reduced the availability of cotton (therefore making Egypt’s cotton crop in very high demand). This, along with the expected profits from the soon to be completed Suez Canal, inflated Egypt’s expected earnings. In this euphoria, Ismail Pasha dreamt of changing Egypt into a glorious European country, and making an empire so strong that it stretched deep into Africa.
Ismail borrowed heavily, and by doing this, he started a movement that took Egypt from a backwards country and transformed it into a beautiful place that rivaled Europe’s best. From Pasha’s time until this very moment, Egypt has greatly benefited from his expenditures. In 1879 Khedive Ismail was quoted as saying “My country is no longer in Africa; we are now part of Europe.” It is for these reasons that Khedive Pasha is known as “Ismail the Magnificent.”
For having ruled for such a short time, Pasha is unparalleled in his achievements, all of which boggle my mind. His accomplishments are too numerous to list here, so the following are only some of his successes:
1. He spent excessively on public works projects in order to improve Egypt’s infrastructure. During his reign as Khedive, 112 canals, 13,440km long were dug; 400 bridges were built, 480km of railroad lines were laid, and 8,000km of telegraph lines were erected. Egypt rose from having virtually no railroads to having the most railways per habitable kilometer of any nation in the world. Other modernization efforts included providing better access to water, adding street lighting, gas supply, and the creation of the sugar industry. A postal service was established and public education was expanded and reorganized. Ismail continued to drain swampland and turn it into farmland, and a total of 506,000 acres of land were brought under cultivation. The borders of the Nile were fixed and the riverbed was reinforced so the city would not flood annually.
2. Many palaces, gardens, fountains and cultural centers, including the Egyptian Museum and the Opera House, were built. The Egyptian Museum was and continues to be a great source of tourist dollars. Today, the Egyptian Museum houses about 16,000 artifacts and is by far the best display of Egyptian antiquities in the whole world. It is because of Pasha’s investments that the tourism industry in Egypt really began to take off in the 1860s. Pasha is responsible for the gardens and fountains in areas like Mustafa Kamel, Emad el Din, Al Azbakeya, and the El Qanater Gardens (of which 150 acres still remain open to the public today). The Zoological Garden (now the Giza zoo) and the great army barracks called Qasr el-Nil, which currently serve as the main buildings of the American University in Cairo, were also built.
3. Ismail was so advanced in his thinking that, even prior to the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he was committed to human rights principles. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in America; and Ismail did the same by banning slavery in Egypt. Pasha also drastically reduced the slave trade to other countries by conquering high traffic areas deep into Africa (what is now Sudan).
4. Pasha practiced religious freedom by asking his wealthy friends to contribute to ALL religious organizations. He also hired only Coptic priests to educate his army.
5. Pasha placed such a high priority on the condition and morale of his citizens that he made a terrible business transaction in trading the Suez Canal. He paid a huge indemnity - equal to half the original capital of the company - in order to end forced labor and other unfair concessions. This rescued the Egyptian people from being forcibly removed from their homes and work without pay.
6. He brought democracy to Egypt on Nov. 26th 1866. For the first time, an assembly of delegates was made up of local village men. It came to be an important influence on government affairs, especially in the areas of land ownership, tax privileges, and judicial reform.
7. Khedive Ismail made great improvements in the Egyptian armed forces. He drastically reduced the illiterate soldiers and provided not only the soldiers but also their sons with an education. He also brought in foreign forces to train and educate his officers in the best technology and warfare practices of that time. His army was so strong that, in 1874, he successfully annexed Darfur to the empire of Egypt and Sudan.
8. He showed Egyptians the value of a European education and opened the door for aristocrats in Egypt to send their children to European schools. Upon returning, these students brought back civilization and planted the seeds that led to the revolution, ending the British occupation (which lasted only a short 31 years) from 1888 to 1919.
Ismail Pasha accomplished all of the above by borrowing money from European bankers and financiers at usurious interest rates. European intervention into Egypt’s financial affairs increased despite Egypt’s faithful payments of the debt. We don’t know if the Khedive knew that Egypt could not pay back these loans in full, but I believe he didn’t care. I do not believe that this debt was (as some historians claim) the cause of the British occupation and of Anglo-French supervision in Egypt. We all clearly know that, at that time, the French and British empires aimed to take over all of the Middle East. Britain would have occupied Egypt anyway, with or without Pasha’s debt. What Pasha did accomplish has last hundreds of years and provided great benefits for all Egyptians. I believe that the Khedive knew that European intervention and occupation was unavoidable regardless of his actions, and therefore he was committed to improving Egypt as much as he could while still in power.
Pasha’s love for Egypt, and his desire to make the country a better place, was so strong that he didn’t care if he lost the crown. In fact, after he was deposed of his title in 1879, he went to Rome and celebrated his successes by throwing nightly parties and dinners with the social elite; until he died on March 2nd, 1895, at his palace in Emirghian on the Bosporus. Despite the fact that Egypt honored Pasha by building a statue in his name (which still remains in Alexandria), today we tend to forget about him and overlook his accomplishments. This article serves as a reminder and a testament to his unparalleled achievements.
In the Roaring 20’s, Americans borrowed, spent, and built grandly. It was marked by excessive consumer spending and loose credit, which led to major advancements, including a huge increase in scientific research, and the manufacturing, automobile, movie, radio, and chemical industries. The modern motel, theatres, gas stations, and mass production were all created. Roads and mass public transit were built, and electrification ballooned. Affordable homes greatly aided the construction and materials industries. Appliances like the refrigerator, iron, microwave, vacuum, and dishwasher became commonplace in American homes. Most of these advancements were made on credit.
Architectural achievements were made in America’s biggest cities. Developments in steel, reinforced concrete, water pumps and the invention of the elevator made skyscrapers possible. In New York, the Chrysler building, the Empire State building, and the Wollworth building; and in Chicago, the Tribune Tower and the Wrigley building were all completed. You cannot walk through an American city today without enjoying the products of the 20s. Of course, the Great Depression hit when banks began demanding repayment on loans, and the people and companies had no money to pay it back.
Now let’s look at the current economic crisis, where the entire global monetary system is in trouble. Banks and insurance companies are in danger of going bankrupt. Stock markets are collapsing. Americans, who felt that they were wealthier than they actually were, began borrowing money and going on a spending spree – exactly like what Ismail Pasha did in the 1860s. Consumers were encouraged by the government to borrow, spend and build: new laws and agencies were created so that every American, even if the borrower was not qualified, risky, had no down payment and bad credit, could achieve the dream of homeownership. No one worried about how the debts would be repaid later. As housing prices continued to go up, banks created more exotic lending practices. Mortgages – both the subprime, risky type and the traditional type – were repackaged as securities and sold on Wall Street.
As profits increased, foreign investors began to invest in the American market because of the very attractive returns. Everyone had a chance to make money, and no one imagined the risks. Oil money poured in from Arab countries, and the Chinese put their American-earned money right back into the market. Europeans, with their high-valued currency, also got into the game.
In each bust period after boom, each country was left with irreplaceable improvements. In each of these examples, it took foreign investments in order to spur development. For Pasha, it was European money; for the US, it has been Chinese and Arab money. In each instance, the borrower was simply not able to pay the money back, and the lender retrieved what it could. But in the end, it is the borrower who truly wins.
Once the money is gone, the developments are left and the countries were built in unprecedented ways. After all, once the Suez Canal was built; it wouldn’t be taken down – the same goes for Egypt’s beautiful gardens and bridges; and the skyscrapers, condos and the suburbs in the US. The same is true of electrification, roads, highways, museums, and other infrastructure or cultural investments. Many of these icons continue to be a source of income and employment to this day. This fact makes all the achievements well worth the subsequent cost - the benefits clearly outweigh the disadvantages. What Pasha and those who followed his model did should not be forgotten or dismissed, for these investments were made in their people, their country, and their culture and are truly priceless.
As a final note, I’d like to return to Ismail Pasha’s watch, which was up for sale at auction. The watch was worth a maximum of $5,000, but it was sold to the highest bidder for $168,000. I was very sad that I did not get the watch, but I was very happy to see that so many people around the world would pay such a high price simply because his name was engraved on it. Let’s all take our hats off to the great Ismail Pasha, and demand that the Egyptian government make his birthday a national holiday.
