The Syrian War is the name generally given to the war of 1839-40 fought in the Middle East between the Allied Powers of Great Britain, Austria, Russia and Turkey against the expansionist designs of Mehmet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, tacitly supported by France. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... See Mehemet Ali (Turkey) for the Turkish foreign minister and regent. ... This article discusses the rank/title used in the Ottoman Empire. ...

Origins

The war was the "big-daddy" of the long power-struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the wily, aggressive Pasha of Egypt, Mehmet Ali, which had reached a point of crisis that threatened to destabilize the whole of the Levant and Near East. Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (the Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Bursa (1335 - 1365), Edirne (1365-1453), İstanbul (Constantinople) (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40... The Levant The Levant or ash-Shām (Arabic root word related to the term Semite)—also known as Greater Syria—is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in Southwest Asia south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and the...

On June 29, 1839 an invading Turkish army was destroyed in Syria by Mehmet's general Ibrahim Pasha at the Battle of Nezib, putting him in possession of the whole of Syria, which threatened to place Istanbul itself and the rule of the entire Eastern Mediterranean within his grasp. A few days after the battle the Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud II, died, leaving his Empire in the hands of his 16-year-old heir Abd-ul-Mejid. Meanwhile while the Turkish fleet had defected to Mehmet Ali. Britain, Russia and Austria were all pledged to support the tottering Turkish Empire and to force Mehmet Ali (who had the support of France) to withdraw from Syria. Ibrahim Pasha (Arabic: ابراهيم باشا) ‎ (1789 – 10 November 1848), a 19th century general of Egypt. ... Shows the Location of the Province Ä°stanbul Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul; a contraction of Greek εις την πολιν into the city, the former Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Sultan Mahmud II Mahmud II (in Arabic محمودالثانى ) (July 20, 1785–July 1, 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death. ... Sultan Abdul Mejid I Abd-ul-Mejid (April 23, 1823 – June 25, 1861) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on July 2, 1839. ...

Although the new Sultan's ministers moved to resolve the crisis by offering to cede the rule of Syria to Mehmet, the British, Austrian and Russian ambassadors forced them to rescind this offer and stand firm against him. There was even a possibility of war with France, who looked to Mehmet's success to increase its sphere of influence in the Near East.