Anton Prokesch von Osten: The Co-author of Austria’s Policy towards Egypt in Vormärz

Abstract

The primary goal of the paper is to explain the influence of the Austrian diplomat, Anton Prokesch von Osten, on Austria’s Near Eastern policy in Vormärz, in particular towards Egypt governed by the powerful pasha, Mohammed Ali, with whom Prokesch met several times and was impressed by his personality and reforms in the land on the Nile. Though Prokesch’s views were not always shared by Austrian Chancellor Metternich in the 1830s, Prokesch served him as a prominent adviser on Mohammed Ali and his political ambitions, and Prokesch also contributed by his knowledge of Egypt as well as his diplomatic skills to limit Mohammed Ali’s power and destroy Egypt as a local power in the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the decade. The paper should contribute to the history of not only Austria’s diplomatic history but also the history of modern Egypt and its national rebirth in the 19th century.