Egypt declared independence in , although Britain did not withdraw all its troops until after the Suez Crisis. The Illustrated London News provided sketches every week to keep British audiences updated. As in iconographic propaganda by the pharaohs showing defeat of their foreign enemies, British forces were represented as victorious on the battlefield to justify their interference. British imperial interests ensured that Egypt received a great deal of anthropological attention.
The colonial agenda determined Egyptian inferiority according to universal hierarchies of race. Cambridge Libraries Directory. Search site. Not only did this new Egypt participate in the Paris World Exhibition in , thus demonstrating its modernising credentials, but it also witnessed the opening of the great mechanical feat of the Suez Canal in Rapid infrastructural changes also emerged at this point — railroads, telegraphs, harbours, schools and land irrigation projects were built and a dramatic expansion of the export economy began.
For the fellahin however , these developments meant even harsher conditions of forced labour, taxation, debt and interest payment increases. Egypt therefore became increasingly reliant upon foreign loans to fund modernisation. It is at this juncture that the histories of modern Egypt, Britain and other European states became intertwined. Subsequently, when Egypt was declared bankrupt in the following year, Britain was its principal creditor.
As the Great Depression began to set in from , it was France, more than any other industrialised nation that was affected most negatively. With the rates of profits for French merchants falling and the ascent of new industrial powers such as Germany and the USA, motored by steel and electricity, public opinion in France was said to have been agitating for the reestablishment of a French global status.
Eventually, in France invaded Senegal, seeking to incorporate its territory within a French tariff system. It is no coincidence that Britain reacted to earlier French excursions into the West African interior rather than initiated a military campaign itself.
After all, Britain remained the only major power committed to the system of free trade the operations of the City of London depended on the unfettered movement of capital and so only when this was threatened by the prospect of heightened tariff barriers being imposed by a rival such as France did industrialists and financiers actively court government intervention. Fuelling these concerns over the safety of overseas investments were groups including the influential Rothschild dynasty that had substantial financial holdings in Egyptian shares.
In addition, the Egyptian based Corporation of Foreign Bondholders, worried by the increasingly popular Urabi nationalist movement, began to mobilise the financial press and British Members of Parliament who had personal investments in Egypt, behind military action.
The extent to which the daily press was involved in the debate over British foreign policy can be seen by looking at the coverage of The Times newspaper at this time. In October , The Times made an impassioned plea for British intervention in Egyptian financial affairs and later called unequivocally for a full-scale invasion. However, the role of the press in regards to the invasion can be seen as a contributory one that helped consolidate different factions behind one objective.
Precisely because of this unprecedented process in world history, it would be detrimental to view one case study, such as the British invasion of Egypt, in isolation from the wider cultural, political and economic climate of the nineteenth century. Consequence it would seem seldom ran parallel with original intention. For just as the process of modernisation tied Egypt into the economic orbit of its future occupier, Britain, so the opening of the Suez Canal proved to be the bane of the French Empire.
The Scramble for Africa and the many events contained within it cannot be treated as a neat, chronological process then. Its uneven edges continue to inflict sharp reminders to historians seeking to extract a master narrative.
Writing in , Lady Lugard captured both the spirit and legacy of this time perfectly. We are justified therefore in thinking ourselves as a people who may face with reasonable hopes of success still vaster questions of tropical administration.
Arnold J. Pomerans , p. However, it was to be the British themselves who finally pulled the rug from under their own feet. In , India became independent. In this one action, British rationale for holding on to any power over Egypt and the Suez Canal had been lost. Egypt was no longer the epicentre of the Empire. New Superpowers were waiting in the wings to usurp European power and influence. Nationalists also took heart from a shift in international sentiment towards colonialism and imperial powers.
Britain was hanging on to the Suez Canal by her fingertips and even her own ally, the United States, was doing much to undermine her historic position of influence throughout the Middle East as oil became an ever important commodity.
The Suez Canal was still a vital artery of World trade, it was just that Britain's relative importance in the share of this trade was diminishing and with colonies gaining independence and the rise of air travel, it was becoming less a crucial avenue of imperial communications. Images National Archive Egypt Images. From Suez to Khartoum Stuart Legg explains how and why Britain became involved in Egyptian affairs and how that involvement spilled ever further south into the deserts of Sudan.
The Wafd Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid explains how Egypt was able to at least partially extricate itself from British control in the immediate aftermath of the First World War. The Road to Suez Peter Mansfield explains developments in Egypt and Sudan in the Twentieth Century and how increasing national aspirations collided with the unusual governance arrangements in place. He explains just how important the Suez Canal was to British strategic concerns and how Britain's inability to relinquish their control of it helped propel her into a disastrous crisis with serious consequences for Britain's Middle Eastern influence.
Napoleon arrives in Egypt to destroy British trade and influence in the area. He defeats a Mameluke army at the Battle of the Pyramids. But, the British destroy his fleet at Aboukir Bay. The French in Cairo and Alexandria are compelled to surrender to the British. With the support of the Mamelukes he defeats the British forces which had occupied Alexandria and Rosetta and forces them to withdraw.
The Turkish Government tries again to enforce its authority over Mohammed Ali. The Turkish Army is annihilated at Nisibin.
However, the European powers intervene, and the Egyptians are defeated in Lebanon by a British and Austrian expeditionary force. A fleet appears off Alexandria and compels Mohammed Ali to submit.
The Turkish Government grants hereditary soveriegnty to Mohammed Ali and his heirs. Said takes over. He is an enthusiastic moderniser and supports construction of the Suez Canal. Ismail is made Khedive of Egypt and achieves political autonomy. However, he embarks on a hugely expensive modernisation programme. Britain is now the largest single shareholder.
British and French stewardship brings finances under control. However, this loss of independence causes a nationalist uprising led by Urabi Pasha. British forces land at Alexandria. French forces were intended to take part in the operation but domestic political problems precluded their involvement. The Mahdi leads a revolt in the Sudan. Gordon sent to Khartoum to organise its evacuation. He remains there and is killed by the Mahdi's forces. General Kitchener launches British and Egyptian army to recapture the Sudan.
Mahdists defeated at Omdurman.
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