British Occupation of Egypt in 1882, the Suez Canal and British Involvement in Egyptian Policy
The British occupation of Egypt in 1882 was a key event in the history of Egypt, they went bankrupt in 1876 and were under dual control of Britain and France in 1879. Egypt’s banks were taken over by British and French representatives and the Suez Canal was also under the British and French control. The Urabi revolt of 1879-1882 caused a huge uprising against British/French control of Egypt as Ahmed Urabi rose up against the Khedive of Egypt Tewfik Pasha. The British were forced to intervene before they lost control of this region that held their most valuable pathway to India.
The British were forced to act and in April 1882, sent warships to
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The fighting only lasted a couple months and for the British in confirmed their control of Egypt and allowed them to take control of not just the financial, but also the economic side of Egypt. The British were very interested in Egyptian cotton as it grew in long fiber which made it better for making clothing. This is just one of many interests the British had in this region.
The British occupation of Egypt began to make Egyptians question how much control of Egypt was actually in their hands and this led to revolutionaries like Urabi standing up against the British. The British occupied Egypt in 1882 because they wanted to keep control of the Suez Canal for direct access to India, they wanted to keep the government under the Khedive’s control so they could keep their access to Egypt’s economic resources, especially cotton and they wanted to protect their joint control alliance with France in order to control the Egyptian nationalists. There are many conflicting ideas about why the British occupied Egypt, whether it be for economic purposes or for strategic purposes, the main reason was because of their control of the Suez Canal.
Alexander Scholch argues that because of initiatives by British Prime Minister William Gladstone, who wanted to take control
Furthermore, Egypt then gained its independence in 1922, it being granted by the British; but the much of the British remained in the northern region of Egypt and in the duration of World War II, Egypt and the Suez Canal were fundamental connections in the empire of Britain. A government was then under king Farouk in 1936 but the government was very inefficient and corrupt. Egypt was not very happy with Britain’s control of the Suez Canal. In the year of 1952, army officers commenced a revolution to overthrow King Farouk and in 1953 a republic was established in Egypt. The leader of this revolution was Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser and became the
At the end of the Middle Kingdom, the Hyksos people invaded Egypt. The Hyksos most likely migrated from Western Asia in Syria-Palestine, but have no clear origin where they are from. The Egyptians called these people hikau-khausut which means "ruler of the foreign countries”. The Hyksos were technologically advanced and because of that they had a strong military. The Egyptians had been isolated from the growing and progressing world by the deserts which surround the country. Because of this isolation, the Egyptians were unprepared for any attack and had a weaker military force. Instead of protecting themself they relied on their natural borders to shelter them from invasion. When the Hyksos invaded Egypt, they left a lasting impact on Egypt’s lifestyle by introducing the Egyptians to different trade methods, diversifying their economy, and exposed exposing them to new military techniques.
BBC Documentary. "The Other Side of Suez." Youtube. Video file, 55:59. July 22, 2012. Accessed May 19, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETOUALw2EIs.
Document 4 explains nationalization of of African territories. Following the conclusion of the Second World War, the Egyptians decided to pass laws in order to evacuate the British military from the Suez Canal area. As implied in Document 4, during the month of July 1956, President Gamal Abdel Nasser exemplified the nationalization of the area. Nasser perceived that if here were to bring nationalism to the Suez Canal, then he could assign a fee to the citizens that were not welcome. With this fee, he would influence the construction of a newly structured dam, hovering the Nile River of Egypt. Nasser understood that by nationalizing this canal, the world, and especially the British and French stockholders that were in ownership of the Canal Company would be taken aback. Even though President Nasser pledged that Canal Company would receive a significant amount of affluence for the loss of their property, the British, French, and Israeli societies decided that they would initiate a procedure to re-obtain their company, and overthrow Nasser. These countries formed a secret alliance, historically known as the tripartite collusion. The Israel society decided that they would engage in procedures opposing the Egyptian society in hopes of obtaining approval from many of the western nations. This was because they were limited on resources, not very well developed, and were very fearful of being authorized by an Arabian
Thesis: The Nile River undoubtedly shaped the Egyptian’s lives -- for the better. It affected every aspect of their lives, which included economics, government, culture, and agriculture.
The Suez Crisis was an incident that first commenced on the 29th of October, 1956, in which Israeli military forces entered the Sinai Peninsular and attacked Egyptian positions, driving them back. By the next day, Israeli forces had reached the Suez Canal, after taking a majority of the Sinai Peninsular. (Best, Hanhimaki, Maiolo & Schulze, 2008, p.432). Britain and France then both issued an ultimatum, for both Israeli and Egyptian forces to withdraw from the Suez Canal, citing its safety from the violence of war as extremely important. After Gamal Abder Nasser, Egypt’s President at the time, rejected the ultimatum, on the 30th
In July 1956, international tensions expanded control of the Suez canal, a 193 km-long man-made waterway in Egypt, where is the strategic importance of tense world politics, connecting the Middle East to Europe and having a significant effect for the trade between Europe and Eastern countries.By 1956, Pearson became a federal cabinet minister to solve many international affairs. Everything was smoothly running until Egypt nationalized Suez Canal and the crisis reached boiling point. Britain and
In 1882, Great Britain took over Egypt through military invasions, making it a protectorate in order to have control over the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal connected the British Empire in the west to India in the east, making it significant trade route for Britain to control. During the Cold War, Egypt became an area of great tension, challenging British control over the canal. There was an increase of nationalism, along with the rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser to power. His rise to power lead to the Suez Canal Crisis and Egypt’s independence from Britain in 1956. The Arab Spring began in Tunisia in December, 2010, eventually spreading to Egypt in 2011. British control over parts of Africa during the nineteenth century lead to many crises in the 20th and 21st centuries, including the Suez Canal Crisis and the Arab Spring in Egypt.
These benefits would further lead to improvements of their country’s economy, dominance, natural resources, and transportation of goods and materials like oil. However, in the end, the creation of alliances was unsuccessful for Britain, Israel, and France considering the aftermath of the Suez Crisis. The dispute did not resulted in the favor of the three nations, and was not what they had expected because France, Israel, and Britain were forced to cease fire by the United States and the United Nations. On the other hand, Egypt remained in full control over the canal, and the conflict was the mark of the continuing gradual development of independence from the Western World in Arab nations (Pearce 219). As for Britain and France’s status in the world, the invasion had been a bad move for them, and was the signal and indication of their constant decline in being the global powers of the
Egypt, in contrast to Palestine, was the leader of the Arab world. In the 1800s, Egypt, under the leadership of Muhammad Ali, began a campaign of “defensive modernization”; that is, an importation of military and economic principles of the West in an effort to rejuvenate the Arab world and its culture. The khedives (rulers) who succeeded Ali continued his campaign of modernization by constructing new facilities; the Suez Canal, an important position in trade between Europe and the Far East, was constructed in 1869. However, this modernization invited the imperialism that Egypt sought to avoid ; in 1883, Egypt became a “veiled protectorate” (an unofficial colonial dependency), and on the eve of World War I, a formal British protectorate was established until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
The effects of Egypt’s control can be shown in, “In Nubia, Egypt imposed direct control and pressed the native population to adopt Egyptian language and culture…Egypt fully participated in the diplomatic and commercial networks linking the states of Western Asia. Egyptian soldiers, administrators, diplomats, and merchants traveled widely, bringing back new fruits and vegetables, new musical instruments, and new technologies…” (page 73, paragraphs 11-12). Egypt used their power to create a sort of “mini-Egypt”, this caused a rise an Egyptian practices and culture. In addition to spreading their own culture, Egypt also gathered from others. They used their connections, created through their territorial expansion, in order to learn and evolve their civilization. As a result of this, their actions and habits may have changed. It’s important to know how societies may influence and change one another, whether it be through force or trade.
To gain power and to be the leader of Egypt, he committed massacres of Mamluks who ruled Egypt before French invaded. He killed them, and the event became known as the Massacre of Cidetal. The fact that he slaughtered innocent people seems cruel and brutal. However, it was necessary to overthrow the government ruled by Mamluks for the development of Egypt, considering the government’s weaknesses. The government at the time was ineffective and weak. Mamluks “were not united, and struggled for power among themselves”(“The Pasha’s Bedouin”). Egypt was invaded because the government was not functioning properly, and Mamluks were not able to do anything even after French started to rule the country. By taking power from Mamluks entirely, Muhammad Ali minimized the possibility of rebellions and established the strong military which prevented other countries from invading Egypt. Some other sacrifices were made during his modernization project. His modernization cost “the lives of some 100,000 of the Egyptian peasants who were ordered to do the digging” and caused great suffering as he increased the taxes. (“Muhammad Ali Pasha”). A tax inspector who served for Muhammad stated “a village which had formerly paid 1,000 riyals in taxes … was now assessed at between 10,000 and 100,000 riyals, more or less” because Muhammad increased taxes (“Muhammad `Ali's Tax Inspectors”). The increase in taxes would have caused great suffering to people. However, it cannot be denied that his modernization plans were needed to make Egypt strong. Although people suffered from high taxes, he brought positive influences on Egypt by using those taxes effectively. With his projects, Egypt was able to establish cotton agriculture which still supports Egypt’s economy still today, and brought economic growth which would make people’s lives better because the country can get more profits to organize and to create
Unfortunately, this pristine army was used entirely as a British commodity, without any Egyptian permission. The new army was composed of mostly high to upper class citizens. These citizens were chosen either because they had enough money to leave Egypt, or they were rebellious. The citizens were shipped to a British camp in Cairo where they were stripped of their money and clothes. They were given one uniform, a rifle, and a pair of shoes. The following day they would begin learning deadly techniques for battle. Throughout this process, the Egyptian citizens thought that they would be used for defensive purposes. Little did they know that the British were planning to use them to do their "dirty work" in battles that were totally non-Egypt related The Egyptians could do nothing to avoid this unfair ruling by the British. If decolonized, Egyptians could be rid of this problem and live in love, not fear.<br><br>Oddly enough, the only things that the British improved in Egypt were the health care, education, and improved farming methods. This improvement was not for the Egyptians however, but for the traders and merchants which stayed in Egypt while crossing the Suez Canal. Although the Egyptians did not benefit from these improved resources, they were still expected to pay for it in the form of taxes. <br><br>The economy of Egypt, according to the constitution of 1971, is one based on socialism, with the people controlling all means of production. The progress of
In 1956, Gemal Abdul Nassir announced that he wanted the nationalization of the Suez Canal. This canal has been operated by Britain and France since the 18th century and due to this, tensions rose between Egypt, Britain and France. Israel regarded Gemal Abdul Nassir as a threat to its national security and due to this it was easy for Britain and France to convince Israel in the invasion of Egypt and the overthrowing of its president. Israel invaded Sinai Peninsula, Britain and France landed their troops later on the pretence of separating the fighting parties. This was the start of the Suez crisis. The USA condemned their actions and forced the three parties to withdraw and this made it possible
The Suez war began in 1956 when the President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Due to the canal’s great importance to the British and they colluded with Israel and France to regain control of the canal. The Suez Canal was especially important to the British because it connected the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea. (Milner) This strategic location allowed them to trade and move across the world giving them control of their colonies. However, on July 26, 1956 President Nasser decided to nationalize the Suez Canal due to his anger at the British for withdrawing their loan offer to Egypt. (Milner) Consequently, the nationalization of the canal was a strategic move to lessen the British’s economic and political control of Egypt, which had lasted since 1882. Many Egyptians were unhappy with British’s occupation of their country so Nasser’s policies were popular in the Middle East. This was because the “expression of national