The history of Egypt under the British lasted from 1882 when it was occupied by British forces during the Anglo-Egyptian War, until 1956, after the Suez Crisis, when the last British troops withdrew under the Anglo-Egyptian agreement of 1954. The first period of British rule (1882–1914) is often called the “veiled protectorate”. During this time, the Khedivate of Egypt remained an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire. The British occupation had no legal basis but constituted a de facto protectorate over the country. Egypt was thus not part of the British Empire. This state of affairs lasted until 1914, when the Ottoman Empire joined the First World War on the side of the Central Powers, and Britain declared a protectorate over Egypt. The ruling Khedive was deposed, and his successor, Hussein Kamel, was compelled to declare himself Sultan of Egypt independent of the Ottomans in December 1914.
The formal protectorate over Egypt outlasted the war for only a short period. It ended when the British government issued the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence on 28 February 1922. Shortly afterwards, Sultan Fuad I declared himself King of Egypt, but the British occupation continued under several reserve clauses in the Declaration of Independence. The situation was normalised in the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936, which granted Britain the right to station troops in Egypt to defend the Suez Canal, its link with India. Britain also continued to control the training of the Egyptian Army. During the Second World War (1939–45), Egypt came under attack from Italian Libya because of the British presence there, although Egypt remained neutral until late in the war. After the war, Egypt sought to modify the treaty, but it was abolished by an anti-British government in October 1951. After the 1952 coup d’état, the British agreed to withdraw their troops, and by June 1956, they had done so. Britain went to war against Egypt over the Suez Canal in late 1956 but, with insufficient international support, was forced to back down.
Veiled Protectorate (1882–1913)
Throughout the 19th century, the ruling dynasty of Egypt borrowed and spent vast sums of money on its luxury and the infrastructural development of Egypt. The dynasty’s economic growth was almost wholly oriented toward military dual-use goals. Consequently, despite vast sums of European capital, actual economic production and resulting revenues were insufficient to repay the loans. In turn, a European Commission led by Britain and France took control of Egypt’s treasury, forgave debt in return for taking control of the Suez Canal, and reoriented economic development toward capital gain. Eventually, the country teetered toward economic dissolution and implosion.
However, by 1882, Islamic and Arabic Nationalist opposition to European influence led to growing tension amongst notable natives, especially in Egypt, one of the most powerful, populous, and influential Arab countries. The most dangerous opposition during this period came from the Egyptian Army, which saw the reorientation of economic development away from their control as a threat to their privileges.
A large military demonstration in September 1881 forced the Khedive Tewfiq to dismiss his Prime Minister and rule by decree. Many Europeans retreated to specially designed quarters for defence or heavily European-settled cities such as Alexandria.
Consequently, in April 1882, France and Great Britain sent warships to Alexandria to bolster the Khedive amidst a turbulent climate and protect European lives and property. Egyptian nationalists spread fear of invasion to bolster Islamic and Arabian revolutionary action. Tawfiq moved to Alexandria for fear of his safety as army officers led by Ahmed Urabi began to take control of the government. By June, Egypt was in the hands of nationalists as opposed to European domination of the country, and the new revolutionary government began nationalising all assets in Egypt. Anti-European violence broke out in Alexandria, prompting a British naval bombardment of the city. Fearing the intervention of outside powers or the seizure of the canal by the Egyptians, in conjunction with an Islamic revolution in the Empire of India, the British led an Anglo-Indian expeditionary force at both ends of the Suez Canal in August 1882. Simultaneously, French troops landed in Alexandria and the canal’s northern end. Both joined together and manoeuvred to meet the Egyptian Army. The combined Anglo-French-Indian Army easily defeated the Egyptian Army at Tel El Kebir in September and took control of the country, putting Tawfiq back in control.
The purpose of the invasion was to restore political stability to Egypt under a government of the Khedive and international controls that had been in place to streamline Egyptian financing since 1876. It is unlikely that the British expected a long-term occupation from the outset; however, Lord Cromer, Britain’s Chief Representative in Egypt at the time, viewed Egypt’s financial reforms as part of a long-term objective. Cromer believed that political stability needed economic stability and embarked on a program of long-term investment in Egypt’s agricultural revenue sources, the largest of which was cotton. To accomplish this, Cromer worked to improve the Nile’s irrigation system through multiple large projects, such as the construction of the Aswan Dam, the Nile Barrage, and an increase in canals available to agriculturally focused lands.
In 1906, the Denshawai Incident provoked questioning of British rule in Egypt. The German Empire exploited this, which began re-organising, funding, and expanding anti-British revolutionary nationalist movements. For the first quarter of the 20th century, Britain’s primary goal in Egypt was penetrating these groups, neutralising them, and attempting to form more pro-British nationalist groups to hand further control. However, after the end of World War I, British colonial authorities tried to legitimise their less radical opponents by entering the League of Nations, including the Peace Treaty of Versailles. Thus, the Wafd Party was invited and promised complete independence in the years ahead. British occupation ended nominally with the UK’s 1922 declaration of Egyptian independence, but British military domination of Egypt lasted until 1936.
Egypt developed into a regional commercial and trading destination during British occupation and later control. Entrepreneurs, including Greeks, Jews and Armenians, began to flow into Egypt. The number of foreigners in the country rose from 10,000 in the 1840s to around 90,000 in the 1880s and more than 1.5 million by the 1930s.
Formal occupation (1914–1922)
In 1914, due to the declaration of war with the Ottoman Empire, of which Egypt was nominally a part, Britain declared a Protectorate over Egypt. It deposed the Khedive, replacing him with a family member the British made Sultan of Egypt. A group known as the Wafd Delegation attended the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 to demand Egypt’s independence.
In the aftermath of World War I, the giant British Imperial Army in Egypt, the centre of operations against the Ottoman Empire, was quickly reduced with demobilisation and restructuring of garrisons. The incipient German-backed revolutionary movements could more effectively launch their operations without the significant British military presence.
Consequently, from March to April 1919, mass demonstrations became uprisings. This is known in Egypt as the 1919 Revolution. Almost daily demonstrations and unrest continued throughout Egypt for the remainder of the spring. To the surprise of the British authorities, Egyptian women also demonstrated, led by Huda Sha’rawi (1879–1947), who would become the leading feminist voice in Egypt in the first half of the twentieth century. The first women’s demonstration was held on Sunday, 16 March 1919, followed by another on Thursday, 20 March 1919. Egyptian women would continue to play an essential and increasingly public nationalist role throughout the spring and summer of 1919 and beyond. The anti-colonial riots and British suppression led to the death of some 800 people.
In November 1919, the Milner Commission was sent to Egypt by the British to attempt to resolve the situation. In 1920, Lord Milner submitted his report to Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary, recommending that a treaty of alliance replace the protectorate. As a result, Curzon agreed to receive an Egyptian mission headed by Zaghlul and Adli Pasha to discuss the proposals. The mission arrived in London in June 1920, and the agreement was concluded in August 1920. In February 1921, the British Parliament approved the agreement, and Egypt was asked to send another mission to London with full powers to conclude a definitive treaty. Adli Pasha led this mission, which arrived in June 1921. However, the Dominion delegates at the 1921 Imperial Conference stressed the importance of maintaining control over the Suez Canal Zone. Curzon could not persuade Cabinet colleagues to agree to any terms Adli Pasha was prepared to accept. The mission returned to Egypt in disgust.
Continued occupation (1922–1956)
British influence dominated Egypt’s political life and fostered fiscal, administrative, and governmental reforms. In December 1921, the British authorities in Cairo imposed martial law and once again deported Zaghlul. Demonstrations again led to violence. In deference to the growing nationalism and at the suggestion of the High Commissioner, Lord Allenby, the UK unilaterally declared Egyptian independence on 28 February 1922, abolishing the protectorate and establishing the independent Kingdom of Egypt. Sarwat Pasha became prime minister. Britain retained control of the Canal Zone, Sudan, and Egypt’s external protection, protection of foreigners, separate courts for foreigners, the police forces, the Army, the railways, and communications. British troops were stationed in cities and towns.
King Fuad died in 1936, and Farouk inherited the throne at sixteen. Alarmed by Italy’s recent invasion of Ethiopia, he signed the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, requiring Britain to withdraw all troops from Egypt except at the Suez Canal (agreed to be evacuated by 1949).
During World War II, British troops used Egypt as a base for Allied operations throughout the region.
British troops were withdrawn to the Suez Canal area in 1947, but nationalist, anti-British feelings grew after the war. The 1952 coup overthrew the Egyptian monarchy and established the modern Republic of Egypt. The last British troops left Egypt in June 1956 as per the 1954 Anglo-Egyptian Agreement, returning briefly during the Suez Crisis.
Languages
From the beginning of his reign in 1805, Muhammad Ali Pasha set about modernising Egypt along Western European lines, mainly influenced by France. In addition to French military and scientific prowess, French was the language of international relations. Consequently, the French attained an esteemed status in Egypt throughout the rule of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, emerging as a lingua franca in the country well into the second half of the 20th century. In addition to its use at the Khedival court, French was the formal language used among foreigners and between foreigners and Egyptians. During the reign of Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Isma’il the Magnificent, all government decrees, publications, or other documents (such as passports) in the Arabic language required a foreign version to be issued in French. French appeared alongside Arabic on road signs, train timetables, taxi stands, and other everyday signage, such as “Entrance” and “Exit” signs in public buildings. The French civil law legal system also became the basis of the modern Egyptian legal system (which would, in turn, become the basis for the legal systems of numerous other Arab states).
The privileged position of the French language in Egypt, second only to Arabic, persisted even during the decades of the United Kingdom’s occupation of the country, with French rather than English being the foreign language of choice of both the Egyptian government and the Egyptian elites. Despite efforts from British legal personnel, English was never adopted as a language of the Egyptian civil courts during the period of British influence.
Foreign community
Foreigners tried for civil offences attended mixed Egyptian-foreigner courts; these courts used the French language as the medium of proceedings. Courts operated by embassies and consulates tried their respective citizens regarding criminal matters.
