Egypt And Sudan Up To 1914 Flashcards
Why did British Policy towards Egypt change?
As Lord Palmerston said in (1860), they don’t want to control Egypt, but they don’t want others taking control of it apart from Turkey. Britain wanted to trade with Egypt.
British interests in Egypt revived during the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865, when British mills were starved of raw cotton. Egypt’s cotton was of particularly good quality and attracted those who were anxious to find new sources of this vital raw material. British companies began investing heavily in the production of Egyptian cotton and in the ambitious modernising programme of the ruling Khedive, Isma’il Pasha. By the 1870s 40% of Egypt’s imports were coming from Britain.
Why was the Suez Canal so significant?
The canal became the quick route to India (6000 miles shorter than that via the Cape). A lot of British investment went into Egypt as a result.
The canal reduced the profits of those British traders in the Cape who operated warehouses for the storing of goods. Consequently when, in 1875 Isma’il Pasha (Khedive of Egypt), who faced increasing debts, sought a buyer for his country’s share in the canal, the British PM, Disraeli, stepped forward. This gave the British greater control over its passage to India and an income from shipping tariffs. Control of the canal also encouraged further British interest in Egypt.
What obstacles were there to British action in Egypt?
The fact that Egypt was as ‘veiled protectorate’ (still technically in the Ottoman Empire) created a strange administrative arrangement that hindered British action there:
- the capitulations (privileges granted by the Sultan to protect Europeans) slowed law-making down.
- ‘caisse de la Dette’ (Public debt Commission) complicated financial matters
- ‘the mixed courts’ set up to deal with cases involving Egyptians and Europeans and often were not supportive of British
What was Baring’s role in Egypt?
Baring acted as ‘advisor’ to the Khedive between 1883 and 1907. Egypt had a partially-elected parliament consisting of an Advisory Council of Laws and a General Assembly - but all Egyptian government ministers had the ‘support’ of a British adviser.
What was Baring’s main task?
Baring’s main task was to try to regularise Egyptian financial affairs. Khedive Isma’il had accrued £70m debt-mostly to European bondholders. In order to balance Egypt’s military and bureaucracy. At the same time he revitalised the economy by improvising communications and investing in irrigation schemes. Improved conditions for labourers.
Baring reformed Egypt’s army, not least by placing 6000 British troops within it to ensure that British interested were not jeopardised by either military or popular disturbances. Army placed under command of Kitchener.
Baring had seen the effects of raised expectations in India, where they had led to a growth of nationalist protest so the Egyptians were therefore readily offered more than a few years of elementary schooling and it was not until 1909 that a new university was founded to teach modern subjects and train men for the professions.
What was built and opened in Egypt in 1902?
A suran Dam was built enabling 1/2 a million acres to be irrigated. Baring oversaw a significant rise in tourism in Egypt in late 19th C.
What was the Denshawai Incident?
Confrontation in 1906 between residents of Egyptian village of Dinshaway and British officers. British officers agitated the residents of Dinshaway by hunting for sport the pigeons that served as a local source of livelihood. A scuffle broke out, and in the midst of the fray an officer’s gun was fired, wounding a female villager and provoking further attack upon the soldiers. An officer who escaped the scene fled back toward the British camp on foot; he later collapsed outside the camp and died, likely of heatstroke. A villager who came upon him there tried to assist him, but, when other soldiers from the camp discovered the villager alongside the body of the dead officer, they assumed he had killed him the villager in turn was killed by the soldiers.
How did the British respond to it?
The British authorities set up a special tribunal to trial the villages for the death of the British officer.the prosecution accused the villagers of premeditated murder, while the defence, among whom was notable Egyptian lawyer and political figure Ahmed Lutfi al-Sayyid, claimed that villagers’ actions had been a spontaneous response to the circumstances of the moment. A swift and summary trial found the villagers guilty; they were subsequently given exemplary punishments, ranging from lashes to execution, that were to be carried out publicly at Dinshaway.
What impact did this have on their control in Egypt?
The imbalance and severity of the trial proceedings and the punishments that followed were met with reproach in Great Britain and sparked a widespread emotional outpouring among Egyptians that was capture in numerous newspaper articles, essays, and poems.
The events at Dinshaway also provided a nexus around which Egyptian lawyer and journalist Mustaja Kāmil and other nationalists were able to rally against British occupation. In the wake of the events at Dinshaway, the British consul general of Egypt, Lord Cromer, retired, although the British occupation itself would continue for nearly 50 more years.
Why did the National movement grow in Egypt?
- Britain did little to help Egyptian people - only wanted raw cotton for Lancashire mills.
- growing middle class fuelled by newspapers
- Egyptians appeared even less likely to rule their own affairs
- corruption of Khedive
- no opportunities for educated Egyptians
National party (al-Hizbal-Watani) formed in 1881, revived in 1893. Many educated Egyptians became involved and sought the end of British occupation. Largely ignored by Baring. 1906 Dinshaway incident added fo the nationalist discontent.
What did Baring’s (1883-1907) policies do?
- oversaw a gradual increase in British control
- main task was to regularise financial affairs
- improved communication/irrigation schemes/health and sanitation
What did Eldon Gorst’s (1907-1911) policies do?
- brought more Egyptians into responsible government positions in an attempt to weaken the Egyptian National Party.
- tried to impose tighter censorship of the press in 1909 and used various penal measures to attempt to quell the growing nationalism within Egypt, but to little avail. The German government provided funds to fuel anti-British sentiment.
What did Viscount Herbert Kitchener’s (1911-1914) policies do?
- tried to curb nationalist sentiment and uncover those groups who were stirring up trouble. Under him British dominance increased rather than diminished.
- in 1913, a new Legislative Assembly replaced the Advisory Council of Laws and General Assembly, consisting of a job elected members and 17 appointed nominees. This represented rich landowners rather than the ordinary people of Egypt.
- WW1 placed Ottoman Empire on Germany’s side so Britain unilaterally declared a protectorate over Egypt in November 1914.
- control of the Suez Canal was crucial for the British so the ruling Khedive (an ally of the Ottoman Sultan) was deposed and his successor (Hussein Kamel) was compelled to declare himself as an independent Sultan of Egypt under British protection.
