India, Egypt and Sudan, 1882-1914:

Question 1

Egypt 1882

Answer 1

Bombardment of Alexandria and occupation of Egypt

End of Urabi revolt

Question 2

Egypt 1883

Answer 2

The Dufferin Report

Question 3

Egypt 1885

Answer 3

Convention of London

Question 4

Egypt 1893

Answer 4

Egyptian Nationalist Party revived

Question 5

Egypt 1902

Answer 5

The Aswan Dam

Question 6

Egypt 1904

Answer 6

Entente Cordiale

Question 7

Egypt 1906

Answer 7

Denshawai incident

Question 8

Egypt 1907

Answer 8

Baring leaves Egypt

Sir Eldon Gorst succeeds Baring

Question 9

Egypt 1911

Answer 9

Viscount Herbert Kitchener succeeds Gorst

Question 10

Egypt 1914

Answer 10

Egypt becomes a protectorate

Question 11

Occupation of Egypt

Answer 11

Bombardment of Alexandria (1882):

Alexandria:
o In June 1882, political tensions spilled out onto the streets of Alexandria, Egypt, where violence claimed the lives of 50 Europeans
o This was an anti-European riot
o A series of further revolts across Egypt convinced the British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, to intervene and British naval forces were sent to bombard Alexandria

Urabi revolt (1879-1882):
o	Arabi Pasha (who was an Egyptian nationalist and named minister of war in 1882) declared war. The Urabi revolt was a nationalist uprising in Egypt and sought to dispose of the Khedive Tewfik and end British and French influence over the country
	But despite his success at Kafr el-Dawwar against British forces heading to Cairo, the British were able to secure the Suez Canal with the bulk of the British forces before defeating Arabi’s forces at Tel el-Kebir 
o	This enabled the British to re-take Cairo and restore Tewfiq as a puppet ruler 
	The occupation of Egypt had begun, although supposedly temporarily and without any clearly defined intentions

Question 12

Administration of Egypt (Consul-General Baring). Structure of political control:

Answer 12

‘Veiled protectorate’:
o The Dufferin Report (1883):
 Baring approved the Dufferin Report of 1883, which established an Egyptian puppet parliament with no power, and asserted the need for British supervision of reforms in what was then a bankrupt country
o ‘Veil Protectorate’
 Egypt thus held the position of a ‘veiled protectorate’ in which Baring effectively ruled from behind a screen of Egyptian ministers, aided by a group of English administrators
 Egypt was firmly under British administrative control

Partially elected Parliament:
o 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
o If they resisted British advice or interference, they could be dismissed
o The number of Britons working in government in Egypt steadily increased. In 1885 there were only about 100- by 1905, there were over 1,000

Question 13

Administration of Egypt (Consul-General Baring). Economy:

Answer 13

Convention of London (1885):
o Secured an international loan for Egyptian govt. and confirmed Britain’s influence over Egypt

Entente Cordiale (1904):
o	The French agreed to respect Br’s special rights in Egypt, in return for British recognition of the French take-over of Morocco 
	With this agreement the Caisse de la Dette ceased to control Egyptian finances and became only a debt-collection agency for foreign bondholders 

Regularise financial affairs:
o Baring’s main task was to try to regularise Egyptian financial affairs
o Khedive had accrued £70 million debt- mostly to European bondholders
o In order to balance Egypt’s account books, Baring made cutbacks to Egypt’s military bureaucracy

Improving communication and investment:
o At the same time he revitalised the economy by improving communications and investing in irrigation schemes (carried out by British engineers, some had worked on similar schemes in India)

o The Aswan Dam (1902):
 A wall, which was 18 metres high and a quarter of a mile long, was built to hold back the waters of the Nile. It took 6 years to build and cost £2 million
 It opened in 1902 and enabled ½ million acres of former desert to be irrigated with water from its reservoir, this enabling year-round cultivation

Better working conditions:
o Improved conditions for Egyptian labourers and introduced better sanitation and health services in towns

Growth of exports:
o Within 10 years, exports of cotton and sugar had trebled and the population had risen from 7 to 10 million
o Egypt thus enjoyed a new-found prosperity

Question 14

Administration of Egypt (Consul-General Baring). Military:

Answer 14

Involvement of British troops:
o Baring also reformed Egypt’s army, not least by placing 6,000 British troops within it to ensure that British interests were not jeopardised by either military or popular disturbances
o The army was placed under the command of Kitchener
o Britain simply could not risk a threat to its Egypt-based investments or to the Suez Canal as the preferred passage to India

Question 15

Administration of Egypt (Consul-General Baring). Social:

Answer 15

Education:
o Baring was wary of extending educational opportunities to the Egyptians, since he had seen the effects of raised expectations in India, where they had led to a growth of nationalist protest
o Egyptians were therefore rarely offered more than a few years of elementary schooling and it was not until 1909 that a new university was founded (to supplement the University of Cairo which only offered religious education) to teach modern subjects and train men for the professions

Question 16

Administration of Egypt (Consul-General Baring). Tourism:

Answer 16

Tourism:
• Baring oversaw the rapid expansion of modern tourism, which provided jobs in hotels, houseboats and excursions
• By 1900 it had become very popular for wealthy Britons to ‘winter’ in Egypt