British protectorate rule over Egypt 1882 - 1952

1882 On July 11, the British Mediterranean Fleet, let by Admiral Sir Frederick Beauchamp Seymour, bombed Alexandria Egypt. The death toll exceeded two thousand Egyptians and another fifty Europeans. In hopes of knocking down Urabi, they quickly followed the bombing with a land invasion.

1882 Tewfik Pasha, who was the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, asked for the United Kingdom to invade Egypt to stop the revolt. On September 14, after the defeat of Nationalist Ahmed Orabi in the El—Tal El-Kebir battle, British gained full control of Cairo.

1892 Abbas II Helmy, eighteen years of age and was still in college, takes power after his father Khedive Tawfik dies. At first he was very annoyed with the power that the British council had over Egypt, but over time, he grew to accept it.

Government During the beginning years of the 1900’s Egypt was under the rule of the British occupation. Led by Lord Cromer as the representative of the British and their will. Which means Egypt kept its ruler at the time, whom was the Khedive Abbas Helmi II, but he received orders or “suggestions” from the representative of the British.

Denshawai incident 1906,a few British officers went to the country side, a place called Denshawai, to hunt pigeons. Coincidently, those pigeons belonged to the locals at a nearby village. The major catalyst however was the “accidental” shooting of the wife of the local prayer leader. This caused much anger by the locals and led to them attacking and murdering the officers.

People By 1907, many Egyptian nationalist have a renewed sense of patriotism after the Denshawai incident, and did not approve of Lord Cromers’ ways. By 1907 the British government, in an attempt to liberalize the administration, replaces him with an Arabic-speaking consul general, Eldon Gorst.

The country During “The great war”, Britain declared a Protectorate over Egypt and deposed the Khedive, replacing him with a family member who was made Sultan of Egypt by the British, Sultan Hussein Kamel.

On November 13, 1918, a new political party named Al-Wafd Al-Misri (Wafd) was formed by Saad Zaghlul Members of Wafd were supposed to be sent to the peace talks for WWI as an Egyptian delegation, which gave the Egyptians more power than the British wanted them to have Therefore the British make sure that there are no Egyptians at the peace talks. Members of Wafd react violently, which causes the British to impose martial law

In March of 1919, the people revolt over the imposition of martial law as well as the deportation of Saad Zaghlul and other nationalistic Wafd leaders From 1919-1922 the situation keeps getting worse as it gets clearer and clearer that the Egyptians want their independence

In 1922 Britain proposed terms for complete Egyptian independence but only if British troops are allowed to remain in Egypt Sultan Fuad accepted these terms and Egypt became independent In 1923 a constitution is drafted that puts in place a parliamentary government The Sudan becomes a major issue because the new constitution calls for unification of Egypt and Sudan which the British do not agree with. In 1924 Egyptian troops are kicked out of the Sudan by the British.

There is also tension between the Wafd and the monarchy. Zaghlul dies in 1927 and is replaced by Mustafa al-Nahas Pasha who wants to decrease royal power, while the king wants to keep royal power. The tension lasts until the king’s death in 1936.

Politics/Important Events 1936: King Fuad dies; he is succeeded by his son, Farouk. Egypt & Britain agree on limited presence of British troops in the Suez Canal. 1937: Egypt joins the League of Nations. 1939: World War II breaks out. Upon agreements, Egypt assisted Britain with required materials (although neutral).

During war, the king appoints ineffective governments, causing instability in the country. 1942: British ambassador Sir Miles Lampson forces the king to either form a new government or to resign. The Al-Wafd Party’s popularity began to decline. 1945: Aftermath of WWII led Egypt into civil disturbances and political instability. 1948: Al-Nokrashi declares war on Israel; Egypt is ultimately defeated.

1951: Negotiations with British government fail; leads to abrogation of the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian treaty. 1952: British forces attack Ismailia police headquarters. Cairo burn during demonstrations targeting foreign companies. King Farouk abdicates the throne in favor of his son on July 26th. The monarchy would eventually be abolished.