Why did Britain colonise Egypt? Standard aim – to give evidence for the different reasons why Britain colonised Egypt Super aim – to make a judgement on the most important reason why Britain colonised Egypt with evidence from today’s and previous lessons Standard – Who is the man in this picture? What does the crown represent? Why is it being given to Queen Victoria? Super – What message would this cartoon from a newspaper be giving to the British Public? ‘You have it (the Canal), Ma’am’ (PM Disraeli 1875)

Using these pictures, why did Britain want to colonise Egypt? Does this suggest it was a planned colonisation?

How far did Westminster determine events in East Africa? Themes – metropolis, periphery, motives, resistance and accommodation Content – background (Egypt , Disraeli and shares, military intervention 1882, International Debt Commission) Sudan and Gordon Why and how? Check Homework.

Egypt pretty much ruled itself, although it was in the Ottoman empire and France had briefly taken it over. They wanted to modernise quickly. The Background... Who had influence in Egypt in the early 1800s? How autonomous was Egypt in the early 1800s?

Britain opposed a canal being built between the Nile and the Red Sea (the Suez Canal, there had been a shallow canal during the Egyptian empire!), as although they knew it would benefit them, the risk of it falling into enemy hands was too great. As Egypt stood to make a lot of money from building a canal was built anyway using French money. When it was opened in 1869 the sail boat was still the primary mode of transport for hauling large quantities of goods. PM Palmerstone stated ‘we do not want Egypt or wish it for ourselves’ in The winds were unreliable and the British thought going around the Cape of Good Hope would remain the primary way to get there. However technology improved for steam ships and haulage through the canal grew from 436,609 in 1869 to 5 million tons in The Canal How important was the canal by 1882?

Egypt took loans and got into a lot of debt in its attempted to modernise and to try and control the Sudan, which it felt should be under its influence. The loans from Europe that Egypt took out to afford this often had a high interest rate. The money Egypt actually received was often greatly reduced by the costs of travelling to Europe and holding meetings to get the loans themselves. Eventually loan after loan was coming to try and cover the payments of previous loans. Despite this Alexandria had become a great port, over 1000 miles of railways had been built and irrigation had hugely improved from investment. In 1875 Ismail declared bankruptcy. Who would be concerned about this and how could they resolve this?

In 1875 Ismail (the leader of Egypt) faced bankruptcy. The International Debt Commission was set up to try and sort out its finances, Britain, France, Austria-Hungary and Italy all had a seat on it. The British PM purchased 45% of the shares of the Suez Canal, partly as he’d heard that the French were considering doing it too. The British now seemed to see the Canal as ‘theirs’. In 1876 Ismail asked for British advice in how to sort out his finances. The British Treasury Minister arrived and said the Egyptian situation wasn’t hopeless, but could benefit from a stronger European element. A French and British advisor followed and said that there should be two high officials to help, one French, one British. They established a dual control – the assigned revenues from the railway, telegraph and customs department paid charges on the foreign loans. The non-assigned revenues, or everything else, paid for the running of the country. If the assigned revenues were insufficient the non-assigned revenues would make up the gap. If the non-assigned revenues were in surplus they would go straight to pay off the loans more quickly. The Anglo-French Dual control lasted until They managed to fix interest rates for the loans at 4-5% and assigned all the income from the railways, telegraph and customs to paying these interest rates. All the rest of Egyptian revenue was used for the Egyptian administration. This helped to sort out the Egyptian economy, but effected the ordinary Egyptian badly, especially after the bad harvest of Hundreds starved to death, tax collectors were very aggressive and the army wasn’t paid properly. What was Dual Control and why was it introduced? What impact did it have?

Debate Egypt France Britain Italy and Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire 1.Imagine it is 1875, what should happen to Egypt? 2.Imagine it is 1882, what should happen to Egypt?

How did Britain take over Egypt? 1.By 1879 the army mutinied. It was organised by Ismail to get rid of the ‘European ministry’. The Ottomans removed him and replaced him with his weaker son Tewfik. The army realised they were powerful and it seemed like it was only a matter of time until they would try to overthrow the British. 2.In January 1882 the Anglo-French Joint Note was issued. It said that they would always support the Ottoman Empire against anyone who disturbed the piece. 3.In May 1882 reports arrived of Europeans and their property being attacked. Britain and France sent warships to Alexandria to evacuate refugees. It was also part of their gunboat diplomacy. 4.In June 1882 there was a riot in Alexandria where 50 Europeans were killed. Negotiations failed. 5.In July the British fleet bombarded the fortifications in Alexandria – as the Egyptians had been strengthening them and seemed to be preparing for war. The British didn’t want it to set a precedent and for British citizens to killed around the world. They had no choice but to invade afterwards and protect the Suez Canal in August Wolesley commanded the expedition and took the canal in 3 days. 6.There were then problems in the Sudan, which Egypt controlled, and the Egyptian government collapsed. The British suddenly felt that they couldn’t leave.

What were the 6 steps? Make three headings for why they took over Egypt and write evidence underneath them. E.g. Economic reasons, circumstantial reasons, imperial rivalry.

Why did Britain take over Egypt? 1.By 1879 the army mutinied. It was organised by Ismail to get rid of the ‘European ministry’. The Ottomans removed him and replaced him with his weaker son Tewfik. The army realised they were powerful and it seemed like it was only a matter of time until they would try to overthrow the British. 2.In January 1882 the Anglo-French Joint Note was issued. It said that they would always support the Ottoman Empire against anyone who disturbed the piece. 3.In May 1882 reports arrived of Europeans and their property being attacked. Britain and France sent warships to Alexandria to evacuate refugees. It was also part of their gunboat diplomacy. 4.In June 1882 there was a riot in Alexandria where 50 Europeans were killed. Negotiations failed. 5.In July the British fleet bombarded the fortifications in Alexandria – as the Egyptians had been strengthening them and seemed to be preparing for war. The British didn’t want it to set a precedent and for British citizens to killed around the world. They had no choice but to invade afterwards and protect the Suez Canal in August Wolesley commanded the expedition and took the canal in 3 days. 6.There were then problems in the Sudan, which Egypt controlled, and the Egyptian government collapsed. The British suddenly felt that they couldn’t leave. Make three headings for why they took over Egypt and write evidence underneath them. E.g. Economic reasons, circumstantial reasons, imperial rivalry.

Why did Britain colonise Egypt? Standard aim – to give evidence for the different reasons why Britain colonised Egypt Super aim – to make a judgement on the most important reason why Britain colonised Egypt with evidence from today’s and previous lessons Was the colonisation of Egypt planned or circumstantial? Make three headings for why they took over Egypt and write evidence underneath them. E.g. Economic reasons, circumstantial reasons, imperial rivalry.

Why was Egypt colonised? Case study How does this compare with your general colonisation pie chart?

Homework – Due Thursday 2 nd October Make a flow chart of the colonisation of Egypt. – Be detailed – Be creative – Make different shapes mean different things Use your books to help you and the website