Trace and Tell your Family's Empire Stories
Country Histories
Egypt did not become exposed to European imperial expansion until the Napoleonic Wars at the end of the eighteenth century. But its strategic location as a bridge between the Mediterranean and Red Seas made inevitable the crucial role it came to play in the development of the global trading system.
Although it remained technically part of the Ottoman Empire until 1914, both Britain and France competed to dominate Egyptian politics throughout the nineteenth century. Both countries played a crucial role in Egypt's modernisation in that period, which saw rapid change and reform.
The completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 had a dramatic impact on the world's economy, and protecting the Canal was henceforward a matter of the utmost strategic significance. Fears over the stability of the Ottoman system led Britain to occupy Egypt between 1882 and 1936. British officials oversaw all aspects of government administration in what became known as 'the veiled protectorate'.
Relations between Britain and Egypt became increasingly strained in the post-war period. The United States and the Soviet Union replaced Britain and France as the most important foreign rivals for influence during the Cold War. Following the Egyptian nationalisation of the Suez Canal in 1956, the Eden Government colluded with France and Israel to attack Egypt. Forced to withdraw after only a week, the episode was a milestone in the decline of Britain's status as a world power.
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Portrait of Evelyn Baring (1841-1917), the first Earl of Cromer. Baring was an English statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator in Egypt. This image appeared in the October 1913 edition of the 'Anti-Slavery Reporter' and relates to his campaign against slavery in Portuguese west Africa. Location unknown, circa 1910. Copyright of Anti-Slavery International/Images of Empire.
By 1882 the British and the French had become convinced that the authority of the 'khedive' (viceroy) was on the point of collapse. A revolution would have gravely jeopardised European influence in Egypt, at a time when the Suez Canal alone, not to mention the country's foreign debt, had made it a region of critical strategic importance.
British and French naval forces were dispatched to Alexandria in June, but the French refused to participate in direct military action. Frustrated by the failure of diplomatic negotiations on the future of Egypt, Britain decided to act unilaterally. Cairo was occupied on 14 December. British ascendancy in Egypt had finally been secured.
The British occupation of Egypt was intended to be a short term measure but would last for 40 years. The consul general, Sir Evelyn Baring (1841-1917), was convinced that Britain's strategic interests in Egypt would necessitate such a thorough reconstruction of its government and administration that an indefinite occupation of the country was inevitable. This truth of this was reluctantly accepted in London.
Officially the khedive remained in power, and the status of the British in Egypt was a delicate diplomatic and political problem. The French resented the abolition of the Dual Control system, and international acceptance of the occupation was never formalised. Relations with France were finally reconciled in the Entente Cordiale of 1904.
The occupation, often referred to as the 'veiled protectorate', was resented both by the khedive and by nationalist politicians, such as Mustafa Kamil (1874-1908). As consul general, Baring (Lord Cromer from 1892) had rapidly become the real power in Egypt and the relationship with the official administration was often tense. In 1906 a clash in the village of Dinshaway led to the death of a British officer. The harsh sentences that were subsequently imposed were widely criticised and Lord Cromer retired in 1907.
