NAVARINO and GREEK INDEPENDENCE, WAR OF) ; the withdrawal of the Egyptians from the Morea was ultimately due to the action of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, who early in Aug. 1828 ap peared before Alexandria and induced the pasha to sign a con vention undertaking to recall Ibrahim and his army.
Before the final establishment of the new kingdom of Greece, the Eastern question had, late in 1831, entered into a new and more perilous phase, owing to the revolt of Mehemet Ali against the sultan on pretext of chastising the ex-slave Abdullah, pasha of Acre, for refusing to send back Egyptian fugitives from the effects of Mehemet Ali's "reforms." For ten years from this date the relations of sultan and pasha remained in the forefront of the questions which agitated the diplomatic world. It was not only the very existence of the Ottoman empire that seemed to be at stake, but Egypt itself had become more than ever an object of atten tion, to British statesmen especially, and in the issue of the strug gle were involved the interests of Great Britain in the two routes to India by the Isthmus of Suez and the valley of the Euphrates. The victorious career of Ibrahim, who once more commanded in his father's name, beginning with the storming of Acre on May 27, 1832, and culminating in the rout and capture of Reshid Pasha at Konia on Dec. 21, was arrested by the intervention of Russia. As the result of endless discussions between the repre sentatives of the Powers, the Porte and the pasha, the Convention of Kutaya was signed on May 14, 1833, by which the sultan agreed to bestow on Mehemet Ali the pashaliks of Syria, Damas cus, Aleppo and Itcheli, together with the district of Adana.
Mehemet Ali now ruled over a virtually independent empire, subject only to a moderate tribute, stretching from the Sudan to the Taurus mountains. But in the spring of 1839, the sultan ordered his army, concentrated under Reshid in the border district of Bir on the Euphrates, to advance over the Syrian frontier. Ibrahim, seeing his flank menaced, attacked it at Nezib on June 24. Once more the Ottomans were utterly routed. Six days later, before the news reached Constantinople, Mahmud died. Once more the Ottoman empire lay at the feet of Mehemet Ali ; but the Powers were now more prepared to meet a contingency which had been long foreseen. Their intervention was prompt ; and the end was reached early in 1841. New firmans were issued which con fined the pasha's authority to Egypt, the Sinai peninsula and cer tain places on the Arabian side of the Red sea, and to the Sudan. The most important of these documents are dated Feb. 13, 1841. The government of the pashalik of Egypt was made hereditary in the family of Mehemet Ali. (This provision has been observed. The successors of Mehemet Ali have been (1) Ibrahim, his eldest son ; Abbas, his grandson; (3) Said, his fourth son ; ) Ismail, son of Ibrahim; (5) Tewfik, eldest son of Ismail; (6) Abbas Hilmi, son of Tewfik; (7) Hasain Kamil, second son of Ismail; and (8) Fuad, a younger son of Ismail.) Various re strictions were laid upon Mehemet Ali, emphasizing his position of vassalage. He was forbidden to maintain a fleet, and his army was not to exceed 18,000 men. The pasha was no longer a figure in European politics, but he continued to occupy himself with his improvements, real or imaginary, in Egypt. The condition of the country was deplorable; in 1842 a murrain of cattle was followed by a destructive Nile flood ; in 1843 there was a plague of locusts, whole villages were depopulated. Meantime the uttermost far thing was wrung from the wretched fellahin, while they were forced to the building of magnificent public works by unpaid la bour. In 1847 Mehemet Ali laid the foundation stone of the great barrage across the Nile at the beginning of the Delta. He was barely dissuaded from ordering the barrage to be built with stone from the pyramids. Towards the end of 1847 the aged pasha's mind began to give way, and by the following June he was no longer capable of administering the Government. In Sept. 1848 Ibrahim was acknowledged by the Porte as ruler of the pashalik, but he died in the November following. Mehemet Ali survived another eight months, dying on Aug. 2, 1849, aged 80. He had done great things in Egypt ; the most permanent being the weakening of the tie binding the country to Turkey, the starting of the great cotton industry, the recognition of the advantages of European science, and the conquest of the Sudan. (F. R. C. ; ME.) Abbas I. and Said Pasha.—On Ibrahim's death in Nov. 1848 the government of Egypt fell to his nephew, Abbas I., the son of Tusun. Abbas put an end to the system of commercial monopolies, and during his reign the railway from Alexandria to Cairo was begun at the instigation of the British Government. Opposed to European ways, Abbas lived in great seclusion, and after a reign of less than six years he was murdered (July 1854) by two of his slaves. He was succeeded by his uncle, Said Pasha, the favourite son of Mehemet Ali, but a weakling. In his reign a land law of 1858 secured to the fellahin an acknowledgment of freehold as against the Crown. The pasha was much under French influence, and iri 1856 was induced to grant to Ferdinand de Lesseps a con cession for the construction of the Suez canal. Lord Palmerston was opposed to this project, and the British opposition delayed the ratification of the concession by the Porte for two years. To the British Said also made concessions—one to the Eastern Tele graph company, and another (1854) allowing the establishment of the Bank of Egypt. He also began the national debt by borrowing from Messrs. Friihling and Goschen, the actual amount received by the pasha being 12,640,000. In Jan. 1863 Said Pasha died and was succeeded by his nephew, Ismail, a son of Ibrahim Pasha.
At last the British Government determined to employ armed force, and invited France to co-operate. The French Government declined, and a similar invitation to Italy met with a similar re fusal. England, therefore, having to act alone, landed troops at Ismailia under Sir Garnet Wolseley, who defeated Arabi in the battle of Tell-el-Kebir on Sept. 13, 1882. The khedive, who had taken refuge in Alexandria, returned to Cairo, and a ministry was formed under Sherif Pasha. Arabi was tried, and by arrangement pleaded guilty and was banished. The lives of his colleagues were also spared. This solution of the difficulty was brought about by Lord Dufferin, then British ambassador at Constantinople, who had been sent to Egypt as high commissioner to adjust affairs and report on the situation. One of his first acts, after preventing the application of capital punishment to the ring-leaders of the revolt, was to veto the project of protecting the khedive and his govern ment by means of a Praetorian guard recruited from Asia Minor, Epirus, Austria and Switzerland, and to insist on the principle that Egypt must be governed in a truly liberal spirit. Passing in re view all the departments of the administration, he laid down the general lines on which the country was to be restored to order and prosperity, and endowed, if possible, with the elements of self government for future use.
Of the numerous questions awaiting solution, the first to claim immediate attention was that of the Sudan. The British Govern ment had begun by excluding it from the problem; but it was an integral part of the khedive's dominions, and caused, even in ordinary times, a deficit of 1200,000 to the Egyptian treasury. At that moment it was in a state of open rebellion, stirred up by a religious fanatic who proclaimed himself a mandi of Islam. An army of io,000 men under an English officer, Col. William Hicks, otherwise Hicks Pasha, had been sent to suppress the revolt, and had been annihilated in a great battle fought on Nov. 5, 1883, near Obeid. The Egyptian Government wished to make a new attempt to recover the lost province, and the idea was cer tainly very popular among the governing class, but Sir Evelyn Baring vetoed the project on the ground that Egypt had neither soldiers nor money to carry it out. The efforts made to extricate the scattered garrisons surrounded by the Mandi's forces, the mission of Gen. Gordon, the fall of Khartoum, and the Nile expedition under Lord Wolseley, are described separately. The practical result was that the khedive's authority was limited to the Nile valley north of Wadi Halfa.
To obviate this catastrophe the British reformers set to work most energetically. Already something in the way of retrench ment and reform had been accomplished. The public accounts had been put in order, and the abuses in the collection of the land tax removed. The constant drain of money and men for the Sudan had been stopped. A beginning had been made for creating a new army to replace the one that had been disbanded and to allow of a portion of the British garrison being withdrawn. In this work Sir Evelyn Wood had shown much sound judgment as well as great capacity for military organization, and had formed an efficient force out of very unpromising material. His colleague in the department of public works, Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff, had been not less active. By mitigating the hardships of the corvee, and improving the irrigation system, on which the pros perity of the country mainly depends, he had conferred enormous benefits on the fellahin, and had laid the foundation of permanent budgetary equilibrium for the future. Not less active was Sir Edgar Vincent, the financial adviser, who kept a firm hold on the purse-strings and ruthlessly cut down expenditure in all depart ments except that of irrigation. All this reforming activity engen dered a certain amount of discontent and resistance ; but the atti tude of the British Government was thus defined by Lord Gran ville: "It should be made clear to the Egyptian ministers and gov ernors of provinces that the responsibility which for the time rests on England obliges H.M. Government to insist on the adoption of the policy which they recommend ; and that it will be necessary that those ministers and governors who do not follow this course should cease to hold their offices." There was not yet, however, any correlative movement towards the working principle which was officially formulated at a much later period : "Our task is not to rule the Egyptians, but as far as possible to teach the Egyptians to rule themselves. . . . Euro pean initiative suggests measures to be executed by Egyptian agency, while European supervision controls the manner in which they are executed." If that principle had been firmly laid down and clearly understood at the beginning, a good deal of needless friction would have been avoided.
The steadily increasing prosperity of the country during the years 1886 and 1887 removed the danger of national bankruptcy and international interference, and induced Sir Evelyn Baring to widen the area of administrative reforms. The new Egyptian army was so far improved that it gained successes over the forces of the Mandi ; the burden of the national debt was lightened by a successful conversion ; the corvee was abolished (except in so far as it was necessary to call out men to guard the banks of the Nile in the season of high flood) ; the land tax was reduced 30% in the poorest provinces, and in spite of this and other measures for lightening the public burdens, the budgetary surplus constantly increased; the native tribunals were improved, and John Scott, an Indian judge of great experience and sound judgment, was appointed judicial adviser to the khedive. The very necessary reform of the native tribunals was then taken seriously in hand. The existing procedure was simplified and accelerated; the work ing of the courts was greatly improved by a carefully organized system of inspection and control ; incompetent judges were elimi nated and an excellent school of law was established. Later on the reforming activity was extended to prisons, public health, and education, and attained very satisfactory results.
The administration of the Sudan was organized on the basis of an agreement between the British and Egyptian Governments signed on Jan. 19, 1899. According to that agreement the British and Egyptian. flags were used together and the supreme military and civil command is vested in a governor-general, who is appointed by the khedive on the recommendation of the British Government, and who cannot be removed without the British Government's consent. Neither consular jurisdiction, nor that of the mixed tribunals, was permitted, the Sudan being made abso lutely free of the international fetters which bound Egypt. Sir Reginald Wingate, the sirdar of the Egyptian army (in which post he succeeded Lord Kitchener at the close of 1899) was named governor-general, and in the work of regeneration of the country, the officials, British, Egyptian and Sudanese, had the cordial co-operation of the majority of the inhabitants.
Egypt in the 20th Century.—The growing prosperity of Egypt in the opening years of the loth century was very marked, and is reflected in the annual reports on the country supplied to the British Foreign Office by Lord Cromer. Thus, in 19o1 he was able to declare that "the foundations on which the well-being and material prosperity of a civilized community should rest have been laid. . . . The institution of slavery is virtually defunct. The corvee has been practically abolished. Law and order every where reign supreme. The curbash is no longer employed as an instrument of government." So little danger to internal peace was apprehended that during this year Arabi Pasha, who had been in exile in Ceylon since 1882, was permitted to return to Egypt. The machinery of government, despite its many imperfections and anomalies, worked smoothly. Land increased in value as irriga tion schemes were completed, and European capital was increas ingly eager to find employment in the country. The bulk of the fellahin enjoyed a material prosperity to which they had been strangers for centuries.
The facilities enjoyed by the British and Egyptian Governments for securing the material development of Egypt were greatly enlarged in 1904, as the result of the understanding then come to between France and Great Britain. The natural irritation in France arising from the British occupation of the Nile valley, and the non-fulfilment of the pledge to withdraw the British garrison from Egypt, which had grown less acute with the pass ing of years, flamed out afresh at the time of the Fashoda crisis; but during 1903 a great change came over public opinion on both sides of the Channel, and a settlement was reached of many points in dispute between the two nations. On April 8, 1904, a declara tion was signed by the representatives of France and Great Britain which virtually recognized the dominant position of France in Morocco and of Britain in Egypt.
Similar declarations and engagements were made by Germany, Austria and Italy. Annexed to the Anglo-French agreement was the text of a khedivial decree which, with the consent of the Powers came into operation on Jan. 1, 1905. The declaration was in effect a European recognition that Britain was the protecting power in Egypt. It put a period to a question which had long embittered the relations between England and France, and locally it caused the cessation of the systematic opposition of the French agents in Cairo to the British administration. Scarcely less impor tant were the results of the khedivial decree. By it Egypt achieved in effect financial independence. The power of the Caisse de la Dette, which had virtually controlled the execution of the inter national agreements concerning the finances, was swept away, together with almost all the other financial fetters binding Egypt. For the first time since 1875 Egypt was free to control her own revenue. In return she pledged the greater part of the land tax to the service of the debt, and the functions of the Caisse were restricted to the receipt of the funds necessary for this service. Moreover, some f 10,000,000, being accumulated surpluses in the hands of the Caisse after meeting the charges of the debt, were handed over to the Egyptian Treasury. The Egyptian Govern ment was henceforth free to take full advantage of the financial prosperity of the country. In one respect only were the new arrangements open to criticism : they left untouched the extra territoriality in criminal cases enjoyed by Europeans in Egypt in virtue of the treaties with Turkey, i.e., the system of capitulations. Associated with the capitulations regime was the absence of any proper machinery for enacting laws applicable to the whole of the inhabitants of Egypt. No change could be made in any law applicable to Europeans without the unanimous consent of 15 foreign Powers—a state of affairs wholly incompatible with the condition of Egypt in the 20th century, "an oriental country which has assimilated a very considerable portion of European civilization and which is mainly governed by European methods." Unrest and Denshawai.—While the removal of ancient jeal ousies among the European powers interested in Egypt helped to smooth the path pursued by the Egyptian administration under the guiding hand of Great Britain, the intrigues of the Turks and a revival of Muslim religious fervour threatened during 19o5-06 to disturb the peace of the country. The Nationalist party, now under the leadership of Mustafa Kamil (1874-1908), was alive to the value of any weapon in its claim that Egypt was now ripe for self-government. The Nationalist press burst into an orgy of inflammatory writing, encouraged by many persons holding high positions both inside and outside Egypt, and created, by every process of misrepresentation, an anti-Christian and anti-European feeling among the mass of the people. After more than a quarter of a century, i.e., since the accession of Tewfik, the tyranny of the Turkish system was apt to be forgotten, while the appeal to rally in support of their khalif found a response in the hearts of many Egyptians. The tension was increased, even if resent ment was silenced, by the Denshawai incident in June 1906, when an affray between villagers and a few British officers was followed by judicial retribution of a severity which long rankled in the minds even of the fellahin.
The Taba Incident.—It was at this juncture that the Taba incident arose over the claim of the sultan of Turkey to jurisdic tion in the Sinai peninsula. Mehemet Ali and his successors up to and including Tewfik had administered the Sinai peninsula and certain posts on the Arabian side of the Gulf of Akaba. The firman of investiture issued by the sultan on the occasion of the succession of Abbas Hilmi in 1892 differed, however, from the text of former firmans, and had to be rectified by a telegram (dated April 8, 189 2) from the grand vizier, in which it was declared that the status quo was maintained in the Sinai peninsula. As officially stated by the British Government at the time, the eastern frontier of the Sinai peninsula was taken to be a line run ning in a south-easterly direction from Rafa, a place on the Mediterranean, east of El Arish, to the head of the Gulf of Akaba. So matters rested until, in 1905, in consequence of lawlessness among the Bedouins of the peninsula, a British official was appointed commandant and inspector of the peninsula and certain administrative measures taken. The report was spread by pan Islamic agents that the intention of the Egyptian Government was to construct fortifications on the frontier near Akaba, to menace the railway which the Turks were building from Damascus to Mecca. In Jan. 1906 the sultan complained to the British ambassador at Constantinople of Egyptian encroachments on Turkish territory, and the local Turkish commandant seized Taba, a port near Akaba but on the western side of the gulf. A period of considerable tension ensued, and at a conference held between the khedive and Mukhtar Pasha, the Ottoman commissioner, the latter claimed that the peninsula of Sinai consisted only of the territory south of a straight line from Akaba to Suez. In other Words the claim of the Porte was, to quote Lord Cromer : "to carry the Turkish frontier and strategical railways to Suez on the banks of the canal ; or that if the Ras Mahommed line were adopted, the Turkish frontier would be advanced to the neighbourhood of Nekhl, i.e., within easy striking distance of Egypt, and that . . . the Gulf of Akaba . . . would practically become a mare clausum in the possession of Turkey and a stand ing menace to the security of the trade route to the East." Such proposals could not be entertained by Great Britain; and it was only after a virtual ultimatum that the sultan gave way and agreed (on May 14) that the line of demarcation should start at Rafa and run towards the south-east "in an approximately straight line as far as a point on the Gulf of Akaba at least 3 m. distant from Akaba." The Turkish troops were withdrawn from Taba, and the delimitation of the frontier was undertaken by a joint Turco-Egyptian commission. An agreement was signed on Oct. 1 finally settling the frontier line.
In April 1907, a few days after the appearance of his report for 1906, in which the "Nationalist" and pan-Islamic move ments were declared to be detrimental to the welfare of Egypt, Lord Cromer resigned his post of British agent and consul-general. His resignation, dictated by reasons of health, was described by Sir Edward Grey as "the. greatest personal loss which the public service of this country (Britain) could suffer." He left the country in a state of unexampled material prosperity, free from the majority of the international fetters with which it was bound when he took up his task in 5883, and with the legitimate expecta tion that the work he had done would endure. Lord Cromer was succeeded by Sir Eldon Gorst, who had served in Egypt 18 years under him, and was at the time of his appointment to Cairo an assistant under-secretary of State for foreign affairs.
(X.; ME.) New Policy Under Gorst.—It fell to the lot of Gorst to carry out the policy of the new Liberal Government in England—a policy suggested by Cromer originally—of giving the Egyptian authorities a wide freedom in administration. A measure for in creasing the powers of the provincial councils was promulgated in June 1908. The Denshawai prisoners had been released in the pre ceding January, and Mustapha Kamil's death in February had been followed by schisms in the Nationalist camp. Nevertheless the Nationalist movement made active headway. The legislative coun cil and the general assembly were demanding full self-govern ment ; and the hopes of the agitators were raised by the establish ment of constitutional rule in Turkey in the summer of 1908. The instalment of political freedom which Gorst had secured was re garded as negligible; and the internal dissensions of the Nation alists tended to disappear in a common anti-British front. In Nov. 1908 Mustapha Fehmi resigned on the ground of ill-health, and with him there went his powerful and sustained influence in favour of co-operation with the British. The selection as his suc cessor of Boutros Pasha, a Copt, aroused Muslim hostility; and the extreme section of the Nationalist party, secretly backed by the khedive, was effectively overpowering the moderate wing. In the assembly it soon proved its domination by rejecting (Feb. 191o) a measure for the extension of the Suez Canal company's concession. Two days later, the prime minister, who had intro duced the measure, was assassinated by a young Nationalist fanatic. His place was taken by Mohammed Said Pasha, a pro tege of the khedive ; but the general assembly was not convoked again, and drastic measures were necessary to check anti-British demonstrations. In the last report which he lived to submit, Gorst deplored the failure of the programme of 1907, and warned the British Government that "the policy of ruling Egypt in co operation with native ministers was incompatible with that of encouraging the development of so-called representative institu tions." In July 1911 he surrendered his office, and died within a month.
On the other hand the withdrawal of British officials for service elsewhere opened a wider field for Nationalist propaganda, which found ready listeners among the younger men who had not known the pre-occupation conditions. A dissatisfied civil service regarded the growing number of British officials as a bar to promotion and the Nationalist ranks were reinforced by the students, whose prospect of obtaining State employment was diminished by foreign competition. A professed intention to train Egyptians to manage their own affairs seemed inconsistent with the constant increase of British officials, and their steady encroachment on adminis trative functions. Moreover, as their number grew, they became a separate community living aloof from Egyptians, and with loss of contact their moral influence diminished.
Succession of King Fuad.—At the end of 1916 Gen. Sir Reginald Wingate, sirdar and governor-general of the Sudan since Dec. 1899, replaced Sir H. McMahon as high commissioner. The declining health of Sultan Husein made a settlement of the succes sion urgent. His only son, Prince Kemal-ed-Din, declined the posi tion of heir-apparent, which was then offered to the sixth son of Ismail, Prince Fuad, who had been educated at the military school at Turin. Sultan Husein died in Oct. The principles formu lated by the President of the United States towards the close of the World War had a far-reaching effect on educated opinion in Egypt. Numerous disclaimers by British statesmen of any inten tion to occupy the country permanently were insistently recalled, and the acceptance of the principle of self-determination was rep resented as having given international sanction to the aspirations of Egyptians to govern themselves. When, in Nov. 1918, an Anglo French declaration announced that the Allies contemplated the enfranchisement of the peoples oppressed by Turkish rule, Egyp tians regarded their title to manage their own affairs to be even stronger than that of Syria, Mesopotamia or of Arabia, where an independent kingdom had already been established. No sooner was the Armistice signed than Zaghlul, as the head of a strong Nationalist committee, asked permission to go to London and sub mit Egypt's case for independence. The British Foreign Office rejected the proposal; and the reception in London of Egyptian Ministers though earnestly supported by Sir R. Wingate, was dismissed as equally impossible. Ministers thereupon resigned ; Sir R. Wingate was summoned to London to make a personal re port, and there was a steady drift of moderates into the nationalist camp. A ilea f d or Nationalist delegation to proceed to London and Paris, was constituted on a Democratic basis. The prime minister resigned in final protest against his country being unrepresented at the Peace Conference : and the Wafd movement became so serious that martial law was invoked and Zaghlul and three of his most important adherents were arrested on March 8, 1919, and deported to Malta.
Outbreak of March 1919.—The immediate effects of this measure revealed the gravity of the internal situation in Egypt. Anti-British demcnstrations in Cairo necessitated military inter vention. There were disturbances at Tanta and in the Delta prov inces where British soldiers and civilians were attacked. Railway lines were torn up, telegraph wires cut and by the middle of March, Cairo was isolated. Foreign colonies were blockaded in Upper Egypt, and at Dairut station a British inspector of prisons, two officers and five other ranks were brutally murdered in the train by a fanatical crowd. Mobile columns were rapidly des patched to disturbed areas, communications were re-established and before the end of March the situation was well in hand. The.Egyptian police behaved throughout in an exemplary manner. The Egyptian army which, all but a few units, was in the Sudan, remained unaffected. With these exceptions the agitation was supported by every class, including the Copts, whose solidarity with the Muslim was no doubt prompted by prudential consid erations. If the movement was only partial among the peaceful unchanging fellaheen it was nevertheless perceptible that their experiences during the war had stirred a spirit of discontent even in the class which had benefited most from the British occupation. Recruiting for the Labour and Camel Corps had not been unpop ular in the earlier volunteer stage. But when voluntary enlistment ceased to produce a sufficient number of men some administrative compulsion was exercised by unscrupulous mudirs, who, alleging British insistence, accepted bribes for exemptions and sent their enemies to serve. The requisition of domestic animals and of cereals had pressed hardly on the small farmer and had provided local officials with many an opportunity for abuses. The cost of food, clothing and fuel rose in an unprecedented manner and the average wages of the labouring class did not expand correspond ingly. Meanwhile the producer of cotton and the privileged for eigner were notoriously accumulating fortunes.
When the outbreak became serious, Lord Allenby, the com mander-in-chief in Egypt, who had left for Paris, was directed to return at once as special high commissioner during the absence of Sir R. Wingate. After the restoration of law and order a phase of passive resistance succeeded that of aggression. Lord Allenby, however, adopted a policy of conciliation, and a removal of the embargo on the free movement of Egyptians entailed the libera tion (April 1919) of Zaghlul and his associates. They left Malta for Paris, where their hopes to obtain a hearing at the peace con ference were disappointed ; and the local unrest continued.
The Milner Mission.—The British Government now decided to send a mission to Egypt under the chairmanship of Lord Mil ner, "to enquire into the causes of the recent disorders, and to report on the existing situation in the country and the form of the Constitution which, under the protectorate will be best calculated to promote its peace and prosperity, the progressive development of self-governing institutions and the protection of foreign in terests." It would have been well if the mission could have pro ceeded at once before the Nationalists had completed an organ ization which was now receiving encouragement from sections of the Arab university of El Azhar. But circumstances rendered its departure before the autumn difficult and arrangements for boy cotting it were leisurely elaborated. In Dec. 1919 it reached Cairo, and special measures for the protection of its members had to be taken in view of an organized antagonism, in which even the Cairene ladies took a demonstrative part. Pickets of students watched their hotel, and individual members were followed into the provinces. A visit to Tanta provoked riots in that city. Dur ing the residence of the mission in Cairo, there were repeated assaults on British soldiers and no less than three attempts to assassinate Egyptian ministers with bombs. The chiefs of El Azhar now openly identified themselves with the Nationalists in a manifesto addressed to the high commissioner. Innumerable letters and resolutions were received denouncing the protectorate.
A declaration issued on Dec. 29, in which the real objects of the mission were clearly stated, had some reassuring influence. But the general boycott was rigidly maintained and relations with Egyptians were restricted to informal discussions with individuals who had the courage to be independent. As time went on, how ever, such conversations became general and the mission found no difficulty in estimating the current feeling in the country. The working of every department was thoroughly investigated, and before the departure of the mission, in March 192o, a large volume of material had been assembled, and certain proposals, unani mously adopted, were provisionally drafted pending the prepara tion of a final report in England.
Negotiations with Zaghlul.—Shortly after its return occa sion was taken, through the good offices of Adly Pasha, to enter into relations with the Egyptian delegation then established in Paris, which, it could no longer be doubted, represented a majority of Egyptian opinion. Zaghlul, with seven other delegates, came to London in June ; and after deliberations extending till the middle of August, in which Adly also took an unofficial conciliatory part, a memorandum which came to be known as the Milner-Zaghlul agreement, was drafted. It adopted the basis of settlement pro posed by the special mission, a treaty of alliance in which Egypt contracted definite obligations in return for the recognition of in dependence, with certain additions such as the acceptance in prin ciple of the rights of Egypt to foreign representation. Any reference to the Sudan was specifically excluded. As Zaghlul and his colleagues were not prepared to commit themselves to definite agreement without consulting their supporters, four members of the delegation proceeded to Cairo. On the return of the latter (Oct. 192o) they reported that the proposed settlement had been well received. At the same time they had been urged to invite modifications of certain points, including a restriction of the func tions of the financial adviser and the official attached to the Ministry of Justice. Zaghlul insisted that his efforts to promote a settlement might be compromised if he could give no undertaking regarding the abolition of the protectorate. The delegates then left England and the mission sent in its report on Dec. 29, 1920. The inability of the British Government to act promptly on its recom mendations has been the tragedy of Egypt's later history.
At the beginning of 1921 Adly Pasha had a strong following in Egypt and Zaghlul's influence appeared to be diminishing. On the other hand the resignation of Lord Milner was regarded as an indication that the British Government might not endorse the recommendations of the mission, while a reference in a speech from the new colonial secretary (Lord Curzon) to Egypt as in cluded in the elastic circle of the British empire, evoked a number of protesting telegrams. When, however, the report was published in Arabic, the proposals were welcomed and the ascendancy of the Moderate party was re-established. The following invitation was then addressed to the sultan of Egypt : "His majesty's Government after a study of the proposals made by Lord Milner have arrived at the conclusion that the status of protectorate is not a satisfactory relation in which Egypt should continue to stand to Great Britain. While they have not reached final decisions with regard to Lord Milner's recommendations, they desire to confer regarding them with a delegation nominated by your highness, with a view, if possible, to substitute for the pro tectorate a relationship which would, while securing the special interests of Great Britain and enabling her to offer adequate guar antees to foreign Powers, meet the legitimate aspirations of Egypt and the Egyptian people." Adly Pasha then formed a ministry with a programme designed to secure the co-operation of the Nationalists ; but Zaghlul lost no time in attacking the new Government. His philippics, and the weakness of the administration in dealing with mob violence at Tanta, led to outbreaks in Cairo and Alexandria, directed in the latter city chiefly against the Greeks. A military court of enquiry attributed responsibility to the Zaghlulist party. Sixteen of the rioters found guilty were executed and a large number were con demned to lighter sentences.
"(2) So soon as the Government of his highness shall pass an Act of Indemnity with application to all inhabitants of Egypt martial law as proclaimed on Nov. 2, 1914, shall be withdrawn.
"(3) The following matters are absolutely reserved to the dis cretion of H.M. Government until such time as it may be possible by free discussion and friendly accommodation on both sides to conclude agreements in regard thereto between H.M. Government and the Government of Egypt: (a) the security of the communi cations of the British empire in Egypt; (b) the defence of Egypt against all foreign aggression or interference direct or indirect; (c) the protection of foreign residents in Egypt and the protection of minorities; (d) the Sudan. Pending the conclusion of such agreements, the status quo in all these matters shall remain intact." Although carefully protecting himself from acceptance of the terms of this declaration, Sarwat Pasha set to work to form a ministry with a programme contemplating a democratic constitu tion, ministerial responsibility and the revocation of martial law. The sultan assumed the title of king and proclaimed Egypt a mon archy. An Egyptian minister for foreign affairs was once more appointed. The British Government informed the Powers (March 15, 1922) that special relations between Great Britain and Egypt would always be maintained as an essential British interest. They could admit no question or discussion of those special relations, and any interference in the affairs of Egypt by any other Power would be regarded by them as an unfriendly act.
The Constitution, drafted by a representative commission, was completed by Oct. 5922. H.M. Government took exception to the ascription to King Fuad in the draft of the title of "king of Egypt and the Sudan" as well as to other clauses referring to the latter region. Acute differences also arose between the ministry and the king, whose views regarding the suitability of democratic institu tions for Egypt seemed hardly consistent with his public utter ances. Sarwat consequently resigned in November and Tewfik Nessim became prime minister for the second time. A further series of outrages on British subjects had meanwhile continued un checked, culminating in the assassination in broad daylight of Prof. Newby Robson by three students. The Egyptian Govern ment were informed that the continuance of these attacks would make impossible the abolition of martial law. Tewfik was anxious to promulgate the Constitution before announcing an Indemnity Act. But the king at first strenuously resisted a modification of his title, and a period of tension ensued. Tewfik Pasha resigned and an interregnum of five weeks followed, during which a re crudescence of murder and bomb-throwing rendered a severer application of martial law inevitable. Yehia Ibrahim Pasha finally formed an administration which assumed office in March 1923, and the Constitution was promulgated on April 19, 1923.
In July 1923 an Act of Indemnity prohibiting any process of plea calling in question acts under martial law was issued, and that jurisdiction, continuously in force since November 1914, was then terminated by a proclamation of the commander-in-chief and an exchange of notes between the British and Egyptian Gov ernments. Yehia also carried through a law governing the retire ment and compensation of foreign officials in the Egyptian serv ice; and vigorous efforts to suppress the murder campaign met with some success.
Zaghlul was now permitted to return from exile; he was re ceived with enthusiasm; and at the elections to the Chamber of Deputies in Jan. 1924, he was given an overwhelming majority of 188 supporters. In the senate he was equally strong. Yehia, who had deserved well of his country during the transitional period, resigned and Zaghlul formed a ministry. The almost simultaneous advent to power of a Labour Government in England revived Egyptian hopes that the Sudan policy would be reconsidered. But a declaration made (June 25) in the House of Lords by Lord Parmoor that the British Government did not intend to evacuate the Sudan evoked violent protests from Zaghlul. Nor was the statement in the House of Commons by J. Ramsay MacDonald a few days later more encouraging, though he expressed the hope that the Egyptian prime minister would come to England to dis cuss the issue. The latter, who was now completely master of the situation at Cairo, had repeatedly affirmed that he would only accept discussion on the basis of the incorporation of the Sudan in Egypt. In view of the unequivocal attitude of the British Government and parliament, he tendered his resignation, which was, however, not accepted. When about to start for Alexandria, where the court was established for the summer, he was shot at and wounded by a young Egyptian who appeared to be of un balanced mind and not closely connected with any political move ment. He recovered quickly and proceeded to Europe to recruit his health.
Meanwhile Nationalist propaganda had transferred its activity to the Sudan, and disturbances, of which there had been some pre monition a few weeks earlier, broke out (Aug. 9-11) at Khartoum, the Atbara post and Port Sudan. A proposal from Cairo for an Egyptian-Sudanese commission of enquiry elicited the reply from the British Government that the governor-general was alone re sponsible for order in the Sudan. In certain other directions the position became more definite. The British Government an nounced that, having ceased to be a dependency of the sultan, Egypt could no longer be held liable for the tribute to Turkey. As the tribute had been made the security for two Turkish loans, the disclaimer of liability presented serious difficulties. It was pro posed that a conference of interested Powers should study the question or that it should be referred to the International Court at The Hague.
The crisis came on Nov. 19, 1924, when Sir Lee Stack, the sirdar and governor-general of the Sudan, was shot in broad daylight while driving through the streets of Cairo. The assassination roused a storm of indignation in Great Britain. Rigorous measures were called for. The demands put forward by Lord Allenby (British note of Nov. 22) were tantamount to an ultimatum. They required: I. An ample apology for the crime.
2. An enquiry into the authorship of the crime with the utmost energy and without respect of persons, and the condign punish ment of the criminals, whoever and whatever their age might be.
3. The prohibition and vigorous suppression of all popular po litical demonstrations.
4. The payment forthwith to the British Government of a fine of £500,000.
5. The withdrawal from the Sudan within 24 hours of all Egyp tian officers and the purely Egyptian units of the Egyptian army.
6. Notification to the competent department that the Sudan Government would increase the area to be irrigated at Gezira from 300,00o feddans to an unlimited figure as need might arise.
7. The withdrawal of all opposition in the respects to be speci fied later to the wishes of the British Government concerning the protection of foreign interests in Egypt.
If these demands were not immediately complied with, the British Government would at once take appropriate action to safe guard their interests in Egypt and the Sudan.
The Egyptian Government accepted the first four, but demurred to the last three of the demands, whereupon the British authorities took immediate action. Instructions were sent to the Sudan Gov ernment to effect the removal of all Egyptian officers and of the purely Egyptian units. The restriction of the irrigable area of the Gezira to 300,00o feddans would be regarded as no longer binding. At the same time the customs at Alexandria were occupied by a British force. Certain individuals under suspicion of conspiracy were arrested by the British but handed at once to the Egyptian authority. These vigorous measures inevitably led to the resignation of Zaghlul, who was replaced by Ahmed Pasha Ziwar, the presi dent of the Senate, with a ministry of moderate views. They lost no time in negotiating a settlement with the British Government which secured the evacuation of the customs, after which they were joined by Ismail Sidky Pasha. A mutiny in a section of the Sudanese troops at Khartoum which broke out at this moment was rapidly suppressed. The Egyptian parliament was adjourned and finally dissolved at the end of 1924. An appeal which it had ad dressed to the League of Nations and to the parliaments of other countries for intervention remained without response.
A new Union party (Ittihad), formed under the inspiration of the Palace, had for its object to draw away from Zaghlul's party, the Wafd, many of those to whom his intransigence had become distasteful. On the reassembling of parliament, however (March 23, 1925), Zaghlul defeated the ministerial candidate for the presi dency of the Chamber by a majority of 4o, and it became evident that the Independents had repudiated their undertaking to sepa rate themselves from the Wafd. In view of the support thus openly given to the leader whose policy had led up to the British ulti matum, the ministry recommended the king to dissolve the newly elected parliament. Eleven months were to elapse before it was re-elected : and in the interval a commission under the chairman ship of Ismail Sidky, in which the Liberal element predominated, was appointed to revise the electoral law so as to restrict the suf frage. The opposition appeared for the moment disconcerted and disarmed; and in May a number of persons were brought to trial for complicity in the murder of Sir Lee Stack. Seven of them were executed, and one sentenced to penal servitude for life.
The efforts of the police authorities and the support which they received from Ziwar had succeeded by the beginning of 1926 in bringing before the Egyptian courts the remainder of the culprits responsible for the political crimes which had occurred in Egypt since 1920. Among them were two members of Zaghlul's Govern ment, Ahmed Maher, formerly minister of education, and Mah mud Nekrashi, under-secretary of the interior. To the consterna tion of the more moderate Egyptians and all foreigners, the trial at the end of May 1926 ended in their acquittal, but the verdict also involved, as a protest, the resignation of Judge Kershaw, the British member of the tribunal on the grounds that it had been given by his two Egyptian colleagues in defiance of the evidence brought before the court. On June 2 a note was presented to the Egyptian Government by Britain, declining to accept the verdict as establishing the innocence of the persons acquitted, and re serving liberty to ensure the safety of foreigners in Egypt.
Prior to the elections, Zaghlul Pasha had several times an nounced that it was not his intention to form a Government him self. It was clearly impossible, however, for Ziwar to carry on in face of the Wafd triumph : and he resigned just before the new parliament met. He was succeeded by Adly Pasha, with a coali tion cabinet, while Zaghlul was re-elected president of the cham ber. During the session which opened in Nov. 1926, the main political issues were the continuance of the contribution by Egypt to the defence force which had replaced the dismissed Egyptian garrison in the Sudan; the question of abrogating the capitula tions; the treatment of foreign officials under the Egyptian Gov ernment, and a proposal that the village headman should be elected instead of, as before, appointed by Government. Outside the sphere of politics the chief events were the opening (Dec. 1926) of Port Fuad, opposite Port Said, which may in time become the southern harbour of Palestine; and the International Cotton Spin ners' Congress held at Cairo in Jan. 1927, to consider the serious decline in the quantity and quality of the exports of Egyptian cotton.
By the spring of 1927 Adly's position was becoming impossible. His cabinet was disunited, his Government was constantly heckled by the Wafdists, who ostensibly owed it their support. In April he seized on a trivial excuse to resign, and Abdul Khalik Pasha Sarwat was summoned as prime minister. Although a Liberal, he was unable to change the constitution of the cabinet, which indeed was more Wafdist than its predecessor. He was hardly in power before a minor crisis arose over a scheme for substantially strengthening the Egyptian army, to which the British Govern ment objected. This difference being satisfactorily adjusted, a further effort was made to cement more friendly relations by the warmth with which King Fuad was received on his visiting Eng land (July 4-26). Sarwat accompanied him; and the oppor tunity was taken by the foreign secretary (Sir Austen Chamber lain) to discuss informally all the outstanding issues between Britain and Egypt. The atmosphere was very different from that which had surrounded the earlier conversations with Zaghlul, and after much mutual give-and-take, a draft treaty of alliance be tween the two countries was hammered out, which Sarwat ac cepted during a second visit to London, and which ultimately met with the approval of the British and Dominion Governments. Be fore it could be forwarded officially to Cairo, Zaghlul died (Aug. 23, 1927), at the age of 74. The greatest national leader since Arabi, he had fought an unflinching battle for the independence of his country, and his death was the signal for a striking and genuine outburst of national grief. In his stead, the leadership of the Wafd was conferred on Mustapha Pasha Nahas, and the Wafd and Liberals combined in a declaration of their determination to remain united in following the principles of the dead leader.
On the receipt of the document Sarwat delayed action and sheltered himself behind a stream of requests for the interpre tation of passages in the draft. Ultimately, under pressure from the British Foreign Office, he showed the draft to Nahas (Feb. 8, 1928), while still withholding it from his colleagues in the cabinet. With him clearly it was the Wafd, and the Wafd alone, which counted, and his dilatoriness had encouraged the Wafd to resume their old intransigent attitude. Nahas made no secret of his hos tility to the treaty ; as it did not provide for the complete evacua tion of Egypt by the British army, it was not, he alleged, worth a moment's consideration. On March 4, Sarwat informed Lord Lloyd that the cabinet had refused to discuss the draft, and that he was accordingly resigning. Thus ended the most promising attempt since Lord Milner's conversations with Zaghlul, to get on to terms with the Nationalists. Nahas became premier and formed a Wafdist cabinet, containing only two Liberal members (March i6).