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Egypt Egypt under the Protectorate and the 1919 Revolution
Opposition to European interference in Egypt's affairs
resulted in the emergence of a nationalist movement that
coalesced and spread after the British military intervention and
occupation of 1882. The immediate causes of what is known to
Egyptians as the 1919 Revolution, however, were British actions
during the war that caused widespread hardship and resentment.
Specifically, these included Britain's purchase of cotton and
requisitioning of fodder at below market prices, Britain's
forcible recruitment of about 500,000 peasants into the Labor and
Camel Transport Corps in the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, and
its use of the country as a base and a garrison populated by
British, Australian, and other troops. After the war, Egypt felt
the adverse effects of soaring prices and unemployment.
When the war ended, the nationalists began to press the
British again for independence. In addition to their other
reasons, the Egyptians were influenced by American president
Woodrow Wilson, who was preaching self-determination for all
nations. In September 1918, Egypt made the first moves toward the
formation of a wafd, or delegation, to voice its demands
for independence at the Paris Peace Conference. The idea for a
wafd had originated among prominent members of the Umma
Party, including Lutfi as Sayyid, Saad Zaghlul, Muhammad Mahmud,
Ali Sharawi, and Abd al Aziz Fahmi.
On November 13, 1918, thereafter celebrated in Egypt as Yawm
al Jihad (Day of Struggle), Zaghlul, Fahmi, and Sharawi had an
audience with Sir Reginald Wingate, the British high
commissioner. They demanded complete independence with the
proviso that Britain be allowed to supervise the Suez Canal and
the public debt. They also asked permission to go to London to
put their case before the British government. On the same day,
the Egyptians formed a delegation for this purpose, Al Wafd al
Misri (known as the Wafd), headed by Saad Zaghlul. The British
refused to allow the Wafd to proceed to London. On March 8,
Zaghlul and three other members of the Wafd were arrested and
thrown into Qasr an Nil prison. The next day, they were deported
to Malta, an action that sparked the popular uprising of MarchApril 1919 in which Egyptians of all social classes participated.
There were violent clashes in Cairo and the provincial cities of
Lower Egypt, especially Tanta, and the uprising spread to the
south, culminating in violent confrontations in Asyut Province in
Upper Egypt.
The deportation of the Wafdists also triggered student
demonstrations and escalated into massive strikes by students,
government officials, professionals, women, and transport
workers. Within a week, all of Egypt was paralyzed by general
strikes and rioting. Railroad and telegraph lines were cut, taxi
drivers refused to work, lawyers failed to appear for court
cases, and demonstrators marched through the streets shouting
pro-Wafdist slogans and demanding independence. Violence
resulted, with many Egyptians and Europeans being killed or
injured when the British attempted to crush the demonstrations
with force.
On March 16, between 150 and 300 upper-class Egyptian women
in veils staged a demonstration against the British occupation,
an event that marked the entrance of Egyptian women into public
life. The women were led by Safia Zaghlul, wife of Wafd leader
Saad Zaghlul; Huda Sharawi, wife of one of the original members
of the Wafd and organizer of the Egyptian Feminist Union; and
Muna Fahmi Wissa. Women of the lower classes demonstrated in the
streets alongside the men. In the countryside, women engaged in
activities like cutting rail lines.
The upper-class women participating in politics for the first
time assumed key roles in the movement when the male leaders were
exiled or detained. They organized strikes, demonstrations, and
boycotts of British goods and wrote petitions, which they
circulated to foreign embassies protesting British actions in
Egypt.
The women's march of March 16 preceded by one day the largest
demonstration of the 1919 Revolution. More than 10,000 teachers,
students, workers, lawyers, and government employees started
marching at Al Azhar and wound their way to Abdin Palace where
they were joined by thousands more, who ignored British
roadblocks and bans. Soon, similar demonstrations broke out in
Alexandria, Tanta, Damanhur, Al Mansurah, and Al Fayyum. By the
summer of 1919, more than 800 Egyptians had been killed, as well
as 31 Europeans and 29 British soldiers.
Wingate, the British high commissioner, understood the
strength of the nationalist forces and the threat the Wafd
represented to British dominance and had tried to persuade the
British government to allow the Wafd to travel to Paris. However,
the British government remained hostile to Zaghlul and the
nationalists and adamant in rejecting Egyptian demands for
independence. Wingate was recalled to London for talks on the
Egyptian situation, and Milne Cheetham became acting high
commissioner in January 1919. When the 1919 Revolution began,
Cheetham soon realized that he was powerless to stop the
demonstrations and admitted that matters were completely out of
his control. Nevertheless, the government in London ordered him
not to give in to the Wafd and to restore order, a task that he
was unable to accomplish.
London decided to replace Wingate with a strong military
figure, General Edmund Allenby, the greatest British hero of
World War I. He was named special high commissioner and arrived
in Egypt on March 25. The next day, he met with a group of
Egyptian nationalists and ulama. After persuading Allenby to
release the Wafd leaders and to permit them to travel to Paris,
the Egyptian group agreed to sign a statement urging the people
to stop demonstrating. Allenby, who was convinced that this was
the only way to stop the revolt, then had to persuade the British
government to agree. On April 7, Zaghlul and his colleagues were
released and set out for Paris.
In May 1919, Lord Milner was appointed to head a mission to
investigate how Egypt could be granted "self-governing
institutions" while maintaining the protectorate and safeguarding
British interests. The mission arrived in Egypt in December 1919
but was boycotted by the nationalists, who opposed the
continuation of the protectorate. The arrival of the Milner
Mission was followed by strikes in which students, lawyers,
professionals, and workers participated. Merchants closed their
shops, and organizers distributed leaflets urging the Egyptians
not to cooperate with the mission.
Milner realized that a direct approach to Zaghlul was
necessary, and in the summer of 1920 private talks between the
two men took place in London. As a result of the so-called
Milner-Zaghlul Agreement, the British government announced in
February 1921 that it would accept the abolition of the
protectorate as the basis for negotiation of a treaty with Egypt.
On April 4, 1921, Zaghlul's return to Egypt was met by an
unprecedented welcome, showing that the vast majority of
Egyptians supported him. Allenby, however, was determined to
break Zaghlul's political power and to build up a pro-British
group to whom Britain could safely commit Egyptian independence.
On December 23, Zaghlul was deported to the Seychelles via Aden.
His deportation was followed by demonstrations, violent clashes
with the police, and strikes by students and government employees
that affected Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, and provincial
towns like Tanta, Zifta, Az Zaqaziq, and Jirja.
On February 28, 1922, Britain unilaterally declared Egyptian
independence without any negotiations with Egypt. Four matters
were "absolutely reserved to the discretion" of the British
government until agreements concerning them could be negotiated:
the security of communications of the British Empire in Egypt;
the defense of Egypt against all foreign aggressors or
interference, direct or indirect; the protection of foreign
interests in Egypt and the protection of minorities; and Sudan.
Sultan Ahmad Fuad became King Fuad I, and his son, Faruk, was
named as his heir. On April 19, a new constitution was approved.
Also that month, an electoral law was issued that ushered in a
new phase in Egypt's political development--parliamentary
elections.
Data as of December 1990
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