Why did Britain colonise Egypt? Standard aim

1
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
todays and previous lessons
You have it (the Canal), Maam (PM Disraeli
1875)
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?
2
Using these pictures, why did Britain want to
colonise Egypt? Does this suggest it was a
planned colonisation?
3
How far did Westminster have control over the
Sudan in the 1880s?

• Themes metropolis, periphery, motives,
  resistance and accommodation
• Content background (Egypt 1875-1885, Disraeli
  and shares, military intervention 1882,
  International Debt Commission)
• Sudan and Gordon 1884-1885
• Why and how?

Check Homework.
4
The Background...

• Reading
• In 1798-1799 Napoleon had established some degree
  of control over Egypt. They still had some
  autonomy, and the Egyptian leader at the time
  decided Egypt needed to modernise like France,
  using French influences and French advice, and
  expand like France and taken over the Sudan and
  Syria.
• Egypt was also still officially part of the
  Ottoman Empire (Turkey), although in reality they
  had a large degree of autonomy. When Napoleon
  lost power an unofficial French influence
  remained and Egypt being part of the Ottoman
  empire was more important. Egypt wanted to
  modernise and break away from Ottoman control.
• To get to India from 1840 British goods used to
  be carried overland between the Nile and the Red
  Sea. Britain and France both wanted to keep their
  influence.

• Who had influence in Egypt in the early 1800s?
• How autonomous was Egypt in the early 1800s?

5
The Canal

• 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 1869. 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 1882.

How important was the canal by 1882?
6

• Egypt took loans and got into a lot of debt in
  its attempts to modernise and control the Sudan.
  The loans from Europe 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.

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• 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 hed
  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
  wasnt 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 1882.
  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 1876-1877. Hundreds
  starved to death, tax collectors were very
  aggressive and the army wasnt paid properly.

What was Dual Control and why was it introduced?
What impact did it have?
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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 didnt 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 1882. 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
   couldnt leave.

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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.

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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 didnt 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 1882. 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
   couldnt leave.

• Make three headings for why they took over Egypt
  and write evidence underneath them.
• E.g. Economic reasons, circumstantial reasons,
  imperial rivalry.

11
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
todays 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.

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Homework Due Monday 7th 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
• www.historywcsch.wordpress.org