:GYPT 



2826 



Egypt. 



Restoration of the gate of the temple o! Khonsu at Karaak. part of 

 Thebes, on the right bank of the Nile 



taxes were abolished, and the 

 problems of drainage and irrigation 

 were being solved. The contract 

 for the construction of the Nile 

 reservoirs was signed in 1898 ; 

 post-office savings' banks were in- 

 troduced in 1900 ; navigation dues 

 on the Nile were abolished, and the 

 Anglo - French Convention was 

 signed in 1904. 



In 1907 Lord Cromer's work 

 in Egypt came to a close, the 

 country then experiencing an era of 

 peace and prosperity unprece- 

 dented in its history. He was suc- 

 ceeded by Sir Eldon Gorst, but 

 after a short regime, during which 

 time a group of political agitators 

 took advantage of the friendly 

 attitude of the new British agent, 

 Sir Eldon broke down in health, 

 and in 1911 Viscount Kitchener 

 of Khartum was appointed. Lord 

 Kitchener' s efforts were directed to - 

 wards increasing the water supply 

 of Egypt by means of barrages and 

 reservoirs ; he also built roads, and 

 succeeded in pacifying various re- 

 ligious and political factions. He 

 devoted much attention to the in- 

 terest of the fellah, and established 

 cotton markets throughout the 

 country which provided means of 

 insuring the ignorant peasant 

 against dishonest traders ; another 

 measure of interest to the small- 



holder was the Five Feddans Law, 

 which prohibited the agricultural 

 holdings of farmers who did not 

 own more than five acres of land 

 from being seized for debt. 



The relationship between Lord 

 Kitchener and the khedive was 

 always strained, for it was known 

 the khedive Abbas was not .amic- 

 ably inclined towards the British. 

 In Dec., 1914, Abbas II was de- 

 posed and Prince Hussein, his 

 uncle, succeeded him with the title 

 of sultan of Egypt ; at the same 

 time Great Britain declared the 

 Turkish suzerainty at an end, and 

 a British protectorate was de- 

 clared. Hussein died Oct. 9, 1917, 

 and was succeeded by his youngest 

 brother, Prince Ahmed Fuad. 

 Egypt daring the Great War 



During 191416 Egypt was on 

 the whole prosperous and quiet, 

 although when Turkey entered the 

 war the country was overrun by 

 spies and secret agents in the pay 

 of Germany. 



Martial law was proclaimed, as 

 a measure of precaution, but the 

 British were able to use the Egyp- 

 tian army freely for policing the 

 frontiers of the Sudan, and in the 

 reconquest of Darfur. Egypt 

 rendered great assistance by its 

 labour corps, camel transport, and 

 other services. The entry of the 



EGYPT 



Egyptian Expeditionary Force into 

 Palestine in 1916 removed all 

 danger of hostile invasion. 



In 1919 a group of national- 

 ists advocated a degree of complete 

 autonomy which would leave Great 

 Britain only the right of super- 

 vision with regard to public debt 

 and facilities for shipping on the 

 Suez Canal. They elected a com- 

 mittee which carried on an unceas- 

 irg agitation throughout the coun- 

 try. They asked to be allowed to 

 send a deputation to London, but 

 the British government replied 

 that, while sympathising with the 

 idea of giving Egypt an ever-in- 

 creasing share in the government 

 of the country, they could not 

 abandon their responsibility for 

 good order and good government, 

 and refused to allow the national- 

 ist leaders to proceed to London to 

 put forward their demands. Early 

 in March four prominent national- 

 ists were deported to Malta for 

 conducting an anti-British agita- 

 tion, among whom was Said Zaghlul 

 Pasha, leader of the nationalists in 

 the legislative assembly. 



Disturbances in 1919 



About this time Hussein Rushdi 

 Pasha, who had been prime minis- 

 ter since April, 1914, resigned, and 

 serious events followed quickly. The 

 Egyptian nationalists demanded 

 the immediate release of their 

 leaders. Grave riots and disturb- 

 ances broke out, and Lord Allenby 

 was appointed special high com- 

 missioner for Egypt and the Sudan. 



The unrest was general from 

 Assiut in Upper Egypt down to 

 Alexandria, and students were 

 prominent among the rioters. 



On March 14, 1919, the mob 

 rushed the station at Galiub (N. of 

 Cairo), attacked trains and British 

 officers, and murdered soldiers, 

 while disturbances also broke out 

 at Zagazig. In Cairo and Alexan- 

 dria collisions took place between 

 the rioters and patrols. At Cairo a 

 patrol fired on the mob, killing and 

 wounding several, and on March 1 5 

 a British officer was murdered at 

 Minia in Middle Egypt. 



On March 17 serious disturbances 

 took place at Damanhour. while at 

 Alexandria a procession of work- 

 men and students came into colli- 

 sion with the troops. Between Bir- 

 ket el Saab and Cairo several sta- 

 tions were destroyed. A leading 

 event hi this month was Gen. Bui- 

 fin's warning to the notables, whom 

 he summoned to a meeting, of the 

 serious consequences of the prevail- 

 ing grave outrages, and his warning 

 to the inhabitants of the Fayum 

 and Upper Egypt that if further 

 shootings of British soldiers by 

 Beduins occurred repressive mea- 

 sures would immediately follow 



