British Occupation of Egypt 1882

Many Egyptians resented the foreign influences that controlled the Suez Canal and, indirectly, the country. The success of Colonel Ahmad Urabi Pasha, the prominent leader of the anti-European and anti-Ottoman movement, motivated the British and French to pressure the Egyptian leadership to curtail his influence. Britain and France agreed on a joint demonstration of naval power, sending fleets to Alexandria. They also issued a series of demands including the resignation of the government, the temporary exile of Urabi, and the internal exile of his two closest associates, Ali Fahmi and Abd al Al Hilmi.

These actions provoked a violent anti-European riot in Alexandria on June 11, 1882, and the massacre of more than 50 Europeans in the process. An international conference of the European powers (including Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia and Italy) met in Constantinople to discuss the situation in Egypt but no agreement was reached. The Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid boycotted the conference and refused to send troops to Egypt. Britain decided to act alone. The French withdrew their naval squadron from Alexandria.

The British fleet conducted a 10-hour bombardment on July 11-12, 1882. Following the burning of Alexandria and its occupation by British marines, the British installed the khedive, Mohamed Tewfik Pasha (also known as Tawfiq of Egypt), in the Ras El Tin Palace. The khedive then declared Urabi a rebel and deprived him of his political rights. Urabi in turn obtained a religious ruling, a fatwa, signed by three Al Azhar shaykhs, deposing Tewfik Pasha as a traitor who brought about the foreign occupation of his country and betrayed his religion. Urabi also ordered general conscription and declared war on Britain. Thus, as the British army was about to land in August, Egypt had two leaders: the khedive, whose authority was confined to British-controlled Alexandria, and Urabi, who was in full control of Cairo and the provinces.

In August Sir Garnet Wolseley and an army of almost 20,000 came ashore at Ismailia in the Suez Canal Zone. Wolsley was authorized to crush the Urabi forces and clear the country of rebels. The decisive battle was fought at Tell el Kebir on September 13th. The Urabi forces were routed after two hours of battle and sustained casualties estimated at 2,500. On September 15, 1882, Cairo was occupied. The nominal authority of the khedive was restored, and the British occupation of Egypt, which was to last for seventy-two years, had begun.

Urabi was captured, and he and his associates were put on trial. An Egyptian court sentenced Urabi to death, but through British intervention the sentence was commuted to banishment to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The military intervention in 1882 and its extended, if attenuated, occupation of the country left a legacy of bitterness among the Egyptians that would not be expunged until 1956 when all British troops were finally withdrawn from the country.

References

Clodfelter, 343; COW65; Egypt - A Country Study.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

Middle East

Belligerents

Egypt, UK

Dispute

Governance

Initiation Date

July 11, 1882

Termination Date

September 25, 1882

Duration

67 days

Outcome

Imposed Settlement
(UK victory)

Fatalities

Total: 10,000
Egypt: 10,000
UK: 79

Magnitude

4.0