History of Egypt under the British
During this time the Khedivate of Egypt remained an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire, and the British occupation had no legal basis but constituted a de facto protectorate over the country.
This state of affairs lasted until 1914 when the Ottoman Empire joined World War I on the side of the Central Powers and Britain declared a protectorate over Egypt.
The ruling khedive, Abbas II, was deposed and his successor, Hussein Kamel, compelled to declare himself Sultan of Egypt independent of the Ottomans in December 1914.
The situation was normalised in the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936, which granted Britain the right to station troops in Egypt for the defence of the Suez Canal, its link with India.
After the 1952 Egyptian revolution, King Farouk was overthrown and, after a brief interregnum of his infant son Fuad II, the monarchy was abolished and replaced by the Republic of Egypt, under the leadership of Gamal Nasser and Muhammad Naguib.
Britain went to war against Egypt over the Suez Canal in late 1956, alongside France and Israel, but with insufficient international support was forced to back down.
The Urabi revolt, a large military demonstration in September 1881, forced the Khedive Tewfiq to dismiss his Prime Minister and rule by decree.
Consequently, in April 1882, France and Great Britain sent warships to Alexandria to bolster the Khedive amidst a turbulent climate and protect European lives and property.
Tawfiq moved to Alexandria for fear of his own safety as army officers led by Ahmed Urabi began to take control of the government.
The purpose of the invasion had been to restore political stability to Egypt under a government of the Khedive and international controls that were in place to streamline Egyptian financing since 1876.
However, after the end of World War I, British colonial authorities attempted to legitimise their less radical opponents with entrance into the League of Nations including the peace treaty of Versailles.
In the aftermath of World War I, the large British Imperial Army in Egypt which was the centre of operations against the Ottoman Empire was quickly reduced with demobilisation and restructuring of garrisons.
To the surprise of the British authorities, Egyptian women also demonstrated, led by Huda Sha'rawi (1879–1947), who would become the leading feminist voice in Egypt in the first half of the twentieth century.
In February 1921, the British Parliament approved the agreement and Egypt was asked to send another mission to London with full powers to conclude a definitive treaty.
However, the Dominion delegates at the 1921 Imperial Conference had stressed the importance of maintaining control over the Suez Canal Zone and Curzon could not persuade his Cabinet colleagues to agree to any terms that Adli Pasha was prepared to accept.
Alarmed by Italy's recent invasion of Ethiopia, he signed the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, requiring Britain to withdraw all troops from Egypt, except at the Suez Canal (which would be re-examined after 20 years).
The 1952 revolution overthrew Farouk and replaced him with his infant son Fuad II, effectively handing over control of the country to military strongmen Gamal Nasser and Mohamed Naguib.
The UK, France and Israel invaded Egypt a few months later to restore their control over the Suez Canal, but the action was met with such international backlash that the three countries were forced to halt military operations and withdraw.
Consequently, French attained an esteemed status in Egypt throughout the rule of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, emerging as a lingua franca in the country well into the second half of the 20th century.
[11] By the reign of Muhammad Ali's grandson, Isma'il the Magnificent, all government decrees, publications, or other documents (such as passports) in the Arabic language that required a foreign language version would also be issued in French, and French appeared alongside Arabic on road signs, train timetables, taxi stands, and other every day signage, such as "Entrance" and "Exit" signs in public buildings.
