Essay on Egypt Copy

Victoria Savino
Mr. Doran
Global 2 Honors
24 February 2015
British Imperialism in Africa: Egypt Egypt is one of the world's oldest civilizations, emerging from the Nile River Valley civilization around three-thousand years ago. Egypt's natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, gold and iron ore. The Suez Canal is a manmade waterway in Egypt that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It was opened in 1869 and allows boats to travel between Europe and South Asia without traveling around Africa. Before British imperialism in Egypt, the economic situation was satisfactory. The working class and the upper class worked together to maintain and keep stable, political and industrial affairs, as well as the government. In 1882, instead of leaving the land to the Egyptians, Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of the French Army, let Britain colonize and control Egypt through a protectorate. A protectorate is when a colony or state is controlled by a more powerful one. This means the Egyptians lost complete control of their own country and could not interfere with Britain’s interventions. The British possessed all parts of the Egyptian government, imposed new laws on the Egyptian people, and restricted Egypt's economic development and educational systems. This allowed the British to control all aspects of Egyptian life, politics and economy. A major advantage that Britain gained was full authority of the Suez Canal. Britain placed heavy taxes on the ships that passed through the Canal. The revenue went directly to the British government instead of being used to maintain Egypt. When Egyptians found out about this unprincipled action performed by the British, they fled the country. Britain had to react quickly because without Egyptians in the colony, there would be no maintenance of the land and canal. Britain decided to enforce exceedingly high taxes on the Egyptians trying to escape the country, this way there would be no easy escape route. Egyptians were fundamentally “forced” to stay in Egypt and care for the land. They were held against their will on their own land, which is regarded as illegal. Egypt’s political affairs declined as a result of British intervention. At first, Egyptians thought that Britain would add to their government. They believed that major changes could be established faster and would have a positive effect on their lives and country. However, that was not the case. Instead, Britain had absolute power of the government in Egypt. They disregarded any ideas the Egyptians brought up and left them out of all affairs. In an effort to acquire some sort of say in government, Egyptians formed a general assembly. This also was a failure. The British would still not respond to any of their suggestions. The general assembly became frustrated and started to form a rebellion. They discussed and planned to revolt against Britain. The natives of Egypt were tremendously affected by the new system of British imperialism. First, Egyptians tried to flee the colony once Britain started placing taxes on ships passing through the Suez Canal. They could not flee Egypt because Britain acted fast and imposed heavy taxes on people trying to escape. Then, after being forced to stay, they were completely ignored by the British whenever they tried to get involved with government and political affairs. Egyptians started creating anti-British nationalist independence parties. This desire for independence stimulated the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. Sa’ad Zaghlul, a member of the Egyptian elite, begged for permission to go the the next Paris Peace Conference. The British arrested and exiled him. After this action, Egyptians were riled up and protested across Egypt. They disrupted railroad lines, caused disaster, and began a significant revolt against Britain. The Egyptian struggle for independence from 1919-1922 is noted as the first nonviolent mass protest in the modern

Show More

Ancient Egypt Daily Life Copy Essay

Were The Two Places Where The Earliest Copies Of The Qur An Are Preserved In Egypt?

Research Paper

Essay on San Diego Mesa Art History Final

ECON401 assign1 Essay

ww1 woh1 Essay examples

Twenty-Fifth Dynasty Fashion Style

Alexander The Incomparable Research Paper

Hyperreality Essay

Horemheb Critique