Imperialism in Egypt By Anna Orr

Causes of Imperialism

Egypt came to be conquered by Great Britain. At the time, Great Britain was getting to the end of the Victorian Era. It had gone through much growth economically and politically. Egypt was a semi-independent part of the Ottoman empire. Muhammad Ali introduced reforms that made Egypt such a military powerhouse that it was able to conquer Sudan, Syria, and Arabia. He also reorganized the landholding system, backed huge irrigation projects, and improved the tax collection system. Expansion in cotton production and industries coming to Egypt made it a participant in world trade.

After Muhammad Ali died, his successors were just not that good and Egypt became under foreign rule frequently. One thing that actually helped Egypt was the building of the Suez Canal. Tewfik Pasha made a deal with Ferdinand De Lesseps who invested money into the canal and loaned money to Egypt. The building cost twice what the original estimate and Egypt eventually was not able to pay off the loans. Britain actually bought Egypt's share of the loans to get it off their shoulders

Effects of Imperialism

Positive

While under British control, cities were transformed into European cities with railroads, gas-lit boulevards, parks and public buildings. Cotton exports also were expanded as they were worth of 80% of Egypt's exports. There was more diversity as there were more Christians. Nationalism made businesses wanted to diversify the economy through industrialization. There was also more tourism throughout Egypt

Negative

There was very little public education so literacy rates were low. There was also lots of poverty. Egypt didn't industrialize as fast as it wanted to because it remained mostly agricultural. European citizens had special privileges. There was also a lack of understanding of the Egyptian culture on the European side

Resistance and Independence

In 1922, Egypt got its independence but there were still British troops in the area. From 1922 to 1952, there was relative piece. In January 1952, there was clash between the Egyptian police and the troops near the Suez Canal. In July of the same year, there was a military takeover lead by a guy named Nasser that resulted in the creation of the Revolution Command Council that lasted for two years. He became president of the new Egyptian Republic after taking it over in 1954.

Credits:

Created with images by Tark Siala - "Cairo - Egypt" • doreen_sawitza - "egypt colossi of memnon ancient times" • PublicDomainPictures - "money bank notes" • Thomas Depenbusch - "Sinai Peninsula, Egypt"

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