How Did The British Control Ancient Egypt

For hundreds of years, Egypt was ruled by the Ottoman Empire until taken over by the French in 1798 and remained under French influence until the British gained control in 1882. By 1922, Britain was in full power of Egypt and their government was run by a constitutional monarchy that mirrored that of Belgium specifically, among other European countries. This monarchy was not uniquely Egyptian, but an illusion of independence perpetuated by the British and named the Veiled Protectorate. Britain wanted to control Egypt to stabilize the Egyptian government to ultimately benefit that of the British. While in control of Egypt, the British often disregarded the needs of the Egyptian people and used it as an economic asset and excessively mined for Petroleum. In his work, Modern Egypt, Sir Evelyn Baring, the first earl of Cromer and British diplomat who spent a great amount of time in Egypt, wrote that: “those nine or ten million native Egyptians at the bottom of the social ladder: a
poor, ignorant [population],” which is a prime example of how little the British actually thought of the Egyptian people despite the significant native population. For years, Egyptians had to cope with the mistreatment they faced by the British while their land was torn apart by petroleum mines. Finally, after years of hardship, the Egyptians finally rose up and took back their land in an uprising fueled by Egyptian nationalism.
On July 23, 1952 an uprising was finally led by Gamal Abdel Nasser and his Free Officers, a group of Egyptian nationalists, to overthrow the monarchy in a military coup.
This uprising, called the Nasser Regime not only overthrew the monarchy but reinstated the government and turned it into a republic. After the downfall of the monarchy, the government was controlled by the Nasser-led Revolutionary Command Council with Major General Muhammed Naguib as its figurehead leader. However, in 1954 Nasser rose up and removed Naguib from his previous position. Nasser was extremely popular and he was extremely effective as the Egyptian prime minister. Perhaps his greatest feat in this two year period of time was the new constitution that he wrote, making the Republic of Egypt a socialist state. The first presidential election of the new, socialist Republic of Egypt was held on June 23, 1956 and Nasser won the election with 99.95% of the votes, becomming the first president of the Republic of
Egypt.
Nasser was a powerful, popular, and efficient president of the Republic of Egypt. He put Egypt on the map as more than a European colony, but as a source of global influence.
Nasser’s term as president was far from easy, only a month after his election, he dealt with a major crisis. The United States and Great Britian had decided against financing a high dam on the Nile River in account of Egypt’s newfound alligiance with the USSR. In response, Nasser decided to absorb the previously French and British owned Suez Canal, and intstill tolls to fund the dam. Later that year, Britain and France along with Isreal attacked Egypt in retaliation for seizing the Suez Canal. Egypt’s alliance with the USSR seemed to pay of because not only did they defend Egypt, but they forced Britain, France, and Isreal to retreat, leaving the Suez Canal under Egyptian control. Although it was definitely a challenge for Nasser, his success with the Suez Canal made him even more popular among his people and in the Arab world. Later, in 1958 he also unified Egypt and Syria as the United Arab Republic which he was president of. Nasser’s ultimate goal of bringing Egypt and Syria was to potentially unifying the entire Arab world under the umbrella of the United Arab Republic. Unfortunately, this was only a mere pipe dream because in 1961 Syria seceeded following its own military coup, leaving Egypt in isolation and as a result of increade Arab-Isreali tension, Egypt demanded withdrawel of peacekeepers from the Sinai Peninusula of Egypt. Eventually in 1970, the high dam, which was finally achieved with the help of the USSR who proved to be great allies of Nasser and Egypt. That same year, however, Nasser died unexpectadly of a heart attack in the city of Cairo, Egypt, only two months after the erection of the hight dam.