Egyptian Nationalism ••• 191an enlarged army. The same demands were sought by the civilian nation¬
alists; they were also feared by the European creditors, who wondered how
Tawfiq or Urabi would ever find money to pay for these reforms.
During the next year Egypt came as close as it ever would to democratic
government (if you take the Egyptian nationalist view of history) or polit¬
ical chaos (if you buy the British interpretation of what happened). A lib¬
eral cabinet drafted a constitution and held elections as Egypt's debts rose
further. In January 1882 Britain and France sent a joint note, threatening
to intervene to support Tawfiq (they really meant to restore the Dual Con¬
trol). The nationalists called their bluff, declaring that Egypt's new assem¬
bly, not the British and French debt commissioners, would control the
state budget. Barudi took over the premiership, and Urabi became war
minister, threatening the Turkish and Circassian officers in Egypt's army.
The nationalists even thought of ousting Tawfiq and declaring Egypt a re¬
public, though they probably would have replaced him with one of his ex¬
iled relatives, a strange treatment for their secret patron.
As nationalism was new in Egypt, could an outsider have inspired these
moves? A few English liberals helped the movement, and France's consul in
Cairo may have encouraged Urabi; however, the outside supporters seem to
have been the Ottoman sultan and a dispossessed uncle of Tawfiq living in
Istanbul, for the Ottoman Empire was seeking ways to regain control of
Egypt. This fact may make the movement seem less than wholly nationalist.
A German scholar argues that what we usually call the National Party was
really a constellation of several groups with various political, economic,
and religious interests. Still, the movement had become popular by June
- What destroyed it was Britain's determination to dispatch troops to
protect European lives and investments in Egypt and to defend the Suez
Canal, which had become vital to British shipping.
Riots in Alexandria caused a general exodus of Europeans, and both
British and French gunboats dropped anchor near the harbor. When the
British fired on Alexandria's fortifications, somehow much of the city
caught on fire, and British marines landed to restore order (as the French
ships sailed away). Urabi declared war on Britain, but Tawfiq declared him
a traitor and threw in his lot with the British in Alexandria. Other British
Empire troops entered the Suez Canal and landed at Ismailia. Defeating
Urabi's army was easily accomplished, and the British occupied Cairo in
September 1882. Barudi's cabinet was dismissed, the nationalists were
tried for rebellion, Urabi was exiled, the constitution suspended, the na¬
tionalist newspapers banned, and the army broken up by Tawfiq and his
British advisers. The early nationalists had proved a weak force. Their