Britain's Role in Egypt • 257British Efforts at a Solution
Concerned about the ongoing unrest in Egypt, the British government
decided to send a commission, headed by Lord Milner, to "inquire into the
causes of the late disorders, and to report on the existing situation in
the country, and on the form of constitution which, under the protectorate,
will be best calculated to promote its peace and prosperity, the progressive
development of self-governing institutions, and the protection of foreign
interests." Egyptian supporters of the Wafd, now as well organized at home
as in Paris, might desire peace, prosperity, and the progressive development
of self-rule, but they did not want the protectorate. They organized a gen¬
eral boycott of the Milner mission, a boycott that (probably against the or¬
ganizers' wishes) led to some attacks on British soldiers and Egyptian
ministers. Milner's mission saw that Britain must somehow come to terms
with Egyptian nationalism, but its leaders were in Paris, not Cairo.
The Egyptian government managed to persuade Sa'd Zaghlul to talk infor¬
mally with Milner, but neither conceded enough to reach a compromise. The
British called Sa'd a demagogue trapped by his own propaganda. The Wafd
thought that Britain, to protect the communications and trade routes of the
empire, would never really let the Egyptians rule themselves. A Zaghlul-
Milner memorandum, which would have replaced the protectorate by an
Anglo-Egyptian treaty, failed to gain the support of the Egyptian govern¬
ment or its people when Sa'd himself declined to endorse it. But Britain had
now clearly signaled its willingness to give up the protectorate. An official
Egyptian delegation, headed by the new prime minister, Adli Yakan, went to
London in 1921 to negotiate the terms, but Sa'd exploited his popularity in
Egypt to undermine support for Adli's parleys with the Foreign Office.
Having thus failed to negotiate a new relationship with the Egyptians, ei¬
ther officially with Adli or unofficially with Sa'd, Britain was stymied on the
Egyptian question. Strikes and assassinations made action imperative. Con¬
tinued control over the Suez Canal and Alexandria's port, the radio and tele¬
graph stations, the railroads and the airports—all communication links
vital to the British Empire—could have been endangered by a nationwide
revolution backed by Sultan Fuad and his ministers and led by Sa'd Zaghlul
and his Wafd. Britain's dilemma in 1921-1922 would become common in a
later era of decolonization: How much could a strong country defer to the
national pride of a weaker one and yet preserve its own interests? High
Commissioner Allenby devised a solution. He persuaded the British govern¬
ment to declare unilaterally an end to its protectorate over Egypt on 28 Feb¬
ruary 1922. The declaration limited this independence by reserving to
Britain, pending future Anglo-Egyptian agreement, ( 1 ) protection of British