The Three Conquerors of Egypt
Egypt has been subject to multiple conquests in its history. After Alexander the Great and the Muslims from Arabia had left, Egypt was conquered by numerous countries such as The Ottoman Empire, the French, and the British. In 1517 the Ottomans invaded and conquered Egypt. Leading up to this the Mamluks were occupying Egypt. The Mamluks declared war on the Ottoman Empire and tried to advance upon them. The Ottomans counterattacked and took Egypt.
In 1798 Napolean Bonaparte and the French were trying to inflict harm to the British. They wanted to cut off England’s trade routes to India by blocking access to the Red Sea. In response, with the help of the Ottoman Empire, England took Egypt from the French in 1801. Eventually England gained full control over Egypt. They made Egypt a protectorate in 1914 because of World War I.
In 1798 Napolean Bonaparte and the French were trying to inflict harm to the British. They wanted to cut off England’s trade routes to India by blocking access to the Red Sea. In response, with the help of the Ottoman Empire, England took Egypt from the French in 1801. Eventually England gained full control over Egypt. They made Egypt a protectorate in 1914 because of World War I.
British Interests
Britain's main interest was in stabilizing the region. An "overland route" opened between the port of Alexandria and the Gulf of Suez in the 1840s and Robert Stephenson's railroad, completed in the 1856, improved the route. Although it could not handle bulk cargoes, which traveled by ship around Africa, the railroad and telegraph line sped up communications between Britain and India, and was put to especially good use in organizing military forces to put down the 1857 Indian Mutiny.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 complicated the British position in Egypt. The government had opposed the construction of the Suez Canal from the beginning, but only managed to force the Egyptian government into a partnership with the French to build the canal. British canal opponents feared that British shipping would gravitate towards the canal and become dependent on it, making it vulnerable to interruptions during war time. The opponents were partially correct--the canal was enormously successful and British merchant shipping abandoned the route around Africa in its favor. In its first thirteen years of operation, the freight that travelled through the canal each year increased from just under a half million to more than five million tons, and by 1882 more than eighty percent of it travelled in British ships.
At first, the British government tolerated that arrangement . The trouble started in the 1870s when the Egyptian nationalist movement became active and began to target Europeans as well as Turks.
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 complicated the British position in Egypt. The government had opposed the construction of the Suez Canal from the beginning, but only managed to force the Egyptian government into a partnership with the French to build the canal. British canal opponents feared that British shipping would gravitate towards the canal and become dependent on it, making it vulnerable to interruptions during war time. The opponents were partially correct--the canal was enormously successful and British merchant shipping abandoned the route around Africa in its favor. In its first thirteen years of operation, the freight that travelled through the canal each year increased from just under a half million to more than five million tons, and by 1882 more than eighty percent of it travelled in British ships.
At first, the British government tolerated that arrangement . The trouble started in the 1870s when the Egyptian nationalist movement became active and began to target Europeans as well as Turks.