Lesson 21: The Urabi Revolution — British Military Intervention and the Occupation (1882)

01The plot of the Circassian officers (April 1882)

• The general situation worsened through Khedive Tawfiq's weakness and his submission to foreign influence.
• A plot to assassinate Urabi and the nationalist officers — forty officers — was discovered, organised by some Circassian officers.
• The conspirators were sentenced to permanent exile to the Sudan and stripping of their ranks, decorations and privileges.
• On the advice of the two consuls the Khedive refused to ratify the sentence, lest the Urabists grow stronger — which provoked the Urabists.
• A compromise was reached: in May 1882 the Khedive agreed to exile the conspirators outside Egypt without naming the place, and without stripping their ranks and decorations.

02The Second Joint Note (May 1882)

• The two consuls felt the situation portended revolution and the deposition of the Khedive, especially as it was attributed to the Urabists that they sought to replace Tawfiq with Prince Halim.
• On the consuls' reports, England and France sent ships of the fleet in a naval demonstration off the Egyptian coasts, on the pretext of protecting their subjects' interests (May 1882).
• The two states demanded the resignation of the Baroudi ministry and the removal of Urabi from Egypt. The demand was delivered to the Urabists amiably by Sultan Pasha, president of the Chamber of Deputies — he lost the revolution's leaders' confidence and afterwards became known as the traitor.
• The Baroudi ministry refused to resign at the foreigners' request, and the demand increased the Urabists' cohesion: everyone — Baroudi with the officers — swore the oath to defend the country and be loyal to the revolution, and Sheikh Muhammad Abduh administered the oath to the officers.
• But Khedive Tawfiq accepted the note of the two states, so the ministry resigned in protest (May 1882).
• Tawfiq formed a new ministry but could not get rid of Urabi: under the officers' pressure he appointed him minister of war and marine and commander-in-chief of the army.
• England began to move towards acting alone, apart from France; the opportunity came when part of the French fleet withdrew and only British ships remained. The British fleet commander began demanding that the government raise no fortifications, while the Khedive did not protest and the Ottoman sultan made no move.

03The Alexandria massacre (June 1882)

• It broke out after a quarrel between a Maltese subject of Britain and an Egyptian carter over the fare: the Maltese stabbed the Egyptian mortally.
• The matter turned into mutual fighting between foreigners and Egyptians generally.
• The incident appears to have been staged, because the Maltese took an unusually long ride in the cart and deliberately paid a fare out of proportion to the distance.
• Affairs fell into confusion and order broke down, and a new ministry was formed under Raghib Pasha (20 June 1882).

04The Conference of Istanbul and the Covenant of Fair Play

• France realised that England wanted to take Egypt for itself alone and occupy it, so it took the initiative of inviting the Great Powers to a conference on the Egyptian question.
• England, Germany, Italy and Austria agreed, and the conference met at Istanbul, in the Ottoman capital, at the Italian embassy (June 1882).
• Those present concluded the Covenant of Fair Play: they undertook that none of them would act alone on the Egyptian question — whether by occupying part of its territory or obtaining a particular privilege not enjoyed by all the states.

05The occupation of Egypt by England

Breaking the covenant

• During the conference the British delegate grasped what the covenant implied and appended to the undertaking against acting alone the phrase "unless something arises that leads to it".
• Before the delegates notified the sultan of their decision, England had made its preparations and bombarded Alexandria on 11 July 1882, on the pretext that Egypt was fortifying Alexandria and intended to close the harbour and besiege the British warships lying in it.
• Thus the Covenant of Fair Play came to nothing.

After the bombardment of Alexandria

• British troops landed in Alexandria; the situation became unstable and events ran fast after the Egyptian army's defeat and the occupation of Alexandria.
• Martial law was declared and the army besieged the Khedive's palace in Alexandria.
• The Khedive linked his fate to an English victory and even entrusted them with preserving order in Alexandria.
• Urabi withdrew with units of the army to Kafr el-Dawwar to establish a second defence line.
• The Khedive ordered Urabi to stop his war preparations and to come to the Ras el-Tin palace; Urabi refused, charged the Khedive with high treason, and asked the notables and ulema to consider the matter of his authority.
• A emergency council (majlis urfi) was formed to administer the country's affairs apart from the Khedive's authority.

The conflict of legitimacy

• The Khedive decided to dismiss Urabi from the war ministry because he had not stopped the fortifications; the emergency council resolved that Urabi remained in his post.
• Urabi won sweeping popular support and was titled "Protector of the Precincts of Egypt" (hami hama al-diyar al-Misriyya).
• The council held that the Khedive's staying in Alexandria after the English occupied it was collusion with them.
• The Khedive replied by issuing a manifesto warning Egyptians to join Urabi, holding him responsible for the events that had occurred.

06The last step: the Suez Canal and Tel el-Kebir

• The British entered the Suez Canal despite Urabi's attempt to obstruct navigation in it; the company's administration assured him it would not allow warships to pass.
• Urabi moved his forces to el-Qawasir in Sharqia, guarding against a British entry from the eastern side.
• Clash came between the British and Egyptian armies at Tel el-Kebir, ending in the defeat of the Egyptian army.
• The road was then open to Cairo, which the British entered on 14 September 1882, together with Khedive Tawfiq, who paraded the British army in Abdeen square.
• Thus the Urabi Revolution ended.

07Causes of the failure of the Urabi Revolution

• Division within the nation between the camp supporting Urabi and the camp supporting Khedive Tawfiq and the Turkish–Circassian elements — caused by the Ottoman sultan's firman of disobedience against Urabi; this let the English exploit the contradictions.
• The mixing of two aims: getting rid of foreign intervention and challenging the Khedive's authority. The elements that wanted the foreigners gone did not at the same time want to challenge the Khedive as the lawful holder of authority — so the unity of the national movement fragmented.
• The appearance of defeatist elements among the nationalists who urged compliance with the Khedive's and the English wishes and stopping the revolution — some even asked the English to let Urabi leave the country.
• The imbalance of military power between the two sides, and the collusion of the foreign Suez Canal Company's administration with the British fleet's command, facilitating its entry into the Canal's waters.
• The hostility of the great European states to any national revolution that would change the balance of power and the established rule of absolute monarchies.

08Exam traps and key takeaways

• The plot's target was Urabi and forty nationalist officers; the first sentence = exile to the Sudan + stripping of ranks; the compromise = exile without naming the place and no stripping.
• The Khedive's refusal to ratify came on the consuls' advice — evidence of his subservience, a common "which factor" answer.
• The Second Joint Note's two demands: resignation of the ministry + exile of Urabi. Sultan Pasha delivered it and became "the traitor".
• Muhammad Abduh administered the oath — a name frequently swapped with Urabi or Baroudi.
• England acted alone only after French ships withdrew; the fortification demand came with no protest from the Khedive and no move from the sultan.
• The massacre's pretext (Maltese vs carter) and the evidence it was staged (the long ride, the token fare) are two separate question stems.
• Covenant of Fair Play = no separate action; the British delegate's escape clause "unless something arises" is what emptied it.
• Dates to fix: conference June 1882, bombardment 11 July 1882, Cairo 14 September 1882.
• The Khedive asked the English to keep order in Alexandria and later paraded their army at Abdeen — both cited as proof of his collusion.
• The two-pronged legitimacy conflict: Khedive dismisses, emergency council keeps; the sultan's firman of disobedience split the nation.
• Failure causes: keep both halves of the "mixed aims" point — the most common partial answer is to cite only the military imbalance.