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Was the British intervention into Egypt necessary? - Coggle Diagram

- - - - With this European control developed a counter movement in Egypt led by an Egyptian military officer, Urabi, that desired a European withdrawal from the country and Egyptian soviegnty (Reid and Daly, 1998, p224-231). Within this context rioiting broke out in Alexandria, the British backed Tawfiq fled Cairo and Britian interviend to restore order (Cuno, 2010, p96-96).
- - - - Intervention enabled the protection of the pro-British government ensuring strategic areas were controled.
        
        With the strategic importance of Egypt established in the British minds the rebellion of 1882 presented a significant challange to them.
        
        The opposition to the British was led by Egyptian reformists who were concerned that Egypt had fallen behind and had become to rallient on the Christian west (Hunter, 1998, p191).
        
        These concerned collacsed around the idea of Egypt for the Egyptians' (Reid and Daly, 1998), this found sympthy in the mlitary who became irraited by anti-Arab policies in the adminstration of the military (Reid and Daly, 1998, pp224-226).
        
        Durring 1880 and 1881 power struggles broke out between the military and Chambre des Delegues on side and Tawfiq (the British backed khedive) on the other side (Ramm, 1971, pp88-90).
        
        These tensions first broke out in September when the Egyptain army besiged the khedive's palace and forced his appointed governemnt into resigning (Ramm, 1971, pp89-90).
        
        By 1882 Egypt was at a standstill between the two factions, one of which, with nationalist and anti-European ideals posed a threat to British interests.
        
        When, therefore, rioting broke out in Alexandria and the military rejected orders from Tawfiq the khedive fled into the protection of the British military haing lost all authority (Reid and Daly, 1998, p232).
        
        From this point on the British not only had the strategic necessity to intervene, but the means to ensure control through the military deconstruction of the rebels and the reinstalling of Tawfiq. From this point on with the government owning its survial to the British and a military presence in the country the empire could ensure control over their strategic interests.
      - To counter French Infleunce
        
        Alongside the benefit of protecting British strategic interests in Egypt from the Egyptains, there was also a necessity to protect them from the French.
        
        As early as the 1840s Britain began to develop concerns over the presence of French infleunce in the Mediteraian as British trade in the region grew (Al-Sayyid-Marsot, 1999, p652).
        
        In 1876, as the Egyptian debt situation began to worsen a caisse de la detter publique was established in the country under the oversight of Britain and France along a common Egyptain policy (Hunter, 1998, pp195-197).
        
        It was durring this period of teutalge for the country that France and Britain began a subtle campaign of diplomatic manerouriving to outflank eachother.
        
        Two years after the first debt criis a new deal was reached with Egypt that saw the appoint of two Europeans two the cabinet, selections made by the French (Ramm, 1971, p79).
        
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      - Mini conc
        
        Intervention became necessary because it could seccur the strategic points from a multitude of threats preventing wither Egyptain nationalists or the the French from even threatening British routes, through Egypt, to India.
    - - A key reason for the British intervention into Egypt was the country's strategic value to the British Empire.
        
        At the core of its strategic value was its connection to British imperial positions in India.
        
        The country's location meant that it sat across land routes and sea routes between Europe and Asia, from an early period this encoruged British investment in, and therefore control over, Egyptian rail links (Hunter, 1998, pp182-185).
        
        This importance became even more salient with the development of the Suez Canal, a sight that the British navy was convinced of its need to control (Al-Sayyid-Marsot, 1999, p654).
        
        Its through this lense that those in parliament supporting intervention focused, warning of a threat to British control over the canal and became evident by early landings by the British near the Suez canal (Reid and Daly, 1998, pp233-236).
        
        This importance was present even before the rapid expansion of European infleunce, with a key driving decision for Napoleon's invasion of Egypt being its potential as a stepping point off to India (Cuno, 2010, p79).
        
        By the late 1800s, British investment and infleunce in the country had reached such a degree that, even before the intervention, the country was an important element of imperial control with 'Across it runs the veins though which the sap of life flows to England' (Wachs, 1892, p453).
        
        Control over Egypt became necessary for imperail survial and is evidenced by the British remaining in the country and retaining the occuption even after the immediate threat had subsided (Cuno, 2010, p97).