Egypt

Hey guys, Lukach checking in here about your prezi and your wiki. In general, they both look fantastic. Your wiki is incredibly developed with excellent answers, good research citations, and nice pictures. 40/40. As I've told you both, your Prezi was the best one of the bunch, period...mostly because of how well you visually created a narrative and a sense of big picture. In speaking, I don't think you emphasized the big picture as effectively as you did on your Prezi, so for the overall Prezi you get 19/20. And for participation, it looks fairly clear that you collaborated pretty well together. 20/20. Overall really nicely done.

Wiki by: Jake Seawick and Marlyn Lombera
 * Egypt;**


 * Flags of Egypt during its different periods:**

(1953-present) (1922-1953) (1882-1922)

media type="custom" key="5486287"

1.**Who colonized your country, and when?** Egypt was colonized by the British in mid 1882 A.D, after the British defeated the French, who previously had control of Egypt. The British were in full control of Egypt until 1922, when partial independence had taken place. Full independence of Egypt was not established until 1936.

2. **Was the colonization violent or peaceful?** Britain's colonization of Egypt was violent. This was due to the large percentage of Muslims that lived in Egypt who were not open to the idea of Western, Turkish, and Christian influences on their country. On February 1, 1881, in the city of Alexandria, the Muslim rebel group, lead by Urabi, massacred thousands of Christians. The Egyptians responded by placing over 25,000 troops in the Egyptian city of Ismaila, which led to the battle of Tel al-Kebir. In the battle, the British defeated the Egyptians, and the British then kept an army in Egypt, which kept them in control. All of these revolts and battles show that the colonization of Egypt was not a clean, easy process.

3. **In one paragraph, describe the life of the indigenous people before the Europeans showed up.** The life of the ancient Egyptians was simple and peaceful. Many of the jobs were agricultural, as farming was a big part of ancient Egyptian life. The ancient Egyptians highly valued family life, as children were considered a blessing. Women were also equal to men in many ways, including: able to participate in business deals, own land, and were expected to represent themselves in court cases. Young boys learned how trade from a young age and how to do the job the father was doing (mostly farming or artisan jobs) from their fathers, while young girls were taught how to take care of the house and run the farms in absence of their father by their mothers. Men wore a short skirt called a kilt, as women wore a straight dress held up by straps. The cooking the ancient Egyptians did was in clay ovens that were fueled by wood, while the main food in their diet was bread, and beer was the most popular beverage. To relax, Egyptians would do such activities as: fishing, river boat outings, swimming, and hunting crocodiles and hippopotamuses. All of this was overseen by a Pharaoh, who was the Egyptian form of a king.

4. **What did the European colonizer hope to economically gain in taking this territory?** The British wanted to colonize Egypt because of the Suez Canal, which opened in 1869. The Suez Canal allowed the British easier access to trade with Bombay, India, Japan, and China, as they did not have to travel around Africa to trade with those countries, but instead could cut through it, as it took about half the amount of time (5,100 miles less that they had to travel).



5. **Identify 3 key characters in the process of colonization. At least one should be European, and at least one should be indigenous.** //**Muhammad Ali**//

Muhammad Ali was the most influential ruler of Egypt during its indigenous times. Ali's rule of Egypt lasted from May 1805 - March 1848, during which he bolstered the agricultural development by taxing farmers, sent the first Egyptian students to study abroad in Europe in hopes of establishing a European-style army (which lead to the establishment of Egypt's first bureaucracy), created the first Arab Indigenous press, and even nationalized his country, by fighting off the Ottoman's (who were in control during his reign) and taking control of Egypt's currency. Although he was not around during the colonization of Egypt, he created the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, which lasted over 100 years after his death. The Dynasty followed his fighting, nationalism spirit, which lead to Egypt revolting against the British during the process of colonization. The Dynasty eventually lead Egypt to full independence from British rule. None of that would have been possible without Muhammad Ali's leadership and will for Egypt.

//**Urabi Pasha**//



Urabi Pasha was a nationalist who was known for his great dislikes of the education classes, army enforcements, and peasantry that foreign control enforced on Egypt. He raised a rebel army that, although at a big disadvantage without any advanced weaponry, was able make the process of colonization by the British much more difficult. He lead his rebel group into many battles, including: a battle at the Suez Canal and the battle of Tel el-Kebir, where he was eventually defeated. Urabi Pasha was the leader of the biggest rebel group in Egypt's history, and he was the reason Egypt's colonization was so violent.

//**Garnett Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley**//



Garnett Wosleley was the Major General in charge of the British forces during the colonization of Egypt. He lead his army to the Suez Canal, in hopes of taking control of it. He had to fight off the Urabi rebellion at the Suez Canal, but his troops eventually won the battle. Woslely then went on to fight Urabi Pasha in Ismailia, and eventually defeated them. Wosleley received many medals for the success he had in colonizing Egypt under British control.

6. **How long was your territory a colony? When did it gain independence, and why?** Egypt was a colony for a time period spanning forty years, from 1882-1922. In 1922, the Egyptians fought for and received partial independence, but it was not until 1936 that full independence of Egypt was established. Constant revolts lead the British to pull back.

7.**In general, do you think that colonization was a good thing for your territory?** Although Britain did enhance Egypt’s military, healthcare, and education, within the 40 years that Britain dominated Egypt, Egypt’s economic and political infrastructure collapsed largely due to British intervention. Initially, after the British had driven out the French, they set up a protectorate with Egypt. This soon began to change as Britain heavily taxed the Egyptians and ignored the voice of the people. It wasn't until 1956 that riots diminish, though full independence was reached in 1936, Britain indirectly controlled Egypt. So in essence, no, the colonization was not good for Egypt because of the warfare that resulted thereafter and the collapse of political infrastructure.

8. **Find two primary sources that are affiliated with your colonization. One must be European, one must be indigenous. (embed them in your wiki)**

Evelyn Baring became the first viceroy (governor of a province that rules who rules as a rep. of the king) of Egypt. He was born into the highest nobility (born to the Baring banking family), having the title of baron. Also, Evelyn Baring was the Baron Cromer (cromer of Norfolk), Viscount Errington, and then he was raised to earldom. Here the Earl describes why Britain decided to take control of Egypt in an account written in 1882: "//__Egypt may now almost be said to form part of Europe__. It is on the high road to the Far East. It can never cease to be an object of interest to all the powers of Europe, and especially to England. A numerous and intelligent body of Europeans and of non-Egyptian orientals have made Egypt their home. European capital to a large extent has been sunk in the country. __The rights and privileges of Europeans are jealously guarded, and, moreover, give rise to complicated questions, which it requires no small amount of ingenuity and technical knowledge to solve.__ Exotic institutions have sprung up and have taken root in the country. The capitulations impair those rights of internal sovereignty which are enjoyed by the rulers or legislatures of most states. __The population is heterogeneous and cosmopolitan to a degree almost unknown elsewhere__. Although the prevailing faith is that of Islam, in no country in the world is a __greater variety of religious creeds__ to be found amongst important sections of the community.// //In addition too these peculiarities, which are of a normal character, it has to be borne in mind that in __1882 the [Egyptian] army was in a state of mutiny; the treasury was bankrupt; every branch of the administration had been dislocated; the ancient and arbitrary method, under which the country had for centuries been governed, had received a severe blow__, whilst, at the same time, n__o more orderly and law-abiding form of government had been inaugurated to take its place.__ Is it probable that a government composed of the rude elements described above, and __led by men of such poor ability as Arabi and his coadjutators, would have been able to control a complicated machine of this na__t__ure?__ Were the sheikhs of the El-Azhar mosque likely to succeed where Tewfik Pasha and his ministers, who were __men of **comparative** education and enlightenment__, acting under the guidance and inspiration of a first-class European power, only met with a modified success after years of patient labor? There can be but one answer to these questions. Nor is it in the nature of things that any similar movement should, under the present conditions of Egyptian society, meet with any better success. The full and immediate execution of a policy of "__Egypt for the Egyptians,__" as it was conceived by the Arabists in 1882, __was, and still is, impossible__.// //History, indeed, records some very radical changes in the forms of government to which a state has been subjected without its interests being absolutely and permanently shipwrecked. But it may be doubted whether any instance can be quoted of a sudden transfer of power in any civilized or semi-civilized community to a class so ignorant as the pure Egyptians, such as they were in the year 1882. These latter have, for centuries past, been a subject race. Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs from Arabia and Baghdad, Circassians, and finally, Ottoman Turks, have successively ruled over Egypt, but we have to go back to the doubtful and obscure precedents of Pharaonic times to find an epoch when, possibly, Egypt was ruled by Egyptians. Neither, for the present, __do they appear to possess the qualities which would render it desirable, either in their own interests, or in those of the civilized world in general, to raise them at a bound to the category of autonomous rulers with full rights of internal sovereignty.__// //If, however, __a foreign occupation was inevitable or nearly inevitable, it remains to be considered whether a British occupation was preferable to any other__. From the __purely Egyptian point of view, the answer to this question cannot be doubtful. The intervention of any European power was preferable to that of Turkey__. The intervention of one European power was preferable to international intervention. The special aptitude shown by Englishmen in the government of Oriental races pointed to England as the most effective and beneficent instrument for the __gradual introduction of European civilization into Egypt__. __An Anglo-French, or an Anglo-Italian occupation, from both of which we narrowly and also accidentally escaped, would have been detrimental to Egyptian interests and would ultimately have caused friction, if not serious dissension, between England on the one side and France or Italy on the other__. The only thing to be said in favor of Turkish intervention is that it would have **__relieved England from the responsibility of intervening.__**// //By the process of exhausting all other expedients, we arrive at the conclusion that armed British intervention was, under the special circumstances of the case, the only possible solution of the difficulties which existed in 1882. Probably also it was the best solution. The arguments against British intervention, indeed, were sufficiently obvious. It was easy to foresee that, with a British garrison in Egypt, it would be difficult that the relations of England either with France or Turkey should be cordial. With France, especially, there would be a danger that our relations might become seriously strained. Moreover, we lost the advantages of our insular position. The occupation of Egypt necessarily dragged England to a certain extent within the arena of Continental politics. In the event of war, the presence of a British garrison in Egypt would possibly be a source of weakness rather than of strength. Our position in Egypt placed us in a disadvantageous diplomatic position, for any power, with whom we had a difference of opinion about some non-Egyptian question, was at one time able to retaliate by opposing our Egyptian policy. The complicated rights and privileges possessed by the various powers of Europe in Egypt facilitated action of this nature.// //There can be no doubt of the force of these arguments. __The answer to them is that it was impossible for Great Britain to allow the troops of any other power to occupy Egypt.__ When it became apparent that some foreign occupation was necessary, that the Sultan would not act save under conditions which were impossible of acceptance, and that neither French nor Italian cooperation could be secured, the British government acted with promptitude and vigor. A great nation cannot throw off the responsibilities which its past history and its position in the world have imposed upon it. English history affords other examples of the government and people of England drifting by accident into doing what was not only right, __but was also most in accordance with British interests__."//
 * Evelyn Baring**

A letter of a British man and his perspective on Urabi Pasha, or as he calls him Araby Bey. Also:
 * Urabi Pasha**

9. **How do these primary sources help to explain the attitudes of the colonized and the colonizers?**
 * British account: Earl :** In Earl of Cromer's account of why the British "acquired" Egypt, he expresses his clear belief that Britain was the best choice for Egypt. He constantly brags throught explaining that, "The special aptitude shown by Englishmen in the government of Oriental races pointed to England as the most effective and beneficent instrument for the gradual introduction of European civilization into Egypt" Basically, to sum it up, this example is the epitome of political imperialism, stating that it was in the best interest of Egypt that Britain acquire it. Although Britain didn't want Egypt they felt an obligation as the world's most powerful empire to takeover and help Egypt. Of course, this is just an interpretation. But, what really happened is that Britain needed Egypt or else they would have to travel by boat to get all the way to India, and they wanted to exploit India's vast riches.


 * Letter on Perspective of Egyptians reaction to being colonized :** It was difficult finding an native account, image, or artifact on British colonization or any other colonization due to their lack of documenting their early history, so instead the only information found shows how the Egyptians took to being colonized from the perspective of the British. The author of the blue letter is unknown, though it was written the 12th of September 1881. The British author writes about the power that Urabi Pasha holds in gathering 1,000,000 men. Although exaggerated, it shows that the British are threatened by his influence over the people. The Egyptians did not react lightly when they were colonized. Urabi Pasha is considered a national hero in present day Egypt and the first revolutionary. Urabi Pasha was not the last revolutionary, meaning that Egyptians deeply resented the British.



__//**Bibliography:**//__

__//Flags//:__ 1) http://www.pseb.org.pk/UserFiles/images/mkt/egypt-flag.gif 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Egypt_1922.svg 3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Egypt_flag_1882.svg

//__Site(s) used for Question 1__// : http://africanhistory.about.com/od/eraindependence/ig/North-African-Independence/Atlas-Egypt.htm, http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_egypt.html

//__Site used for Question 2:__// http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_egypt.html

__//Site used for Question 3//:__ http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.2.html

__//Site used for Question 4://__ http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/egypt.htm //__Image Source:__// http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/willow/the-suez-canal1.gif

//__Site(s) used for Question 5__:// http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Egypt_under_the_Muhammad_Ali_dynasty, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_of_Egypt, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/619001/Urabi-Pasha, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garnet_Wolseley,_1st_Viscount_Wolseley __//Image Source://__ http://www.knowledgerush.com/wiki_image/c/c3/Mehmetali.gif http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2225/1547359125_2830e407a5.jpg http://www.africanseer.com/newsfile/Viscount_Garnet_Joseph_Wolseley.jpg

//__Site used for question 6__//: http://africanhistory.about.com/od/eraindependence/ig/North-African-Independence/Atlas-Egypt.htm

__//Site(s) used for Question 7//:__ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel#1897.E2.80.931917:_The_Zionist_Revolution http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/egypt.htm

//__Site used for Question 8:__// http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1908cromer.html http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/battles/egypt/

//__Image Source:__// http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/LordCromer.jpg/200px-LordCromer.jpg http://www.theheroes.org/wiki/images/300px-Orabi_Abdeen_Demonstration.jpg

__//Image Source//__: http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/images/colonialism1914.jpg

//__Muhhamad Ali Image Source:__// http://www.knowledgerush.com/wiki_image/c/c3/Mehmetali.gif

//__Urabi Pasha Image Source__//: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Muhammad_Sharif_Pasha.JPG

//__Garnett Wolseley Image Source__//__//://__ http://www.africanseer.com/newsfile/Viscount_Garnet_Joseph_Wolseley.jpg

//__Suaze Canal Map:__// http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/willow/the-suez-canal1.gif