The Anglo-Egyptian war occurred in 1882 when Britain and Egypt opposed each other due to low payments. The disagreements made Egypt face low economic growth due to colonization by the Europeans. The war made Egypt surrender its investments such as irrigation, railways, cotton plantations, and schools which seduced Egypt to experience financial ruin. The rise of the “Urabi Pasha” crisis strengthened the French and British intervention in Egypt, which forced the Egyptian ruler to accept Anglo-French control of the nation’s treasury, customs, railways, and ports. For various reasons, the war was initiated and yielded both positive and negative effects.
The battle aimed to protect the Suez Canal, seaports, airports, and agricultural fields. The movements improved European investments since they could access the market for their goods and services through the Suez Canal to the Indian coast. The British maintained security in the canal to prevent the Egyptians from accessing European market directions. The British interest was to control the sea routes, which limited the benefits of the Egyptian’s adventure. Their control over irrigation schemes boosted food and materials such as cotton for their industries. The British transported their finished goods to the Indian coast, where they marketed them.
The British leaders were interested in guarding the passion of their investors who invested their resources in the land. The British were recognized as superior beings in Egypt since they ruled the country with military force to make locals overwhelmed. The colonization made the Egyptian sovereignty send soldiers to the dominated areas like Suez Canal to fight. As a result, the British won the battles because their officers were equipped and well-skilled. They obtained the land for their interests which they executed by enslaving the locals in the service. The Egyptians worked under maximum supervision, which caused the death of soldiers due to health deterioration.
The overthrow by the British led to massive loss of lives and property on their land. According to (Rose pp.161-176), many soldiers died due to a lack of enough food and water in the war since the battlefields existed in desert areas. After the war, the governments introduced policies regarding financial solvency to avoid such inconveniences in the precedent years. The government needs to invest more resources in the agricultural sector. The authorities should provide weather-resistant crops to desert environments to boost food production. In addition, farmers should employ new farming technologies such as tractors, use pesticides, and new planting materials to increase the outcome.
The political influence in the country was another reason that influenced the Egyptian soldiers to attack the British people. The colonialists had more control over the nation due to their supremacy and their advanced militia equipment. Egypt’s fame attracted more British troops and visitors to arrive in the country, which initiated the defeat of the Egyptians. After the war, Urabi was executed by the British minister for killing Christians. The colonialists occupied Egypt until the end of the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1922 and 1936 when Egypt gained independence.
In addition, the British introduced infrastructures like railways and ships from Egypt connecting to the European countries. The improvement of transport means expanded the growth of Egypt as a country later in the decades because people could access the European market easily and market their goods and services. Communication expanded due to its popularity which influenced the manufacture of phones. Communication was the basic need of soldiers during the war to receive directives from leaders.
Schools increased to enable people to access education which was a basic need. The catholic school’s increment created new relationships between Egypt and Sudan (Alcaide pp.1-16), where African cultures are similar in various ways. Egyptians adopted the English language as part of their learning activities which impacted most of the tutors in schools. The expansion of high schools and universities grew rapidly due to broad innovations in learning systems that were invented. Through education, many people have boosted their careers with the growing demand for learning in schools. The Anglo-Egyptian war initiated benefits that impacted Egypt after the British reign.
Works Cited
Alcaide, Jorge Carlos Naranjo. “Identity and quality of Catholic schools in Sudan.” International Studies in Catholic Education (2021): 1-16. Web.
Rose, Christopher S. “Food, hunger, and rebellion: Egypt in World War I and its aftermath.” The Provisions of War: Expanding Boundaries in Food and Warfare, 1840-1990 (2021): 161-176. Web.