tion, Egypt had either been governed by foreign powers, or the freedom of action of Egyptian governments had been effectively curtailed by foreign powers. Thus, in 1952, Egypt did not have a base of democratic tradition upon which to build. For this reason, it is desirable to review the political history of Egypt of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that preceded the 1952 revolution, to establish to political tradition with which the new government was confronted.
Relevant Egyptian History: Late Nineteenth
and Early Twentieth Centuries For several centuries Egypt was governed as a part of one or another larger Islamic empire. In 1876, while under the political control of the Ottoman Empire, the European powers imposed on the Egyptians a plan to deal with Egypt's external financial problems.3 To this end, the European powers formed the
3A. L. Al Sayyid, Egypt and Cromer: A Study in Anglo Egyptian Relations (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publisher, 1968), 7.
Caisse de la Dette Publique, which was composed of European commissioners. The commissioners were to act in behalf of the bondholders, and were to be appointed by the European powers. Along side the Caisse, two controllers one British and one French were to be appointed. These measures did not prove effective in dealing with Egypt's financial problems.
Following the failure of the Caisse, the British, in particular, felt that the entire administration of Egypt needed to be assumed by the European powers. The British then imposed a solution whereby they became military occupiers of Egypt in 1882, although the Egyptian retained a nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. In 1914, Egypt became a formal protectorate of Britain, as Britain and the Ottoman Empire joined the battle of the First World War on opposite sides.
The British protectorate lasted until 1922, when Egypt formally became politically independent. The British, howev...