The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 in the Perception of the British Political Elite and British Public Opinion

Abstract

The purpose of this papers is to analyze the perception of the British public opinion and the political elite of Great Britain of the revolutionary processes in Egypt during the period 1919—1922. The main thesis of this study is that the events in Egypt were on the periphery of British public discourse, but they caused a great concern among the British establishment. The perception of the Egyptians remained in the perspective of the ideas of the “white man’s burden” and the Egyptian nation was denied the right and possibility of self-determination and the creation of its own sovereign state. However, due to the impossibility of maintaining the pre-revolutionary status quo and the willingness of British society and elites to make some concessions to Egyptian leaders, Egypt gained independence while the British maintain the control over the Suez Canal and Sudan as well as the right to patronize Egyptian ethnic and confessional minorities and protect Egypt from external threats.