Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/555

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
481
RIGHT

EGYPT 481 EGYPT assassinated (January, 1885) before the relief expedition under Sir Garnet Wol- seley could reach him. In 1889, Egypt was invaded by 14,000 dervishes, under Wad el N'Jumi, and this army was destroyed at Toski by an Anglo-Egyptian force under General Grenfell. There was no effort to relieve the Sudan from the tyranny of Abdullahi, the mahdi's suc- cessor, till 1896, by which time the fana- tical faith of the dervishes had decayed and many tribes had become disloyal. Slatin Pasha, who escaped from Omdur- man in March, 1895, revealed at Cairo the altered situation, and during the fol- lowing winter the British Government, as the protector of Egypt, resolved on the reconquest of the Sudan. General Kitchener was given control of the un- dertaking. In June, 1898, he attacked an army of 18,000, under Mahmud, sent against him, practically annihilated it, and by September 1 arrived in sight of Omdurman. The khalifa attacked, but was repulsed with the loss of almost his entire line of battle. Ascending the Nile The strong hand of Lord Cromer, the British viceroy, prevented, however, any actual outbreak. Under Lord Cromer's rule, great strides were made in the eco- nomic and social development of the country. He resigned in 1907 and was succeeded by Sir Eldon Gorst. He made it evident from the beginning of his rule that Great Britain intended to maintain her hold in the country, and there were general manifestations of dissatisfac- tion, including the assassination of the Egyptian Prime Minister. The govern- ment took repressive measures which were effective. In 1911 Sir Eldon Gorst died and was succeeded by Lord Kitch- ener, who at once undertook the pacifi- cation of the country by economic re- form. At the outbreak of the World War, Great Britain at once declared Egypt to be a British protectorate, thus ending the suzerainty of Turkey. Sir Arthur McMahon was appointed High Com- missioner. Abbas Hilmi was removed as Khedive, and was succeeded by his TEMPLE OF PHILiE, EGYPT with gunboats after the battle, Kitch- ener found Captain Marchand holding Fashoda, which he had seized by order of the French Government. Under threats of war from England, Marchand was in November ordered to evacuate Fashoda. In 1904, an agreement was made be- tween France and Great Britain, by v/hich France pledged itself to permit Great Britain a free hand in the occu- pation of Egypt. A movement for Egyptian nationalism developed in the early part of the 20th century, and con- tinued to grow in importance. The Nationalist party was formed with Mustapha Kemal as leader, and various conflicts with the English officials gave strength to the Nationalist movement. father's brother, Hussein Kemal, who was made Sultan. The measures under- taken and carried on by Lord Kitchener had proved remarkably beneficial. These included constitutional reforms, and ex- tensive changes in the judicial proced- ure. The Suez Canal was one of the vital points of defense. At the outbreak of the war, ways and means were taken to strengthen it on the anticipation of a strong attack against it. These fears were realized. Turkish forces under- took a campaign against the canal in January, 1915. They were commanded by German officers.. The attacks were repelled with great losses and the army under the Turks withdrew to Palestine. Although this prevented for a time at-