Figure 1.--Here we see European peasant children in 1945. This same phoograph could have been taken a milllenium earlier. Fgypptians blamed the British for ggypts failure to entr the modern workd. In fact they had little to do with it. |
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Egypt was one of the four original river valley civilizations abd arguvly the richest of the four because of the Nile. Agriculture generated civilization in the Nile Valley and was based on grain. No society had the ability to produce grain in comparable quantities. And the results were the wonders of ancient Egypt. It was agriculktural richness that attracted both Alexabder abd Caesar to Egypt. What is interesting is that agricultural technology did not change significantly during not only centuries, but melennia. Nor did Islanic Caliphte bring significant technological advances. The same was true of the Ottomans whiuch controlled or ibnflience Egypt for nearly four centurues, beginning (1517). They also introduced little technoloh=gical changes. The British never colonized Egypt. They established a protectiorte (1882). This was not the same as a colony. Egypt was governed by the Khedive. The British primarily controlled foreign affairs and securiuty at the time. Modern Egyptins are highly critical of the British, but much of the first moodern infrastructure in Egypt began to appear during the British period. British rule was light compared and short comapred to the Islamic Caliphate and Ottomans. Centuries of Islamic/Ottoman rule and brought virtually no real technogical change or effort to improive the productivity of the Egypt peasantry (fellahin), but it is the Brtish on whom Egyptiians blame most of their problems. The cebtrak one is that by resisting modernity and modern cience, these regimes did nothing to better tghe fellahin and this meabt tht there was no improvements in agriculture. In fact the Btitish left Egypt with improved infrastructure and the beginnng of a modern secular educationsl system. Theu also preevnted the rise of Islamic fundamebntaiism which has proved such a destructive foirce throughout the Arab and wider Muslim world. Of course, the true test is, haw Egypt been a success since the British left?
The Egyptian economy has been based on agriculture and centered on the Nile. Agriculture generated civilization in the Nile Valley and was based on grain. Egypt, like all the great early civilizations, was an agricultural society. The wealth of Egypt and the richness of the civilization which it spawned was based fundamentally on agriculture. Egyptian agriculture was organized around the annual Nile flood. For 3 months out of the year the fields along the Nile were flooded and fertilized by rich silt brought by the flow of the river. The Nile water, rich silt, and semi-troical climate resulted in highly productive harvests that served as the basis for Egyptian civilization over several millenia. The average Egyptian lived and worked in his village and knew little of the wider world. Egypt was a closed society in which a son followed his father's calling. Generations of of Egypt's toiling masses over millenia worked in the fields. Even in the New Kingdom the only opportunities offring advancement outside of the laboring caste was the army. Egyptian peasants were iliterate and attended no schools. The whole family toiled in the field. The younger children were assigned tasks such as protecting the crop from birds or gleaning the stubble aftr harvest. Some Egyptians owned their own land, many toiled as tennants on the estates of the great temples or nobility. Officials would assess the yield for taxation. Later after the harvest officals would arrive to collect the tax as a share of the harvest to fill the state graneries.
Egypt was for millenia the richest place on the plannet. In a time that agriculture was the primary source of wralth, the fecindity of the Nile made Egypt rich -- a huge source of grain. This is why the Romans wanted Egypt. Rome in the person of Julius Caesar conquered Ptolemaic Egypt. Under Roman rule, Egypt was seen as a place to get rich. Roman pro-consuls increased taxes to the hilt, so they could make a fortune and retire when they retuned to Rome. There were noefforts to imprive the rconomy or agriculture in prticular. Authority was transferred to Byzanbtium which controlled Egyptg until the rise of the Islamic Caliphate (640 AD)
Egypt was one of the four original river valley civilizations. Its primary source of welth was the phenomenal agricultural productivity of the lands irrigated by the Nile. This cotinuedd during the Roman and Islamic eras. The wealth generated by the grin and other Nile River Valley crops made Egypt and important market for the produce of other ares within the Meditrranean world as well as Africa to the south and and Indis which could be accessed by caravan routes to India. There were several important urban centers during Pharonic times. Modern Cairo was the site of ancient national capitals and remnants can be seen parts of Old Cairo. During the Roman era Alexandria was the most important city. Modern Cairo began its growth during the Islamic Caliphate. What is now Cairo was an area associated with ancient Egypt with the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient city of Memphis located nearby as ell as the productive Nile Delta. Modern Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty (969 AD). Cairo has since been the center Egypt's cultural, economic, and political life. Cairo's markets were fabeled throughout the Islamic world. The bst known market is th Musky Market.
The Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt (1517) and controlled it for basically three centuries. Durin that entiire period, there was no substantial change in the econmy or partiocipation in the dcientific and technological cghanges sweeping Europe. This was the same throughout the Arab wotrkd and Egypt was the moat adbananced of the Arab lands.
Assessing economic trends during the British protectorate is difficult. A major problem is that some authors write from an ideological perspective, primarily interested in depicting the evils of colonialism rather than actually assessing economic trends. We are not yet sure just what the British impact here was, but have begun to collect information. One siimple fact should be born in mind here. While colonialism is commonly depicted as a evil system, in many cases for good reason, quite a number of countries deteriorated in economic terms after the European powers departed. Thus readers should be careful in accepting the claims of ideologically oriented authors. The principal British interest in Egypt was of course the Suez Canal which connected the country with its promsry colony--India. One source suggests that the British chaged high tolls and refused to share the revenue with the Egyptian Government. This may well be true. We are not yet sure. It is also true, however, that Egyptian businessmen and workers benefited from the support activities associated with runnng the Canal and the increased commerce the Canal brought to Egypt. One highly critical author complains that the British heavily taxed the Egyptian. We are not yet able to assess this. He also writes, "... the only things that the British improved in Egypt were the health care, education, and improved farming methods". Now the use of the term "only" seems strange as these are all very important areas. And there was another important achievement--infrastructure. And the improvements in these different areas could only be achieved through highertaxes. Thus we are unable to determine if the British taxes were opressive or Egyptians objected to paying taves to even find basic civic spending. Improving farming methods would seem especially important in an agricultural country like Egypt. Much of the country's modern infrastructure (roads, bridiges, and railroads) were built during the British protectorate. We are not yet sure just how to assess Egypt's economic progress during the Protectorate. It must be remembered, however, that the British, unlike the regime in India, did not take over the Egyptian civil administration. Thus any fair economic assessment must take into account both the British policies and the policies of the Egyptian Government. Here it is not enough tp point to Egyptian poverty. Egypt and the rest of the Middle East were very poor when the British establoshed the Protectorate (1882). What is important is the degree to which Egypt changed during the Protectorate which ended after World War I (1922).
With the addvent of World War I and the Ottoman Empire joining the Central Powers (1914), Britain ended the Khedivate which had ties to the Ottomans. They British established the Sultanate of Egypt which had no ties to the Ottomans to repoalce the Kedivate. an Ahmad Fuad was born in Giza Palace in Cairo, the seventh son of Isma'il Pasha, a former Khedive. He evebtuallyu became King Fuad I.
In modren times cotton became an agricultural mainstay. Land is very expensive because of the large population and limited area of arable land outside the Nile Valley. The country had a very high population growth rate--over 2 percent annually (2003). As a result, Egypt which used to be a major grain exporter, mow has to import food. The government has developed the petroleum, services, and construction sectors, but for the most part Egyptian industry is unproductive. The basic problem is that most industries are government-owned are controlled. This is in part the consequences of Egypt's experiment with Arab socialism on which Nasser embarked. There have been efforts to liberalize the economy, but it has made only limited progress. Despite resources committed to indusry, at the expense of agriculture, the country indusrial sector is inefficent and uncompetive. Another major problem is the country's huge beaureacracy which consumes a large share of available resources. Egypt has obtained foreign aid from both the Soviet Union nd the United States. The Gulf states which and the United States rewarded Egypt for helping to form the First Gulf War coalition. There are also foreign exchange earnings from Suez Canal traffic, tourism, and the remittances of Egyptians working abroad. Despite this Egypt has made little progress in developing a modern economy. Despite bering the largest Arab nstion and a substantial educational system, Egypt produces few scientific papers and achieves no medical advancment. Nor is their an industrial sector capable of competing on the international market. There are signs of a modern economy. A reader tells us, "I was in Egypt in November 2010. I saw a 'hyper mall' on the outskirts of Alexandria which was huge."
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