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Assessing economic trends during the British protectorate is difficult. A major problem is that so much of the literature is written from an ideological rather than an economic perspective. Egyptian authors in particular seem primarily interested in depicting the evils of colonialism rather than actually assessing economic trends and their national social system. This is not unusual, blaming evil foreigners rather than one's own society is much easier especially because so much of traditional society is imbeded with Islam. And most Egyptian scholars are unwilling or unable to criticise Islam. Egyptian nationalists are prone to do this and place the blame for economic problems on the British and colonialism. We are not yet sure just what the British impact during the Protectorate was, but have begun to collect information. One simple 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 politically correct claims of ideologically oriented authors. The principal British interest in Egypt was of course the Suez Canal which connected the country with its primary colony--India. One source suggests that the British charged 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 Egyptians. 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 agriculture was still the heart of the Egyptian economy. And there was another important achievement--infrastructure. And the improvements in these different areas could only be achieved through higher taxes. Thus we are unable to determine if the British taxes were opressive or Egyptians objected to paying taxes to even find basic civic spending. 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 established the Protectorate (1882). This poverty was not created by the British. In fact Egypt and much of the Middle East was in fact a society and economy that was little changed for a millenia. What is important is the degree to which Egypt changed during the Protectorate.
Assessing economic trends during the British protectorate is difficult. A major problem is that so much of the literature is written from an ideological rather than an economic perspective. Egyptian authors in particular seem primarily interested in depicting the evils of colonialism rather than actually assessing economic trends and their national social system. This is not unusual, blaming evil foreigners rather than one's own society is much easier especially because so much of traditional society is imbeded with Islam. And most Egyptian scholars are unwilling or unable to criticise Islam. Egyptian nationalists are prone to do this and place the blame for economic problems on the British and colonialism. We are not yet sure just what the British impact during the Protectorate was, but have begun to collect information. One simple 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 politically correct claims of ideologically oriented authors.
The principal British interest in Egypt was of course the Suez Canal which connected the country with its primary colony--India. The British were concerned with the security of the Canal. Obviously that did not seize control of Egypt to benefit the Egyptian people. But the question remains, what was the impact of the apprimately 40 years of British control.
To assess the impact of British control, one must first assess why Egypt was so poor. Here the situation in Egypt seems similar to much of the Middle East and North Africa. Society was still essentially medieval. The economy was largely based on agriculture and cthe methods used were largely unchanged for a millenia. The education system, such as it existed, when th British seized control was centered on the mosques and almost entirely Islamic. The movements that propelled Europe forward (Reformation, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution, ect.) hardly touched Egypt. Egyptian scholasrs continued to debate the same religious issues that had dominasted the Middle East for centuries. There were almost no Egyptians with any technical or scientific training. There was no modern industries and basic infrasructure such as railways was virtually non-existent. The legal system was weak, essentially Sharia law. The Government could act capriciously. There was no secular law able to support the needs of a capitalistic system. Most of the population lived in rural villages and was illiterate. Women had few legal right and slavery and was widespread in the south. There were slave markets in Cairo, but the problem was acute in the Sudan. There was virtually no government effort addressing health care and other basic civic services. All of this was not a situation the British created, but what the British found when they arrived in Egypt.
Egyptian sources seem to focus on taxes. One source suggests that the British charged high tolls on the Canal and refused to share the revenue with the Egyptian Government. This may well be true. We are not yet sure. One highly critical author complains that the British heavily taxed the Egyptians. We are not yet able to assess this. There were a variety of improvements during the Protectorate. And the improvements in these different areas could only be achieved through higher taxes. Thus we are unable to determine if the British taxes were opressive or Egyptians objected to paying taxes to even find basic civic spending.
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.
Authors from the developing countries commonly dismiss agriculure and exhibit far more interest in heavy industry. For many authors, agriculture is a characteristic of a backward, underdeveloped economy. An Egyptian author 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 agriculture was still the heart of the Egyptian economy.
The British began their campaign against slavery after the Napoleonic Wars. The initial effort was focused on the Atantic slave trade. Eventually the campaign was extended to the Indian Ocean and East Africa. Here they ran into Islamic support for slavery. Unlike dealing with the United States and other European countries, there were no abolitionist movements in the principalities of the Middle Wast and North Africa. From an early stage, Zanzibar was a focus of the British effort. Seizing control of Egypt not only allowed the British to close the Cairo slave market, but also address the still wideapread problem of slavery in the Sudan. This was not a campaign that the Egyptian Government or Egyptian society in general supported. It was from the beginning a British policy pushed on the Egyptians by the British. One important British achievement during the Protectorate was ending the scourge of slavery. Egypt at the time included the Sudan, although the Egyptian Governments ability to extend its control into the southern Sudan was limited. The anti-slavery effort forced ion the Egyoptian goverment resulted in the Mhadist revolt.
There was another important British achievement--infrastructure. 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.
Authors assessing Egypt and the Protectorate commonly focus on Egyptian poverty. Here it is not enough to point to Egyptian poverty. Egypt and the rest of the Middle East were very poor when the British established the Protectorate (1882). This poverty was not created by the British. In fact Egypt and much of the Middle East was in fact a society and economy that was little changed for more than a millenia. To complain that Egypt was not radically changed by a 40 year British protectorate when the British were not even in total control and to ignore centuries of poverty and social stagnation is is absurd. What is important is the degree to which Egypt changed during the Protectorate and clearly there were improvements.
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