The New Deal on the Nile: Challenging British Power in Egypt

Abstract

The British Empire faced one of its gravest crises of World War II when Axis forces made thrusts into Egypt in 1940 and 1941, threatening vital strategic interests such as the Suez Canal. The war tested the Anglo-Egyptian relationship, as the Egyptians grew resentful of the occupation and the embassy’s frequent intrusions into their politics. The completion of the canal in 1869 had sealed Egypt’s fate as a de facto British possession. But Egypt per se remained less important than its strategic location as a transit route between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. The consequences of the many betrayals of national aspirations, dating back to the British occupation in 1882, came home to roost just as the Germans were threatening Cairo.³

It is clear that whether he abdicated or was deposed the King would have to be placed under restraints and removed from Egypt to some British territory as soon as possible.

Sir Miles Lampson, British Ambassador to Egypt, February 2, 1942.¹

Egypt’s hopes for a better world are centered in the ideals set forth in the Atlantic Charter, which is locally regarded as a peculiarly American document.

S. Pinkney Tuck, American Minister to Egypt, to Cordell Hull, June 1944.²