Egypt before Imperialism

People began to believe and worship him as the king of the Gods. 2nd Intermediate Period : Around the time of 1800-1570 B.C. the Hyksos invaded Egypt and took power. They were invaders from West Asia, and adopted many Egyptian practices, like the hieroglyphics. They began to reconquer the north of Egypt, and built a wall to defend their new capital in Thebes, but they were defeated.

At the end of the Middle Kingdom, the Hyksos people invaded Egypt. The Hyksos most likely migrated from Western Asia in Syria-Palestine, but have no clear origin where they are from. The Egyptians called these people hikau-khausut which means "ruler of the foreign countries”. The Hyksos were technologically advanced and because of that they had a strong military. The Egyptians had been isolated from the growing and progressing world by the deserts which surround the country. Because of this isolation, the Egyptians were unprepared for any attack and had a weaker military force. Instead of protecting themself they relied on their natural borders to shelter them from invasion. When the Hyksos invaded Egypt, they left a lasting impact on Egypt’s lifestyle by introducing the Egyptians to different trade methods, diversifying their economy, and exposed exposing them to new military techniques.

These events, which focused on Egypt attempting to free itself from colonial influence, as well as giving rise to nationalistic pride in the country, inadvertently resulted in hostility, distrust and suspicion towards them, mostly by France and Britain (Kyle, 2011, p.115).

The Hyksos invaded and occupied Egypt from the 15th - 17th dynasties known as the second intermediate period, before their eventual defeat by the Egyptians which started the 18th dynasty.

The history of modern Egypt begins with the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the interference of the French and British in 1798. Following the British claim of South Africa, a move designed to stop French access to East Asia, Napoleon was directed to take control of Egypt with the intention of building a canal to circumvent British South Africa. While the French conquest of Egypt was unsuccessful, it did result in Muhammad Ali’s assignment by the Ottoman Sultan to the region. Ali established himself and over the course of the early 1800s managed to carve out a significant standing in Egypt and implemented many reforms that helped to push Egypt ahead of much of the Ottoman Empire as the Suez Canal brought money and western influence into the region. By 1882, the British had taken control of Egypt from the Ottomans, with their focus on protecting the canal. However, rising Arab nationalism prompted the British to grant independence in 1922-establishing the Kingdom of Egypt which existed until

In the village of Musha in the province of upper Egypt in 1906 to the father of Hajji Ibrahim Qutb, a prominent farmer Sayyid Qutb was born. During this time in Egypt, the British were present and being obnoxiously dominant in their attitude and in their understanding to the rights of their presence. In 1882, when the British took occupation of Egypt, there had already been a well-developed sense of nationalism throughout the Egyptian country. British Lord Cromer took responsibility for economic reforms, that did help to overcome existing debt of Egypt, but resulted in making the rich, richer and the poor poorer. Those who mainly benefited from these reforms were the upper and upper middle classes. At the upper class level, there was a benefit from the British presence do to the capital that was brought in and shared, however the remainder of the Egyptian population refused to accept British-style reforms and resisted the British occupation. This resistance to the British occupation resulted in newspapers raising the nationalistic emotional ideologies of the lower and middle class into a hatred of foreigners. Newspapers during this time in 1906 were claiming that the British were taking away jobs for the educated Egyptians and taking away their sovereign rights and ownership of their country. A significant event took place in Denshawai Egypt a few months before and in the same year that Sayyid Qutb was born. British soldiers in Denshawai were looking for an activity to keep

The French invasion had an extreme impact on Egypt and Egyptians. After the French invasion was over, Egypt was left without a ruler, which caused three main power to wrestle over the rule of Egypt. These powers were the British, the Mamluks, and the Turks. The British who recognized the importance of the geographical location of Egypt in transport lines to India, therefore balked at leaving Egypt, fearing the return of the French or other European countries. The Mamluks had the ambition to rule Egypt after the French invasion was over because they were the former rulers of Egypt before the Ottomans and because they bore the brunt in resisting the French. Finally, the Turks who looked forward to establishing full control of Egypt and claim it as a state under the Ottoman empire. This major conflict over the rule of Egypt paved the way for Muhammad Ali Pasha who was able to win the trust and support of general Egyptian people. Muhammed Ali had a huge desire to establish a modern civilized country by creating a strong military force, that can compete with world powers.

The British came over to take control of Sudan in 1898, because they wanted the Suez Canal that was constructed in 1869 to be a part of the route that would help be a flourishing portion to India and to conserve their interests in Egypt. Sudan was a community ruled by the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, however, Egypt in reality had very scarce power over Sudan, because Egypt ruled as if it was alongside under the control of the British. The British did not have enough power to rule the entire country of Sudan while they attempted to have power over half of the world, so they had to split it up which is called the divide and rule policy. The separating of provinces slowed down the progression in their social and economical lives in Southern Sudan.

During the old kingdom, Ma’at was part of the peoples’ everyday life, was not just a false façade and advocated social justice and equality.

Soon after this, in 1833, the Egyptian Ottoman War brought about Egypt’s victory and independence. 1878-1882. The size of the Ottoman empire, already shrunken, lessened ever more with Cyprus and Egypt becoming occupied and protected by Britain, in 1878, and 1882 respectively. Tunisia also joined those countries, and became a British colony in 1881.

Between 1919 and 1952, Egypt struggled to obtain independence and develop a national identity (Botman 1991, 55). The majority of Egyptians were peasants or fallahins who were in a cycle of poverty as a result of the structure of landownership and the division of land through inheritance (Botman 1991, 73). The Wafd, a nationalist body in Egypt, espoused the anti-British movement for the masses and expressed the need for legitimate self-rule (Botman 1991, 55). The British had occupied Egypt since 1882 as a way to restore order and safeguard Egypt’s foreign population (Gordon 1992, 15). However, Egypt’s strategic importance led the British to prolong their short stay and after World War I, Britain declared a protectorate over Egypt (Gordon 1992, 15). Thinking that a postwar settlement might lead to Egyptian independence, a committee of

The British first took over in 1882. Egypt eventually had a revolution in 1952. The British were completely gone by 1956. When Britain first came along, Egypt’s economy was awful because they were bankrupt. This made some Europeans create a debt repayment system called the “Caisse de la Dette”. In 1881, Egypt attempted to rebel against any European intrusion. To stay

What is a good country? Is a good country a country with a cheerful population? Is a good country a country which controls more land than the next? Is a good country a country whose government and economic system has absolutely no problems? Or is a good country a country that has a delicate balance of benefits and problems. Well, we are here today to discuss the corruption of Egypt, a good country, by Britain, a huge and powerful country. Although Britain was not the first, Britain has retained control of Egypt for nearly 40 years and I am here today to ask for the freedom and decolonization of Egypt from Britain.<br><br>This problem all started in 1882 when the British forced Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of the French Army, out of

The story of Ancient Egypt began about 8000 years ago when people began to settle in the Nile Valley and started to raise their own crops and animals. (Ancient Egypt) From 3400BC to 1786BC, the Egyptians themselves ruled Egypt. Lower and Upper Egypt was united with the lands upstream to form one country under one king. The first period of Egyptian civilization -- The Old Kingdom, lasted from 2686BC to 2181BC. Soon after that, the Egyptians gained control of Nubia, and extended the land that was being farmed from 2050BC to 1786BC. From 1663BC to 332BC, the Egyptians were ruled by many different groups, such as the Hyksos (a group of Asian settlers who ruled for 100 years), the Thebans (who established the New Kingdom), and the Greeks. However, in 30BC, conquest was finally complete as Egypt fell under the control of the Roman Empire. (Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt)

It is important to recognize one of the first leaders of Egypt, Nasser, when exploring the tensions that are prevalent in Egypt. Nasser regained control of the Suez Canal, which was “previously under the control of [France and Britain]” in 1956. Regaining the Suez Canal and nationalising it was a mark of his power, and he was thereafter an influential figure in Egypt’s history. As stated before, Noonoo strongly aligns with Nasser because she is in awe of him for standing up to the colonial powers and fighting for the