☰ Contents · World history

African countries

Lessons 33–34 · 2 lessons · M. Lafasov, U. Jo‘rayev, E. Xoliqov, D. Qodirova. Jahon tarixi (World history), Grade 9, revised 3rd edition. “O‘qituvchi” Publishing House, Tashkent, 2014
33

The countries of North Africa

Textbook: pp. 116–119
GoalDescribe how North Africa was divided by European powers and the resistance in Egypt and Sudan.
New words
colony: territory ruled by a foreign state · mustamlakaprotectorate: state that keeps its ruler but is controlled by another power · protektoratSuez Canal: sea route between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea (opened 1869) · Suvaysh kanaliMahdists: followers of Muhammad Ahmad, who proclaimed himself the Mahdi · mahdiylar
Explanation

North Africa’s population was mostly Arab, with Berbers and other peoples as well. Egypt was formally part of the Ottoman Empire but was in practice ruled by its khedives (viceroys). The country fell deeply into debt to Europe, and the Suez Canal, opened in 1869, increased European interest. In 1881–1882 officers and deputies led by Colonel Ahmad Urabi resisted foreign control; in July 1882 the British fleet bombarded Alexandria, and in September the Egyptian army was defeated at Tel el-Kebir, after which British troops stayed in the country. Egypt remained formally Ottoman but came under British control in practice; the 1888 Constantinople Convention declared the Suez Canal open to ships of all states. In Sudan to the south, Muhammad Ahmad proclaimed himself the Mahdi in 1881 and rose against Egyptian rule: Hicks’s army was defeated in 1883, Khartoum fell and General Gordon was killed in January 1885. The Mahdist state had Omdurman as its capital until a British–Egyptian army defeated it at Omdurman on 2 September 1898.

Worked examples
Why did the Suez Canal matter for Egypt’s fate? It shortened the sea route between Europe and Asia, so Britain sought to control it; the 1882 intervention was tied to this interest.
Egypt’s status after 1882: formally Ottoman and ruled by the khedive, in practice under British control.
Class activity

Find Egypt, Sudan and the Suez Canal on a map and write the events of 1882 and 1898 next to them.

Practice
1
In which battle was the Egyptian army defeated in 1882?
2
Who began the Mahdist uprising and when?
3
What did the 1888 Constantinople Convention establish?
4
Why did Egypt’s debt endanger its independence?