The armed forces, led by Ahmed Orabi, in support of the young Egyptian democracy of 1880, had performed the same role. Though overwhelmed by non-Egyptian factors, the oath of loyalty to Egypt administered to the officers by Sheikh Mohamed Abdo in May 1882 continued to operate for the past 136 years. It is the glue of fidelity to honor and country which still held in Tahrir for all these decades.
This blog is in celebration of that continuity which separates Egypt from a Syria, a Yemen, or a Libya, where chaos prevails, foreign interference is rampant, and bloodshed has tragically become the news of the day -every day.
Putting a date on that cohesion between civil and military in Egypt, I choose a dark date, an Egyptian Black September, namely September 14, 1882. Why? For against all odds, when the British occupation of Egypt began in July of that year, the head of state in Egypt, Khedewi Tewfik, accompanied the British army of occupation into Cairo on that Black September day.
What legitimacy could one attribute to that ruler reviewing in Abdeen Square, Cairo, a foreign army of occupation? A review which took place in front of Egypt's equivalent of the White House -namely, Abdeen Palace? Tewfik was then 30 years of age (he died in 1892 at the age of 40) fully deserving of the accusation by Orabi, then Egypt's War Minister, of "high treason."
Though the Orabi Revolution and Resistance faltered in 1882, the accolades bestowed on Orabi by his army and countrymen as "The Defender of the Land of Egypt." That honor was more than merited by the events of that time. Those events of the late 19th Century continue to reflect till today their larger meaning for an Egyptian rising democracy whose main protector is Egypt's armed forces.
The line from Orabi to Naguib and Nasser, to Sadat, to Tantawi, to El-Sisi remain unbroken, un-challenged, and permanently embedded in the psyche of that 7000-year old nation. Same nationalistic genes, same commitments, same inclination to keep on rising after every misstep.
A celebratory review of the events of 1880-1882 is in order, providing evidence of the deep roots which have historically bound a nation to its armed forces.
As foreign influence and interference in internal affairs in Egypt grew as of the 1840s, so has the resentment towards these phenomena by Egyptian society. Such nationalist fervor was spread by landowners, the educated classes and the armed forces. Following the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869 by Khedewi Ismail, Tewfik's father, the appetite of England and France for control of Egypt increased. Thus enhancing the national reaction in opposition, especially when it came to matters of representation, economy, or national defense.
With Egypt's first constitution of 1879, promulgated by Prime Minister Sherif Pasha towards the end of the reign of Khedewi Ismail in place, that document acquired a haloed status for all those who called Egypt their historic home. The terms Sherif Pasha, the Constitution and the House of representation stood, with a luminous circle around them, in the developing struggle for the very existence of an independent Egypt.
On the opposition side, stood Tewfik, foreign consuls, British designs over Egypt, and foreign lenders who managed to over-lend to an Egypt searching, at the time of Khedewi Ismail, to be as modern as Europe. The result was the establishment, for the first time in Egyptian political history of "The Nationalist Party" (Al-Hezb Al-Watani) in 1879 in Helwan, south of Cairo.
Crystallizing national demands, the first manifesto of The National Party was a true reflection of what the Orabi movement (the military) stood for. These included the total divestiture of the royal family of its land, the abolishment of directing the revenue from the Egyptian Rail Roads for foreign debt payment, and the capping of the interest on foreign debts at 4%.
To Khedewi Tewfik and his foreign backers, especially England, those demands were viewed as treason. The names of the party's membership were hotly sought after for banishment to the Sudan. Not only that these efforts failed. Another nationalist party was formed in Alexandria under the name of "Young Egypt" (Misr Al-Fatah).
With these developments, the tempo of confrontation between the Khedive, backed by an array of foreign powers and interests, and the Egyptian nationalists fronted by Orabi's armed forces was accelerating:
- In January 1881, the Officers Corp convened at Orabi's residence;
- There they issued a petition to Khedive Tewfik calling for replacing the Turkish War Minister, Osman Rifqi, by an Egyptian;
- Tewfik's decision was to court martial Orabi and two of his senior lieutenants. In response, the army attacked the military court, causing its members to flee, then marched upon Abdeen Palace forcing Tewfik to replace the Turkish War Minister by an Orabi loyalist, Mahmoud Sami Al-Baroudi.
- That was in February 1881. By May 1881, the armed forces and the leadership of the nationalist popular movement coalesced against the Palace and the various foreign actors.
- The people and army alliance demanded the increase of the army to 18,000, the fortification of the ports, the establishment of a lower house of parliament, and cabinet accountability before that parliament.
Such demands turned into an outright rebellion against Tewfik:
- The Orabi army refused to heed any military orders by Tewfik, including his orders to march on the Sudan to put down the Mehdi rebellion; ignored his orders to have the army dig up canals for fear of surrendering their weapons.
And when a European driving his car fatally killed an Egyptian soldier in Alexandria, resulting in a demonstration at Tewfik's Alexandria Palace (Ras El-Teen), Tewfik ordered participating army officers to be exiled in the Sudan. On September 9, 1881, Orabi marched his troops on Abdeen Palace.
Seemingly giving in to these army-people demands, parliamentary elections were held, and a House of Representatives was inaugurated in December 1881.
That was the tipping point for direct intervention by England and France:
- A joint Anglo-French memorandum was issued in January 1882 declaring extreme displeasure at the emergence of a parliamentary system in Egypt;
- It also dissembled fear for the future of Khedive Tewfik;
- The Anglo-French memorandum called, in the meantime, that the new-Egyptian Parliament should not deal with the State's budget (which included extortionist provisions for payments of debt and interest);
In defiance, a nationalist cabinet was formed, headed by Al-Baroudi, which included Orabi as War Minister. A new Constitution was promulgated in February 1882, and the rights of Parliament to debate and decide on the budget was affirmed. And in April 1882, a Turkish plot to assassinate Orabi and 40 other officers was unmasked. The Khedive, true to his colors, refused to punish the accomplices.
By May 1882, British and French naval vessels appeared at the port of Alexandria. But the French units later departed. And on July 11, the British navy bombarded Alexandria. And when the Egyptian army besieged the Khedewi Palace, Tewfik called the British for rescue.
The Egyptian drama of British occupation and the defeat of the Orabi army and the nationalist movement ended by the British entry of Cairo on September 14, 1882 escorted by Tewfik who relished reviewing them at Abdeen Palace. Thus began an occupation which lasted for 72 years.
Historically, the Egyptian nationalist movement had the solid backing of the Armed Forces.
Today, September 14, I bow my head in prayer for Ahmed Orabi in whose village in the province of Sharkia I was born. There I was also taught that love of country and community is part of faith.
Today, September 14, I bow my head in prayer for Ahmed Orabi in whose village in the province of Sharkia I was born. There I was also taught that love of country and community is part of faith.
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