The Egyptian Revolution from Protectorate to Partial Freedom (1919–1922)
International History Review, cilt.48, sa.5, ss.738-749, 2026 (AHCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 48 Sayı: 5
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/07075332.2025.2563287
- Dergi Adı: International History Review
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Periodicals Index Online, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, MLA International Bibliography
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.738-749
- Anahtar Kelimeler: anti-colonial nationalism, British imperial policy, decolonization, Sa’ad Zaghloul, Wafd party
- Hacettepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This article re-examines the Egyptian Revolution of 1919–1922 as an early laboratory of decolonisation in the aftermath of the First World War. Rather than interpreting the upheaval solely as a ‘Wilsonian moment’, the study situates Egyptian nationalism within longer trajectories of contestation over sovereignty, from the ‘Urabi revolt of the 1880s to the wartime establishment of the British protectorate. Drawing primarily on British archival records, it analyses how imperial officials such as Allenby and Curzon redefined colonial rule through the rhetoric of ‘responsibility’, ‘concessions’, and ‘protection’, while nationalist leaders articulated independence as both a historical right and a universal principle of justice. The article interprets the Declaration of 28 February 1922 as an early case of conditional sovereignty: Egypt was formally recognised as an independent state, yet its autonomy was immediately constrained by British reservations over defence, imperial communications, minority protection, and the Sudan. Engaging with recent scholarship on jurisdictional politics, exception, and the ‘imperialism of decolonisation’, the article argues that Britain’s strategy in Egypt exemplified how empire adapted to the postwar international order by redefining sovereignty through legal and discursive means rather than relinquishing control.