THE URABIST REVOLT 1880-1881.

The eclipse  of Khedive  Ismail came with   a number of changes.  When the foreigners  over- threw Ismail  and replaced  him with Tewfiq.  the  Egyptian  independence  had almost gone. Tewfiq  was a mere  puppet  who never  helped  the Egyptians  to organise  their economy  in their own interests.
New  social  political   and  economic   policies   all  aiming   at  helping   the joint   financial comrmSSlOn to recover  debts  in Egyptian      economy were   put in place regardless of   their sour effects  to the natives.  This was spark  to the long existing  grievances  against  Ismail's government.  This revolt  is sometimes  called  a nationalistic  movement  because  all classes of people  were  involved  e.g.  the  Fellahms  (peasants).   the army.  civil  servants.  the elite group and the rest of the masses participated  In the war against  Ismail and his foreigners.
1.    Over taxation:
MAIN  CAUSES  OF THE  \VAR.
In a bid to attain their  financial  target as quickly  as possible,  taxes  were raised in order to
increase   government   revenue.  This  greatly  affected  the  Fellahins   class  (peasants)  who were poor while some rich able ones were exempted  from this taxation  and therefore  their fiscal and financial  policies  made the revolt inevitable.
2.    Discontented  army:
To squeeze  the government  expenditure.  the army privileges  were drastically  reduced  and the size of the army was also cut down e.g. their salaries,  food rations,  and the number  of uniforms  etc. all reduced.  On top of this, the Europeans reserved  high posts in the army for foreign   soldiers,   and  not  for  the  nationals.   They  hated  the  European   advice  of  army demobilisation   up to  1500 soldiers  only.  With  this  number  of solidiers,   in case  of any conflicts with the Europeans  as it was expected,  Egyptians  had to be defeated.
3.    Reduction  of the state  expenditure:
To reduce  the government  expenditure,   the number  of Egyptians employed  was reduced and  most   schemes   of  development    started   by  Ismail   were   abandoned.    Luxurious expenditure   at king's curt was cut down  and this  led to complaints  emerging  out of the nobility  class.
4.    Grievances  of civil servants:
Civil  servants  were  also  not  happy because   of the  reduction   of  their  salaries  and  their numbers.   On top  of  this, most  of the top  posts  in the government   were  taken  over  by Europeans.  They therefore  hoped to re-instate  their rights by joining  the Urabist  revolt.
5.    Hatred of current tax officials:
The replacement  of Egyptian  nationals  with corrupt ~d  inefficient  Europeans  was another cause  for war.  Most  of government   departments   were put under  the control  of the weak French!  British  and  Turkish  officials.   Their  mode  of work greatly  targeted   at serving interests  of foreigners  that resulted into  1880-1881  Urabist revolt.
6.    Foreign  control of Egyptian  finances:
The  revolt   also  broke   out  because   the  Egyptians    bated   the  foreign   Anglo-French management   of their  economy.  Because   of this  policy,  Egyptians   conditioned   them  to fulfil  their  international   debt obligations   which  Egyptian  kings  had incurred  worldwide. This   proposal    was  rejected    by  the   Anglo-French     officials.    This   rejection    caused frustrations  to the Egyptian  resulting  to nationalistic  outburst.
7.    The elite class grievances:
This provided the philosophical   backbone of   the Urabist  uprising.  Naturally   they  hated foreign   administration    in  their economic  and political affairs.  This  made  them  become unemployed.  Upset by the level of corruption  and inefficiency in their offices at the hands of  foreigners,   the  educated   nationalists   started   demanding   Tewfiq   to  chase  away  the foreigners  from their country hence Urabist revolt becoming  inevitable.
8.    The problem  of Nepotism:
Worse  still they  hated  the system  of Ismail  who was succeeded  by his son Tewfiq  who never improved  the situation either since he was a puppet of Europeans.  The elite class felt they would  make a change given a chance to administer Egypt.
9.    The use of Turkish language  was also a pain to the traditional  Egyptians:
Apart from undermining  the integrity  for the country,  such a language  was real evidence for lack of sovereignty  and hence it sparked off the nationalists'   feelings of Egyptians.
10.  The traditional  Muslim  Egyptians  hated the Christian  Europeans.  To them it seemed  as if Europeans  (Christians)  were out to inherit    the Muslim world. The French had occupied  the Muslim  State  of Algeria  in  183():and  Tunusia  in  1881. Their  influence  was also  being increased  in the Muslim Moroccan  State at the time. Therefore  the Muslim  Egyptians  tried to curb down the Christianity  influence  in their country,
11.  Emergency  of Colonel Urabi Pasha:
This influenced  the whole  struggle  since for a long time the causes  for the revolt bad been accumulating  but without  a leader  to lead them  into war. The leadership  of the revolts was taken  by 'One  of the  'army  officers   Colonel  Urabi  Pasha,  hence  the  origin  of the  name Urabist   Revolt.  The  army  took  the lead because  they were  armed  and they bad been  hit
hardest by abolition of their privileges  by European  commission.
Having  joined  the army  at an early  age of  17, Urabi Pasha  just  like most Egyptians  had suffered at the hands of the Senior Turkish officers. He therefore  inspired the revolt and led the armed  struggle  with  a lot of  confidence.  He won  the support  of the junior  Egyptian officers in the army. This kind of support gave the movement  a nationalistic  outlook.
THE COURSE OF THE REVOLT.
Urabi  Pasha  prepared   a  confrontation    and  started   fortifying   Alexandria.   At  that  time, France was busy dealing  with a revolt in Tunisia  and had  lost many  soldiers in 1870-1871
Franco-Prussian   war. Therefore,  no French  soldiers  were  in Egypt  at the beginning  of this
Urabist revolt. This gave Britain  a chance to act alone in silencing  the revolt.
On  11th   July  1882.  the  British  Navy  power  bombarded   Alexandria.   On  13th  September
1882, General  Wolsley  defeated  the Urabist  forces  at the battle of Tel-el-Kabir,  Two  days later,  Urabi  Pasha  was  captured   in Cairo  and  exiled  in Ceylon  where  he remained  until l891 when he was allowed to return to Egypt.
After the defeat of Urabist  revolt,  Egypt  had lost her total independence  that it had gained in l876  from the hands of Turkish  empire.  Britain  took this chance  to occupy  Egypt alone since  France   had  not  participated    In the defeating  the Urabist   revolt
The Urabist  movement  was almost  successful  but it was finally crushed  by British  military might. The British had a very strong navy and well trained  soldiers.  Urabist forces couldn't challenge  the superior  military  machines  of the British forces. The British determination  to protect their interests  in Suez Canal couldn't  let the Urabist  Movement  succeed.