German and Austro-Hungarian representatives expelled from Egypt

On 10 September 1914, according to the British chronology of the war, the representatives of Germany and Austria-Hungary were expelled from Egypt. The decision was formally taken by the Egyptian government of Prime Minister Hussein Rushdi Pasha, but in doing so it was carrying out the instruction of the British acting consul-general, Milne Cheetham. The authorities also ordered the seizure of German and Austro-Hungarian property.

A country with two overlords

Egypt’s position in 1914 was unusual. Formally the country remained part of the Ottoman Empire, ruled by a hereditary khedive who recognised the suzerainty of the Sultan in Constantinople. Since 1882, however, Egypt had been occupied by Great Britain, and real power was exercised by the British agent and consul-general. For the British the country was of enormous importance because of the Suez Canal, the shortest sea route to India and Australia.

When the war broke out, the Khedive Abbas II Hilmi, who disliked the British, was in Constantinople. The government in Cairo, acting under British supervision, had already in August taken a decision that in practice placed Egypt on Britain’s side in the war with Germany. The Ottoman Empire was then still formally neutral, although it was drawing ever more clearly closer to Germany. In such a situation the presence of German and Austro-Hungarian consuls in a country through which troop transports from India were already passing was unacceptable to the British.

What came next

The expulsion of the diplomats was a further step towards the full subordination of Egypt to British war policy. A few days earlier General John Maxwell had taken command of the British forces in the country. When at the beginning of November the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of the Central Powers, Maxwell imposed martial law in Egypt. On 18 December 1914 Great Britain proclaimed a protectorate over Egypt, which meant the end of the Sultan’s formal suzerainty. The next day Abbas II Hilmi was deposed, and his place was taken by his uncle, Hussein Kamel, with the title of Sultan of Egypt.