 | CHAPTER X The Egyptian problem |  |
CHAPTER X
ACTIVE BEBELLION
The arrest of Zaghlul and the other three leaders on
the afternoon of March 9th was the match that fired
the train which, consciously or unconsciously, the Party
of Independence had laid. The news spread throughout
Cairo in the course of the evening, and the next morning
there was trouble. The first to stir were, as usual, the
students. They struck work and poured noisily into the
streets; first the ancient Islamic School of El Azhar
and then the modern School of Law, thus illustrating
once more the twofold current of Mahomedan reaction
on the one hand, and of Western quasi-revolutionary
tendencies on the other, which have from the beginning
swelled the tide of Egyptian Nationalism. The Schools of
Commerce, Engineering, and Medicine promptly followed
suit. Crowds began by gathering outside the railway
station, where they waited in vain to greet the departing
Four. But when they learnt that these were already
on their way to Alexandria, they dispersed into little
groups that went their several ways, to other schools,
to Government offices, or to native centres of resort,
to carry the woeful tidings. Their activities were
soon attended with results. On the same day, street
lamps and tramway cars were smashed in the Sharia
Mohamed Ali, in the heart of the modern Europeanised
Cairo. The next morning, the 10th, large crowds of
street roughs and holidaymaking workmen paraded
Kasr-el-Nil, and in the neighbourhood of the Ministries,
and did considerable damage to shops and public establishments.
The offices of Al Mokattam, a Syrian Anglophile
paper, were sacked. Trains on the Heluan line were
stoned and fierce onslaughts were made on tramway cars.
For several hours the police tried to cope with the situation,
but towards midday they called the military authorities
to their assistance. Ultimately fire was opened on the
crowd. There were several casualties and a large number
of arrests.
Tuesday, the 11th, saw a repetition of what had
occurred on the previous day. But voices other than
those of the streets were joining in the chorus of protest.
A certain number of officials went on strike, and the
native lawyers decided to do likewise. Meanwhile,
uninterrupted meetings were being held in native circles.
The house of Zaghlul Pasha had served for some months
as the headquarters of the Party of Independence.
When some of his friends called there on the evening of
his arrest, his wife received them, and told them in a
stirring speech that it was henceforth "the House of the
Nation." It continued to be the centre of Nationalist
activity. It was there that the Committee, now under
the presidency of Ali Pasha Shárawi, received deputations
of students, officials, lawyers, and notables from Cairo
and the provinces, and held incessant meetings, of which
the upshot was invariably "to protest by every means in
our power." Deputations were sent round to the foreign
Legations with petitions and protests, and emissaries
dispatched to all parts of Egypt to intimate that the time
had come to "display our feelings."
The leaders did not, it is believed, intend such a grave
upheaval as their action brought about. The wave of
madness which passed over the country was, in degree
if not in kind, the work of fanatical incendiaries over
whom they had far from absolute control. This is not
to exonerate the Committee from the heavy responsibility
even if it did not advocate, it led straight to the excesses
that were afterwards committed. Amongst the agitators
they mobilised there were firebrands, uninspired by, and
perhaps unknown to, the mass of the Nationalists, who
did advocate and sometimes directed the perpetration
of the direst outrages. Thus it came to pass that although
according to the leaders there was to have been no looting,
no molestation of Europeans, no destruction of property,
and no interference with Government officials, "who are
with us in spirit if not in deed," the tale became, nevertheless,
one of murder, pillage, and arson, and of the paying
off of old scores, whether against Europeans or Copts,
or even fellow "patriots." The truth probably is that
when the Party of Independence gave the word, everyone
interpreted it according to his peculiar bent or passion.
For three days the demonstrations had been confined
to Cairo. But on Wednesday, the 12th, the trouble
had already spread. The fellaheen were beginning to
take a hand in the business of tearing up railway and
telegraph lines. There was rioting at Tanta, Damanhour,
Zagazig, Mansura, Shebib el Kom and Menouf, but
bloodshed only at Tanta, where the demonstrators tried
to rush the railway station, which was guarded by a
military picket. These opened fire, killing fourteen
and wounding fifty. On the same day, as a result of a
serious attempt which had been made to interrupt railway
traffic, an armoured train was sent to Tanta and aeroplanes
began scouring the Delta. An Order under Martial Law
was posted on the walls and rained by aeroplanes all
over the country, warning "all whom it may concern that
any person who destroys, damages, or tampers in any
way with railway, telegraph, and telephone communications,
or who attempts to commit any of these acts, is
liable under martial law to be shot."
In Alexandria, the population seemed lukewarm, and
Wednesday passed with nothing but a noisy procession of
students and schoolboys along the main streets of the
native barristers refused to plead and hearings had to
be adjourned wholesale. In many places, however,
the population was not yet thoroughly roused. But
the agitators quickly succeeded in making capital out
of the shooting that had taken place in Cairo and in
Tanta, conveniently overlooking the fact that it had been
in both cases provoked by deliberate acts of violence.
Their appeal had its effect even on the Egyptians who
had held aloof from the demonstrations. They admitted
the necessity of putting a stop to pillage, and they deprecated,
at least ostensibly, the excesses which had been
committed by the demonstrators. But they failed to
see why Egyptians should be shot down for such trifles.
Such things had not happened before, in the days of Cromer
or even of Kitchener, the terrible soldier. Was this
severity too the outcome of the Protectorate? Childish
as this reasoning may seem, the casualties of the first
few days did much towards the spread of disorder. It
was the kind of weapon than which the firebrands wanted
none better. Just as, in Arabi's time, the Egyptian
gunners had borne a corpse into the Khedive's palace
in Alexandria, demanding vengeance, the bodies of
the rioters who had been killed in collision with the
British troops were carried all round the city in immense
funeral processions which halted at stated intervals for
impassioned speeches. Still more effective was the
stream of female mourners who rent the air with their
piercing lamentations. One can picture the scenes in
the mosques on the following Friday, scenes which were
to be the prelude to the worst deeds during the rising.
First and foremost in Cairo, where as the congregation
emerged from El Azhar on that very Friday, March 14th,
after prayers, they espied a motor lorry, with a party
of armed British soldiers. The mob gave a yell, rushed,
and those that were armed fired. The soldiers replied,
killing thirteen and wounding over thirty. At Kaliub
on the same afternoon a British soldier was murdered,
of 2,000 to 3,000 villagers. Among the passengers,
however, were a few British officers and soldiers who
succeeded in keeping the mob at bay with their revolvers
and in bringing the trains through to Cairo. The mob
then sacked and wrecked the station.
On the 15th the disorders extended to Upper Egypt.
At Reqqa, the morning express from Cairo was attacked
and pillaged, all passengers' baggage being looted, while
the station was sacked and burnt. At Wasta several
trains, including goods trains, were completely sacked.
An official of the Egyptian State Railways, Mr. A. T.
Smith, was murdered; Mr. Graves, of the Ministry of the
Interior, had a narrow escape, and the station was pillaged
and set on fire. At Hawamdieh, the large sugar factory
was attacked by villagers and stoutly defended by five
native policemen, who repulsed the rioters. At Beni-Suef,
crowds invaded the Law Courts during a sitting,
drove out the officials, and tried, but unsuccessfully, to
get hold of the British judge. They then proceeded to
attack the Mudirieh and various other Government offices,
which they wrecked. In the afternoon, the Beduin
flocked in, looted the town, and laid siege to the three
houses where British residents had taken refuge. They
were held at bay with the help of an Indian detachment
hurried in from Fayum. In Lower Egypt the main railway
line was destroyed between Kaliub and Benha, and
Cairo cut off from the whole of the Delta.
On Sunday, the 16th, matters went from bad to worse.
In the Delta, Minet el Qamh was the scene of the worst
trouble. A mob from the surrounding villages raided
the Government buildings and released all the prisoners.
They then attacked the station, which was protected
by a military picket who opened fire, killing thirty and
wounding nineteen. At Tala and other localities in the
Gharbieh province branch lines of the railways were
cut and stations sacked. At Zagazig an onslaught was
made on the Mudirieh, and an attempt to let loose the
residents at Beni-Suef continued and lasted until the
Tuesday, when a relief party arrived by boat from Cairo
and removed the women and children.
On Monday, the 17th, the remaining telegraph and
telephone lines were cut. Cairo was now entirely isolated
except for aeroplanes and wireless. Nevertheless, the
authorities were determined to show that they had no
wish to interfere with orderly manifestations of public
opinion. In agreement with the Nationalist leaders who
went bail that there would be no breach of the peace,
they sanctioned a large demonstration, some 7,000 or
8,000 strong. At the head of it rode the Commandant
of Police in a motor-car with one of the Ulema from El
Azhar. The procession, which paraded the main streets,
stopping at the principal foreign Consulates to shout for
Egyptian Independence, was kept well under control
and dispersed without any untoward incident. In
Alexandria, on the other hand, a rough crowd of students
and workmen tried to break their way through a military
cordon and suffered casualties amounting to fourteen
killed and twenty-four wounded. Some 250 arrests
were made. Similarly, at Damanhour, a mob largely
composed of Beduin tried to break into the Mudirieh and
fell upon the Mudir, who attempted to make them desist.
The troops fired and killed twelve, and about 100 rioters
were arrested. On the same day, serious riots broke out
at Rosetta, where the Merkez building was burnt down;
at Zifta, where the mob hoisted the Turkish flag on the
Merkez and declared a provisional Government; at
Mansura, Zagazig, Benha, Qallin, Samanoud, and
Damietta, where similar scenes were enacted.
In the evening, General Bulfin, who was, since General
Allenby's departure for Paris on the 12th, in command
of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, arrived in Cairo by
motor to take matters in hand. Already, a few days
before, General Watson, commanding in Cairo, had
sent for the members of the Committee of the Independence
"extraordinarily lenient" attitude of the military authorities
could not last indefinitely, and that as the Committee
had started the agitation he looked to them to stop it.
Otherwise, drastic action would be necessary. The
Committee's reply was characteristic. They declared
that, much as they regretted it, they felt unable to allay
the excitement, as the situation was now entirely beyond
their control. However, they would do their best. Only
they feared that, if they were to appeal to the agitators
for moderation, these would turn on them. They may
have been already alarmed at the consequences of the
invitation they had themselves addressed to the nation
"to display its feelings," but they were not prepared
to jeopardise their popularity by publicly withdrawing
the invitation. As soon as he reached Cairo, General
Bulfin at once appealed again, not only to the Committee
of the Party of Independence, but also to a gathering of
notables, convoked by him for the purpose. He intimated
that so far only defensive measures had been
taken, but that it seemed necessary now to begin taking
offensive measures which might entail considerable
damage and loss of life. It was the duty, therefore, of
every Egyptian to assist the authorities and to act in
such a way as to avoid the bloodshed and suffering
which would result from such measures. He concluded
by solemnly declaring that he intended to do his duty
and expected them to do theirs. His manner even more
than his words made some impression, but it was some
days yet—and the worst days—before the deeds with
which he followed up his warning could take effect outside
Cairo. Destruction went on wholesale of railways
and telegraphs and telephones, of banks and offices,
and farms and property in general. Provisional "republican
governments" sprang up at Zifta and Zagazig
and Minieh, and even villages set up their own "soviets."
The most revolting story of this period of brutal
mob law was that of which the small town of Deirut in
official account subsequently sent by General Allenby
to the Foreign Office:—
"On the train which left Luxor at 6 p.m. on Monday,
March 17th, were two officers and eight other ranks. When
the train stopped at Nag' Hamadi some natives entered
the train and insulted the men. The two officers noticed
this, and took them into their first-class carriage. They
reached Assiut in the early morning of Tuesday, March 18th,
where three of the men left the train, and Kaimakam Pope
Bey, Inspector in the Egyptian Prisons Department, joined it.
The train left Assiut at 4 a.m. Crowds had collected at
every station; they threw stones at the train and attempted
to board it, shouting for the `Ingleez' (English). Several
stations were passed in safety, but on arrival at Deirut a
huge crowd rushed at the train, pulled the driver from the
engine, and forced a way into the first-class carriage, where
the British were now collected. It seems probable that
two of the party were killed here. The train went on again,
some of the natives of Deirut remaining on board. On
arrival at the station of Deir Mowas another large crowd
joined them, and there, with stones and knives, murdered
the remainder of the party, not one of whom was armed.
All the bodies were left in the train, except one which has not
yet been traced, and the train went on. At every station
huge crowds had collected who raised shouts of joy on hearing
that the English had been killed. When the train reached
Minieh, the bodies were taken from the train and buried."
The bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. Every
conceivable brutality was committed on them. One
had his leg cut off, and, as Egyptian extremists have
been found to boast, some of the assailants in their
frenzy drank his blood. Another was hung up, whilst
those lying on the ground were spat on and had filth
thrown on them. And all the while the crowd watched,
screaming its delight.
Nor were the ruffians who took part in these outrages
a mere village rabble. A large number of arrests were
made in connection with the murders, and eighty-five
accused persons ultimately tried at Assiut included
the Omdeh, or village headman, two schoolmasters,
students and fellaheen. The final sentences were announced
on the 9th. There were originally fifty-one
sentences of death, but of these seventeen were commuted,
and also six more on the intercession of the Prime
Minister, who was then Mohamed Said.
Whilst the Europeans in Beni-Suef were relieved on
the 18th, disturbances continued to spread with alarming
rapidity all over Upper Egypt. Minieh, Assiut, and the
town of Fayum were each threatened by large numbers of
Beduin reported to be advancing from the west, to whom
General Bulfin addressed a separate and very peremptory
warning. At Minieh, all the British residents had to take
refuge in a house, where they were beleaguered for several
days, but poorly armed, and in serious danger, especially
when the arrival of the Deirut train with its ghastly
cargo of British corpses stirred the passions of the populace.
But the immediate danger was averted by the courageous
intervention of an Egyptian doctor, Mahmud Bey Abdel
Razek. He was himself a member of the revolutionary
committee in the town, and was ultimately condemned
to three years' penal sevitude, though he would seem to
have deserved more lenient treatment, for it was he who
stopped a dangerous rush at the most critical moment.
All communications with Cairo had, however, been cut,
the Mudir had lost all authority, and power was in the
hands of a "Provisional Government." The only security
was provided by a company of Egyptian infantry, who
fortunately remained staunch, and though there was a
great deal of looting, especially in the Coptic quarter,
a relief boat arrived on the 22nd and removed all European
residents to Cairo.
At Assiut matters were also very serious. There was
the same outbreak of looting, the same outrages on Copts,
and the same threat of a Beduin invasion. British,
American, and other European residents were concentrated
in one building, which was almost too extensive
to defend with the small force available, namely, 100
a handful of civilians for whom there were not sufficient
rifles. The main attack came from Waldia. The
attackers numbered fully 3,000 fellaheen and Beduin,
most of whom were armed with rifles, revolvers, spears,
and old-fashioned swords. Fortunately, the attack was
never made simultaneously at both ends of the position
defended. At one moment about 900 convicts made
a determined attempt at escape from the jail immediately
behind the position, and if it had not been for the gallantry
of the Mamour and the warders, the defenders would have
been taken in the rear. The attack lasted from the
morning of Sunday, March 23rd, to midday on Tuesday,
the 25th, when Brigadier-General Huddlestone arrived
with a relief force of 250 Royal Irish.
By that time General Bulfin had got the situation very
nearly in hand. The numerous mobile columns which
he had rapidly organised were spreading their web all
over the Delta, and a punitive column under General
Shea was pushing steadily into Upper Egypt. The
repair of the railways had so far progressed that on
March 19th passenger trains had been able to leave Cairo
for Alexandria and Port Said.
To complete the narrative, the following extracts are
reproduced from the daily bulletins issued at General
Headquarters:—
March 21: "North of Cairo the main lines of communications
have been restored. The main stations have been
occupied and a regular system of patrols instituted. . . .
In the central Delta and east thereof disorderly mobs are
continuing the campaign of destruction and loot. The
peasants have helped themselves to crops of the State Domains
and fired the houses of the employees, also the buildings of
the Behera Land Co. at Kom-el-Wahad. . . . Gatherings of
villagers and Beduin have made further attacks on the railway-line
between Cairo and Fayum. In the Fayum itself, large
gatherings of Beduin are reported. Aeroplanes on patrol
have in some cases been met with rifle-fire. . . . There have
been several cases of attacks upon sentries at night."
March 22: "Consequent upon the extension of military
calm prevails in the Kaliub province and the same
result is in process of attainment in the more remote provinces.
A great deal of stolen property has been recovered by the
Police. The rural police and the ghaffirs have performed
their duties, under circumstances of considerable provocation
and risk, with great firmness and discretion. . . ."
March 23: "Further progress has been made in the
restoration of order. Main-line trains are now running
on a regular timing. . . . In the outlying districts in the
north of Sharkieh, Dakhlieh and Gharbieh and in the west of
Behera the situation is still unsatisfactory. . . ."
March 24: "In the northern provinces disorders are
becoming more and more sporadic. . . . Zifta, Mit-Ghamr
and Mit el Ghourashi still constitute centres of disaffection. . . .
The disaffected Beduin of the western Behera have made
overtures to the coast Beduin between Alexandria and Sollum.
The latter, however, have remained loyal and are themselves
protecting the coast railway. Punishment was inflicted
yesterday on the Beduin and villagers of the western Behera,
when bombs were dropped at Hosh-Isa and Abu-Matamir
upon rebels attacking the railway-line. . . . The Mamur of
Sennoures has organised a force of 1,000 villagers to protect
the railway-line. . . . Much looting and incendiarism has
occurred in the town of Assiut. . . ."
March 26: "Reports from the districts show that during
the recent attacks upon communications, country roads and
canals were also seriously damaged. Damage to roads has
been most severe in southern Dakhlieh and the Behera.
In some instances the rioters also attacked irrigation canals
and cuts, removing the baulks which are used to regulate
the water-supply. A canal bridge between Mansura and
Simbellawein was destroyed, blocking the canal and causing
the flooding of a large tract of country. . . ."
March 27: "In certain localities the notables are assisting
the authorities by forming Committees of Public Security."
March 29: "No further disturbances have been reported.
Brigadier-General Huddlestone's punitive expedition is remaining
at Assiut to restore order in that neighbourhood. . . .
Major-General Sir John Shea is moving south from Wasta
with a strong column of all arms, restoring order as he
goes. . . ."
March 31: "The work of repairing the Upper Egypt railways
is now being taken in hand. A report received from
the engineer in charge states that the damage to the line
is very serious. . . . Owing to the destruction of the railway
steamer with the southern provinces. In the present low
state of the river, this has necessitated the opening of sluice-gates
at Assiut and Assuan. . . ."
April 1: "Sixteen mobile columns are operating in
Lower Egypt. . . ."
April 4: "The activity of the mobile columns in the
Delta has been further extended and regular lines of cross
country patrols have been established between the main
railways and roads. In addition to the mobile columns,
armed trains are patrolling the railways and water-patrols
have been established on the rivers and canals. . . . With
the active co-operation of the civil authorities, conditions
in the Delta are rapidly returning to the normal; the country
is being cleared of brigands who before the present disturbances
existed largely by blackmailing the law-abiding classes. . . .
The railway is restored as far south as Beba, and trains run
from Minieh to Assuan. . . ."
April 5: "It may be stated that owing to the destruction
of stations and signalling apparatus both in Upper and
Lower Egypt, it must be long before the railways can cope
with normal passenger and goods traffic. The destruction of
lamps at present irreplaceable must also greatly reduce the
possibilities of night working. Furthermore the repair of
the Delta Light Railway and of certain branch lines must
await the return of really settled conditions. Railway
communication between Cairo and Minia is restored. . . ."
April 10: "In the provinces the work of re-installing
the civil authorities is almost everywhere complete. In
certain localities it has been possible, owing to the return of
normal conditions, to relax the restrictions on movement
after dark. . . ."
April 11: "All seems to be quiet throughout Egypt. . . ."
These quotations might be considerably amplified,
for it was not till April 18th that Major-General Shea,
to whom had been entrusted the restoration of order in
Upper Egypt, reached Assuan, and occasional outbreaks
of violence and some cases of armed resistance occurred
even later. But the rebellion had been scotched by the
end of March. In three weeks it had strewn Egypt with
wreckage. A sum of £E.1,000,000 has been allotted
in this year's Budget for the compensation of innocent
sufferers, but it represents only a small part of the damage
stations and railway material and telegraphs and telephones
and Government buildings. In their undiscriminating
fury the rioters had in some places attacked
even the irrigation works, on which more than on anything
else the life of Egypt depends. Worst of all, the rebellion
had shown how ferociously cruel and bloodthirsty an
Egyptian mob, usually so good-tempered and easygoing,
can become when its passions are wrought to a white
heat by fanatical agitation working on a foundation
of real grievances. It had shown also how timorous
and helpless on the whole, in spite of the good example
set by a certain number of individual Egyptians, mostly
provincial officials, the law-abiding section of the population
is in a country accustomed for centuries to quail
under despotic rule. So widespread was the outbreak
that very considerable British forces were required and
had to be used with unflinching energy, not only for the
restoration of order, but also to avert still greater bloodshed.
The repression was undoubtedly stern, but it was
not vindictive, and the British troops as a rule displayed
remarkable self-restraint in the face of often treacherous
provocation. Whatever share of responsibility the
blunders committed by British civil and military authorities
during the war must bear for having sown the tempest,
they would have incurred a still deeper responsibility
had they flinched before the whirlwind when it came
and plunged Egypt into anarchy. We owed it to Egypt
to rescue her from anarchy, and she was rescued.
| CHAPTER X The Egyptian problem | |