ABSTRACT
The European envoys in Constantinople, mindful of the claims of their bondholders against Egypt, had quietly intervened. As has often happened in the modern Middle East, Western actions have had unintended consequences. Soon there was a revolutionary nationalist movement in Egypt, followed by a British military occupation. The new khedive, Tawfiq, has a mixed reputation among the historians of modern Egypt. Khedive Tawfiq chose the Europeans as the safer side. The role of the army in Egypt's political history has been surprisingly small. Until it successfully overthrew King Faruq in 1952, the army intervened in the government only once— during the 1879-1882 period, in what the people commonly call the Urabi Revolution. In January 1881 a deputation of Egyptian officers, led by Colonel Ahmad Urabi, visited Riyad and also sent a petition to Khedive Tawfiq. The European powers met in Constantinople during the summer of 1882, but their deliberations were inconclusive and irrelevant.
