ABSTRACT
Since the beginning of 1939 Sir Miles Lampson increasingly regarded Faruq as a nuisance and, as time went on, believed with ever growing conviction that it would be desirable and wise to get rid of the King. A study published in Nazi Germany during the war described the treaty as a great success for Lampson and Britain and blamed Italy’s crude imperialism as the major reason. Lampson, however, dismissed ‘Azzam as an idealist with half-baked ideas on Arab unity who constantly jumped from one ill-conceived plan to another, without seeing either through. In the meantime King Faruq exploited Lampson’s apparent hesitation to force the issue of Mustafa al-Nahhas Pasha and called upon Hasan Sabri, an independent politician who was known for his friendliness to Britain, to form the new government. The ultimatum submitted by Lampson to Faruq, on 4 February, 1942, has come to be regarded as a landmark in Egypt’s political history.
