ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the civilising mission and the complex notion of character that drove it are analysed in one specific place: late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Egypt, which, although not officially recognised as an imperial territory until 1914, was invaded by Britain in 1882 and under its control thereafter. In justifying both their initial intervention in Egypt and their decision to stay there, British officials like Lord Cromer and Alfred Milner constantly referred to the weaknesses in the Egyptian character and the need to remedy them. The Egyptian financial crisis which precipitated the British invasion was seen as a moral failure and justified the British in their belief that only they had the moral strength to bring the economic discipline to Egypt that was vital to its future prosperity and progress. The character grid through which the British perceived the Egyptians gave them a very negative view of the latter’s society and made it impossible to recognise that nationalist claims for autonomy had any validity.
