Strategies and actions adobted by Ottoman Empire towards Egypt during the First World War

Egypt was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in the XVI. century, however, its ties with the centre gradually weakened. After the 19th century, Britain and France conducted some significant interventions in Egypt and it was occupied by Britain in 1882. When the First World War broke out in Europe, the Allies promised that they would not interfere with the legal connection of Egypt to the Ottoman Empire provided the Ottomans remained neutral. However, after the treaty of alliance between Germany and the Ottoman Empire on August 2, 1914, military preparations and vigilance could be observed througout the whole Empire, especially in Sinai Peninsula. Although the British questioned the reason of this situation on all occassions, it continued until the Ottoman Empire declared war. At this stage, British officials did not find it suitable to declare a protectorate or to take any other precautions that would split Egypt away from the Ottoman Empire. This situation continued until the declaration of protectorate on November 19, 1914. The British representative office in Cairo declared the end of all legal connections between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, pacified Khedive Abbas Hilmi Pasha who was in İstanbul when the war broke out and declared one of the princes of Khedivate, Hüseyin Kamil, the ?sultan?. While these changes were made by the British officials in Egypt, the British also carefully observed whether jihad al akbar (the greater jihad) proclaimed by the Ottoman Sultan had any effects on the people of Egypt and they ensured the loyalty of Muslim people and soldiers by means of counter propaganda.In the meantime Ottoman officials launched two unsuccessful assaults on the Suez Canal at the request of their German allies. The first assault was launched before the Ottoman Empire completed mobilization and military logistical preparations and it was decided that the deficiencies experienced during this assault should be removed. Especially infrastructure, transport and food supply problems were to be fixed. However, the changes in military and poitical circumstances such as the Arab uprising in Arabian Peninsula and the decision of the British to end defending the canal and to initiate an offensive, prevented the efforts of second assault which was planned to be more extensive and coordinated than the first assault. At this stage the Sinai Peninsula was evacuated gradually.The Ottoman Empire tried to threaten the British presence in Egypt by making alliance with local leaders on the south and west borders of Egypt. To this end the Ottomans made alliance with Sheikh Sunusi in the west of Egypt and with the Emir of Darfur Ali Dinar in the south. Although the activities of these two leaders compelled the British to initiate intelligence activities and to take military precautions, the British presence in Egypt could not be finished. Moreover the British took over the entire authority by deporting the dissidents and interfering with the elections for sultan and pacified Egyptian officials. The members of Khedivate family living in Europe and the former Khediv Abbas Hilmi Pasha did not assume a clear attitude against Brtitish and Ottoman/German blocs and did not show any clear opposition against the British presence. At the end of the war some of the Egyptian nationalists, who had close relations with the Ottoman Empire and who had formerly opposed the British presence in Egypt, tended to believe that it was necessary to reach an agreement with the British one way or another for the future of Egypt. Some Egyptian students studying in Europe thougt the same. British agents made Egyptian students averse towards the Ottoman rule while they were studying in Europe.