How Did Mohammed Ali's Responses To Open The Suez Canal?
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1. Analyze Mohammed Ali, Ismail and Ahmad Urabi’s responses to GB pressure to open the canal.
Mohammed Ali is credited with creating independent Egypt. He was opposed to the building of the Suez Canal because he understood that it would leave him indebted to Britain. He wisely chose to stay away from working with Britain to open the canal, which put him out of favor with the British. When Mohammed Ali passed away it left the country unsure of how to deal with Britain. When Ismail was in power between 1863 and 1879 he tried to continue the modernization of the country. The construction of the Suez Canal began before he came to power, but finished under Ismail’s rule. Large loans and interest rates under Ismail’s rule made Egypt vulnerable.…show more content… Ethiopia, under the rule of Melenik, created the modern day country through making the decision to withdraw claim on territory on the coast, while also fighting the Italians and winning. This event caused Europe to recognize the country as a sovereign nation. Melenik successfully modernized the country by building a railroad, capital city of Addis Ababa, banking system, and line of communication. He also focused on education and brought Europeans to the country as well as sending Ethiopian to Europe to learn. All of this enabled to country to grow, modernize, and maintain its independence. Egypt story of modernization is different. In the 1830’s Britain saw Muhammed Ali as an increasing threat and forced him to reduce the size of his army as well as end the monopolies he had set in place to exclude Europeans from Egyptian markets. Starting in the 1840’s Egypt’s economy began to shift toward agriculture due to Britain’s influence, which left Egypt only partly modernized. This shift stalled the industrialization within the country, until the Suez Canal was opened. Unfortunately this hurt more than it helped Egypt because it caused the country to fall into debt, allowing Britain to maintain its power in the region and hindering Egypt from gaining