Colonial and World War I · 1882

Battle of Tel el-Kebir

A dawn attack broke Urabi's army in about an hour. Britain occupied Egypt, which stayed under British control for the next seventy years.

The site of the battle on the 1923 map. Shaded: Republic of Turkey, 1923, French mandate, British mandate or occupation, British protection or influence.

Key facts

When: 1882
Where: Between Cairo and Ismailia, Egypt
Sides: British army vs the Egyptian army of Ahmed Urabi
Commanders: Garnet Wolseley vs Ahmed Urabi
Result: British victory
Type: Colonial and World War I
Chapter: 5. The Ottomans

The wider picture: The end of the caliphate

The Ottomans entered the First World War on Germany's side and lost. Britain and France divided the Arab lands under the Sykes-Picot agreement and the mandates that followed, and British troops entered Jerusalem in December 1917. In Anatolia, Mustafa Kemal won the war of independence and declared a republic in October 1923.

See the 1923 map Read chapter 5

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