Stephen Cave’s Special Mission in Egypt According to British Documents: The Bankruptcy of Egyptian Finance

Abstract

In November 1875, Khedive Ismail Pasha requested two experts from Britain in order to organise the Egyptian finances in a western style. Britain took this request as an opportunity to increase its influence in Egypt and strengthen its future position. Britain first sent a special mission headed by Stephan Cave to Egypt to select the requested officials and to determine their duties and powers. However, Cave’s primary purpose was not to meet with the Khedive in the selection of officials, but to gather all kinds of economic and political intelligence about this country, which was very important for England. Cave’s mission to Egypt was in fact an investigation and information gathering mission. As a result of Cave’s report on Egypt’s finances, all of Egypt’s debts came to light for the first time. The British government made the report public on 3 April 1876 and only a few days later the Khedive declared default. The public opinion became convinced that the Egyptian finances could not be saved without the support of the great powers, and under the pressure of the bondholders who saw that their interests were jeopardised, the great powers established an international administration over the Egyptian finances. This study has been prepared in the light of the documents in the FO 407/7 catalogue, which contains Confidential Egypt and Sudan, Mr. Cave's Special Mission to Egypt correspondence in the Foreign Office records in the British National Archives, in order to evaluate the impact of Cave’s mission on Egypt and the Khedive and how it prepared the ground for Britain’s future occupation.

Keywords

• Egypt
• England
• Finance
• Khedive Ismail Pasha
• Stephen Cave

İngiliz Belgelerine Göre Stephen Cave’in Mısır Özel Misyonu: Mısır Maliyesinin İflası

Öz

Hidiv İsmail Paşa Mısır maliyesini batılı usulde düzenlemek amacıyla Kasım 1875’te İngiltere’den iki uzman talep etti. İngiltere bu talebi Mısır’daki nüfuzunu arttırmak ve gelecekteki konumunu güçlendirmek için fırsat olarak değerlendirdi. İngiltere bazı gerekçelerle talep edilen memurların seçilmesi, görev ve yetkilerinin belirlenmesi amacıyla Mısır’a ilk olarak Stephan Cave başkanlığında özel bir misyon gönderdi. Ancak Cave’in birincil amacı memurların belirlenmesinde Hidiv ile görüşmek değil İngiltere için oldukça önemli olan bu ülke hakkında iktisadi ve siyasi her türlü istihbaratı toplamaktı. Cave’in Mısır’a gönderilişi aslına bakılırsa bir soruşturma ve bilgi toplama misyonuydu. Cave’in maliyeye ilişkin hazırladığı rapor neticesinde Mısır’ın tüm borçları ilk defa gün yüzüne çıkmış oldu. İngiliz Hükümet’i raporu 3 Nisan 1876’da kamuoyuyla paylaşmış ve sadece birkaç gün sonra Hidiv temerrüde düştüğünü ilan etmiştir. Kamuoyunda, büyük devletlerin desteği olmadan Mısır maliyesinin kurtarılamayacağına dair bir kanaat oluşmuş, çıkarlarının tehlikeye girdiğini gören tahvil sahiplerinin baskısıyla büyük devletler Mısır maliyesi üzerinde uluslararası bir idare kurmuşlardır. Bu çalışma, başta İngiliz Ulusal Arşivi’nde Foreign Office kayıtları içerisindeki Confidential Egypt and Sudan, Mr. Cave's Special Mission to Egypt yazışmalarının bulunduğu FO 407/7 kataloğundaki belgeler ışığında hazırlanarak, Cave’in misyonunun Mısır ve Hidiv üzerindeki etkisi ve İngiltere’nin gelecekteki işgaline nasıl bir zemin hazırladığı değerlendirilmeye çalışılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Mısır
• İngiltere
• Maliye
• Hidiv İsmail Paşa
• Stephen Cave

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