School of Historical and Philosophical Studies

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The beginning of the end: British evacuation plans in Egypt in World War Two

Smale, Alexandra ( 2014)

In 1942 the Axis were pushing their way into Egypt. They made it 60 miles from Alexandria and were on their way to occupying the country. The situation got so desperate that the British had to plan their evacuation out of the country. They also drew up evacuation plans for King Farouk of Egypt and other prominent Egyptians. This thesis is about these evacuation plans. It uses the Robinson-Gallagher theory of informal empire to examine how the British operated in the country. They, however, only applied their work to the Victorian era which was a time of expansion. This thesis looks at the idea of informal empire during a time of decline. The thesis describes how the British depended on collaboration with local actors in Egypt based on seemingly friendly relations. In reality, however, when relations broke down the British would use force to assert their power. This occurred during the evacuation planning. The British were intending to take Farouk out of the country against his will if necessary and intern their enemies in the government. This was despite the fact that Egypt had been an independent country for 20 years. Edward Said's theory of Orientalism is also used in this thesis to explain how the British justified acting so autocratically in an independent country.