The Suez Canal was completed in 1869, and it was hailed as a technical triumph, linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea and shaving thousands of miles off the trip between Europe and most of Asia. But it was initially a failure as a business, drawing only a tenth of the expected traffic in its first year. But things slowly improved as rates were cut and more shippers found the time saved to be worth the price. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save Ismail's finances from the consequences of his borrowing binge, which by 1875 had reached nearly a hundred million pounds. Lenders were unwilling to extend further credit, so he was forced to unload his one remaining asset: his 44% stake in the Canal Company. It was expected that the French would buy it, but the British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, saw the value of the Canal to the British Empire and swooped in to buy Ismail's share on behalf of the British government. The government didn't have the 4 million pounds required, but it quickly secured a quite reasonable loan from Lionel Rothschild, and was soon the largest shareholder in the Canal.
But the money in question was a pittance against Ismail's debt, and a year later, he was forced to accept an Anglo-French commission to run Egypt's finances, effectively handing over control of the country to its bankers. Ismail was obviously unhappy and tried to retake his country, but his ministers began to turn on him and in 1879 he was deposed in favor of his son, Tewfik. Further indignities, like forcing Egypt to sell its 15% share of canal revenues, soon ignited Egyptian nationalism, which wasn't particularly happy with either the Europeans or the Turkish/Albanian upper class that dominated politics. The results were predictable, and in 1882, things spilled over into armed rebellion. The British, increasingly dependent on the Canal, sent the fleet, which ended up bombarding Alexandria. It was followed by an Army, which swiftly routed the Egyptians and turned Egypt into a de-facto British colony, although it was still formally part of the Ottoman Empire. The French, who had declined to join the intervention, were unhappy that the Canal was now under British control, and managed to get a treaty passed that declared the Canal to be neutral and open to ships of all nations. The British were not particularly happy about this, and the neutrality language would repeatedly find itself in tension with language allowing regulation in the interest of Egyptian security.
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