The khedive of Egypt Tewfik Pasha (1852-1892) was a mild-mannered and unfortunate young ruler during a crucial period in Egyptian history, the time of the British occupation in 1882 and the important first decade of British overrule.

Tewfik Pasha was the eldest son of the khedive Ismail, whose vainglorious ambitions and economic adventures had led to Egyptian bankruptcy in 1876 and his deposition as khedive by the Ottoman sultan in 1879. Tewfik, only 27 years old, replaced his father as Egyptian ruler. Caught immediately between the Anglo-French demands for financial conservatism and stability and the growing Egyptian nationalist movement insisting on the reduction of foreign influence in Egypt, Tewfik never secured real power. He was young, inexperienced, and indecisive; the British and French financial supervisors, in effect, ruled Egypt.

The pace of events in Egypt moved rapidly following Tewfik's accession as titular khedive in 1879 to confrontation between the Anglo-French supervisors, who refused...