| Abbas Hilmi II | |
|---|---|
 Abbas Hilmi II in 1909 | |
| Khedive ofEgypt andSudan | |
| Reign | 8 January 1892 – 19(20)(21) December 1914 |
| Predecessor | Tewfik I |
| Successor | Hussein Kamel (as Sultan of Egypt) |
| Born | 14 July 1874 (1874-07-14) Alexandria,Khedivate of Egypt[1] |
| Died | 19 December 1944(1944-12-19) (aged 70) Geneva,Switzerland |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | Princess Emine Hilmi Princess Atiye Hilmi Princess Fethiye Hilmi Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim Princess Lutfiya Shavkat Prince Muhammed Abdel Kader |
| House | Alawiyya |
| Father | Tewfik I of Egypt |
| Mother | Emina of Ilhamy |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Abbas Helmy II (also known asʿAbbās ḤilmīPāshā,Arabic:عباس حلمي باشا; 14 July 1874 – 19 December 1944) was the lastKhedive ofEgypt and theSudan, ruling from 8 January 1892 to 19 December 1914.[2][nb 1] In 1914, after theOttoman Empire joined theCentral Powers inWorld War I, the nationalist Khedive was removed by the British, then ruling Egypt, in favour of his more pro-British uncle,Hussein Kamel, marking thede jure end of Egypt'sfour-century era as a province of the Ottoman Empire, whichhad begun in 1517.
Abbas II (full name: Abbas Hilmy), the great-great-grandson ofMuhammad Ali, was born inAlexandria, Egypt on 14 July 1874.[4] In 1887 he was ceremoniallycircumcised together with his younger brotherMohammed Ali Tewfik. The festivities lasted for three weeks and were carried out with great pomp. As a boy he visited theUnited Kingdom, and he had a number of British tutors in Cairo including a governess who taught him English.[5] In a profile of Abbas II, the boys' annual,Chums, gave a lengthy account of his education.[6] His father established a small school near theAbdin Palace inCairo where European, Arab and Ottoman masters taught Abbas and his brother Mohammed Ali Tewfik. An American officer in the Egyptian army took charge of his military training. He attended school atLausanne,Switzerland;[7] then, at the age of twelve, he was sent to the Haxius School inGeneva,[citation needed] in preparation for his entry into theTheresianum inVienna. In addition toArabic andOttoman Turkish, he had good conversational knowledge of English, French and German.[5][7]
Abbas II succeeded his father,Tewfik Pasha, asKhedive of Egypt and Sudan on 8 January 1892. He was still in college inVienna when he assumed the throne of theKhedivate of Egypt upon the sudden death of his father. He was barely of age according to Egyptian law; normally eighteen in cases of succession to the throne.[5] For some time he did not willingly cooperate with theBritish, whose army hadoccupied Egypt in 1882.[3] As he was young and eager to exercise his new power, he resented the interference of the British Agent and Consul General in Cairo,Sir Evelyn Baring, later created theEarl of Cromer.[7] Lord Cromer initially supported Abbas but the new Khedive's nationalist agenda and association with theanti-colonial nationalist movements in Egypt put him in direct conflict with British colonial officers, and Cromer later interceded on behalf ofLord Kitchener (British commander in the Sudan) in an ongoing dispute with Abbas about Egyptian sovereignty and influence in that territory.[8]
At the outset of his reign, Khedive Abbas II surrounded himself with a coterie of European advisers who opposed the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan and encouraged the young khedive to challenge Cromer by replacing his ailing prime minister with an Egyptian nationalist.[3] At Cromer's behest,Lord Rosebery, the BritishForeign Secretary, sent Abbas II a letter stating that the Khedive was obliged to consult the British consul on such issues as cabinet appointments. In January 1894 Abbas II made an inspection tour of Sudanese and Egyptian frontier troops stationed near the southern border, theMahdists being at the time still in control of the Sudan. AtWadi Halfa the Khedive made public remarks disparaging the Egyptian army units commanded by British officers.[3] The BritishSirdar of the Egyptian Army, the thenSir Herbert H. Kitchener, immediately threatened to resign. Kitchener further insisted on the dismissal of a nationalist under-secretary of war appointed by Abbas II and that an apology be made for the Khedive's criticism of the army and its officers.[9]
By 1899 he had come to accept British counsels.[10] Also in 1899, British diplomatAlfred Mitchell-Innes was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Finance in Egypt, and in 1900 Abbas II paid a second visit to Britain, during which he said he thought the British had done good work in Egypt, and declared himself ready to cooperate with the British officials administering Egypt and Sudan. He gave his formal approval for the establishment of a sound system of justice for Egyptian nationals, a significant reduction in taxation, increased affordable and sound education, the inauguration of the substantial irrigation works such as theAswan Low Dam and theAssiut Barrage, and thereconquest of Sudan.[7] He displayed more interest inagriculture than in statecraft. His farm of cattle and horses atQubbah, near Cairo, was a model foragricultural science in Egypt, and he created a similar establishment atMuntazah, just east ofAlexandria. He married the PrincessIkbal Hanem and had several children.Muhammad Abdul Moneim, the heir-apparent, was born on 20 February 1899.[citation needed]
Although Abbas II no longerpublicly opposed the British, he secretly created, supported and sustained the Egyptian nationalist movement, which came to be led byMustafa Kamil Pasha. He also funded the anti-British newspaperAl-Mu'ayyad.[3] As Kamil's thrust was increasingly aimed at winning popular support for a nationalist political party, Khedive Abbas publicly distanced himself from the Nationalists and was labeled as being against Islam by said nationalists.[11] The western world would characterize him as a revolutionary against peace, although his main goal was to gain independence for Egypt. Their demand for a constitutional government in 1906 was rebuffed by Abbas II, and the following year he formed theNational Party, led by Mustafa Kamil Pasha, to counter theUmmah Party of the Egyptian moderates.[3][12] However, in general, he had no real political power. When the Egyptian Army was sent to fightAbd al-Rahman al-Mahdi inSudan in 1896, he only found out about it because theAustro-HungarianArchduke Francis Ferdinand was in Egypt and told him after being informed of it by aBritish Army officer.[13]
His relations with Cromer's successor, SirEldon Gorst, however, were excellent, and they co-operated in appointing the cabinets headed byButrus Ghali in 1908 andMuhammad Sa'id in 1910 and in checking the power of the National Party. The appointment of Kitchener to succeed Gorst in 1912 displeased Abbas II, and relations between the Khedive and the British deteriorated. Kitchener, who exiled or imprisoned the leaders of the National Party,[3] often complained about "that wicked little Khedive" and wanted to depose him.
On 25 July 1914, at the onset ofWorld War I, Abbas II was inConstantinople and was wounded in his hands and cheeks during a failed assassination attempt. On 5 November 1914 when Great Britain declared war on theOttoman Empire, he was accused of deserting Egypt by not promptly returning home. The British also believed that he was plotting against their rule,[7] as he had attempted to appeal to Egyptians and Sudanese to support theCentral Powers against the British. So when the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in World War I, the United Kingdom declared Egypt aSultanate under Britishprotection on 18 December 1914 and deposed Abbas II.[3][14]
During the war, Abbas II sought support from the Ottomans, including proposing to lead an attack on theSuez Canal. He was replaced by the British by his uncleHussein Kamel from 1914 to 1917, with the title ofSultan of Egypt.[3][12] Hussein Kamel issued a series of restrictive orders to strip Abbas II of property in Egypt and Sudan and forbade contributions to him. These also barred Abbas from entering Egyptian territory and stripped him of the right to sue in Egyptian courts. This did not prevent his progeny, however, from exercising their rights. Abbas II finally accepted the new order on 12 May 1931 and formally abdicated. He retired toSwitzerland, where he wroteThe Anglo-Egyptian Settlement (1930).[10] He died atGeneva on 19 December 1944, aged 70,[7] 30 years to the day after the end of his reign as Khedive.[nb 1]
His first marriage inCairo on 19 February 1895 was toIkbal Hanim (Istanbul,Ottoman Empire, 22 October 1876 – Istanbul, 10 February 1941). They divorced in 1910 and had six children, two sons and four daughters:
His second marriage in Çubuklu,Turkey on 28 February 1910 was toHungarian noblewomanJavidan Hanim (born May Torok de Szendro,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S., 8 January 1874 – 5 August 1968). They divorced in 1913 without issue.[18]
Abbas II of Egypt Born: 14 July 1874 Died: 19 December 1944 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Khedive ofEgypt andSudan 7 January 1892 – 19 December 1914 | Vacant Title next held by Hussein KamelasSultan of Egypt and Sudan |
Muhammad Ali dynasty (1805–1953) | ||
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