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Order or Justice: The Denshawai Incident and British Imperialism
Author(s) -
Luke Kimberly
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
history compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1478-0542
DOI - 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2007.00410.x
Subject(s) - economic justice , order (exchange) , turning point , nationalism , resistance (ecology) , law , point (geometry) , political science , history , criminology , psychology , politics , period (music) , business , art , ecology , geometry , mathematics , finance , biology , aesthetics
On the afternoon of 13 June 1906 five British officers entered the Egyptian village of Denshawai to go pigeon shooting. An intended sporting event quickly turned into an altercation that resulted in casualties among both the British army of occupation and the villagers of Denshawai. This incident represented a turning point in the British occupation, a point in which the British officials in Egypt were faced with the decision to pursue order or justice and chose order. Concerned with growing nationalist sentiment, Egyptian officials seized upon the Denshawai incident as an opportunity to make an example of the consequences of resistance and confirm the strength of British rule. Their decision ultimately undermined this strength by inflaming public opinion in both Great Britain and Egypt. As a result of Denshawai, British imperialism in Egypt was painted in stark relief and found wanting.