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After purchasing a 45% stake in the canal in 1875 from a heavily indebted Egyptian Khedive - Ismail Pasha - the British took advantage of the financial crisis in Egypt to take control of the country's treasury, customs, railways, post offices and ports.
This led to a nationalist rebellion in 1881-2. The British dispatched a 30,000 man expeditionary force and 40 warships to Egypt in a 'policing operation' to secure the canal and restore order to the country.
It was to be 70 years before they left.
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Europe | Ottoman
Empire | Egypt | Mecca
| Arab Revolt | Palestine
| Syria | Modern
Middle East
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Cairo became the headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force for 70 years and was their base of operations in the Middle East during World War I.
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