The war gives the Wafd the opportunity…
1936 CE to 1947 CE
Wafd sets out to convince the British that they will not lead an anti-British insurrection during the wartime crisis.
Uncertain of the loyalty of Prime Minister Ali Mahir and convinced that the king is intriguing against them, the British decide to entrust the Egyptian government to the Wafd.
On February 2, 1942, with the German army under General Erwin Rommel advancing toward Egypt, Lampson, the British ambassador, orders the king to ask Mustafa Nahhas, the Wafdist leader, to form a government.
The incident clearly demonstrates that real power in Egypt resides in British hands and that the king and the political parties exist only so long as Britain is prepared to tolerate them.
It also erodes popular support for the Wafd because it shows that the Wafd will make an alliance with the British for purely political reasons.
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The Near and Middle East
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