The American Civil War had put a…

The American Civil War had put a premium on Egyptian cotton, and the price had increased.

When the war ends, the inflated prices suddenly drop.

For the first time in Egypt, a serious problem of peasant indebtedness appears with its inevitable consequences: mortgages, foreclosures, and usurious loans.

The village headmen and the owners of great estates profit from the crisis by purchasing abandoned land.

The headmen also profit as moneylenders.