General Herbert Lord Kitchener leads Britain’s Egyptian army in its reconquest of the Sudan from the Mahdists, winning the decisive Battle of Omdurman in 1898 and finally crushing the revolt.

The German-armed Boer Republicans score some initial victories, besieging the cities of Mafeking, Kimberley and Ladysmith, in what the Afrikaners call the Second War of Freedom.

Robert Baden-Powell holds Mafeking against the Boers for two hundred and seventeen days until British troops under Lords Roberts and Kitchener, his chief of staff, relieve the besieged cities.

The Near East, 1900 to 1911 CE: Rising Nationalism and Social Unrest

The Dinshawi Incident and Egyptian Nationalism

Egyptian nationalism intensifies significantly after the infamous Dinshawi Incident of 1906. British officers, while shooting pigeons near the Delta village of Dinshawi, accidentally wound the wife of the local imam. A confrontation erupts, resulting in injuries among both the villagers and British officers, with one officer dying from heatstroke as he attempts to return to his camp. British forces respond harshly, executing four villagers, sentencing others to imprisonment and public flogging, and brutally punishing suspects without fair trials. The severity and injustice of these actions galvanize public opinion, sparking widespread nationalist and anti-British sentiments throughout Egypt.

Emergence of Egyptian Political Parties

Egyptian political consciousness rapidly evolves in response to these events, leading to the establishment of political parties in 1907. Two major parties dominate the political landscape: the National Party (Al Hizb al Watani) led by the charismatic Mustafa Kamil, and the more moderate Umma Party (Al Hizb al Umma).

The National Party, strongly anti-British and immediately demanding full independence, attracts traditionalists and conservatives by emphasizing Islamic identity. Its publication, Al Liwa, amplifies nationalist rhetoric. Conversely, the Umma Party, led by influential figures such as Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed, advocates gradual reform and cooperation with British authorities to achieve eventual independence. Their publication, Al Jaridah, promotes constitutional reform and social progress. The death of Mustafa Kamil in 1908 significantly weakens the National Party, though it continues as a symbol of uncompromising nationalism.

Labor Movements and Urban Social Change

Egypt's working-class movement emerges forcefully during this period. Poor working conditions, low wages, and the absence of government protections lead to numerous strikes and the formation of workers’ associations, notably among cigarette wrappers, railroad, and port workers. The National Party supports these labor actions by providing schools, publicity, and legal assistance, further intertwining labor activism with nationalist goals. Despite harsh repression, labor activism remains resilient, indicating a maturing political awareness among Egypt's working class.

British Administration and Societal Transformation

Egypt remains under firm British control, administered by a succession of influential British consuls general, notably Lord Cromer (1883–1907), Sir John Eldon Gorst (1907–1911), and subsequently Lord Herbert Kitchener (1911–1914). Cromer's autocratic rule prioritizes economic stability through fiscal austerity but neglects education and industry, fostering resentment among Egyptians.

His successor, Gorst, attempts conciliation by promoting moderate nationalism but fails due to both nationalist inflexibility and British reluctance to cede control. Lord Kitchener, arriving in 1911 with a reputation from his conquest of Sudan, introduces constitutional reforms in 1913, expanding representative institutions and offering limited political participation.

Governance and Stability in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Under the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium in Sudan, governance structures solidify after initial instability. British authorities introduce formal legal and administrative frameworks, modeled partly on British India, to stabilize the region. They codify land tenure, taxation, and criminal law, establishing sharia courts staffed largely by Egyptian judges. Occasional Mahdist revolts flare briefly, notably in 1900, 1902–03, 1904, and 1908, yet are quickly suppressed. Governance is centralized under an executive council established in 1910, marking a transition to structured colonial administration.

Regional Tensions and Early Zionist Settlements

Throughout the Near East, tensions emerge amid Ottoman rule. The Ottoman authorities establish Circassian settlements in present-day Jordan, seeking to stabilize frontier regions. Simultaneously, the early stages of Zionist settlement unfold in Palestine, following the establishment of the Zionist Organization by Theodor Herzl in 1897. By the eve of the First World War, the Jewish population in Palestine rises significantly, fueling increasing local Arab resistance.

Legacy of the Era: Foundation of Modern Nationalism

The era from 1900 to 1911 sees the crystallization of Egyptian nationalism, driven by incidents like Dinshawi and the emergence of organized political parties and labor movements. Concurrently, British administrative policies reinforce economic stability but exacerbate political and social discontent. These years set the stage for intensified struggles over identity, independence, and governance, shaping the political trajectory of Egypt, Sudan, and the broader Near East for decades to come.

Gorst, who is less autocratic than Cromer, has to face a growing Egyptian nationalism that demands British evacuation from the country.

Gorst's attempt to create a "moderate" nationalism ultimately fails because the nationalists refuse to make any compromises over independence and because Britain considers any concession to the nationalists a sign of weakness.

Kitchener, on his arrival in Egypt in 1911, is already famous as the man who had avenged the death of General Charles Gordon in Khartoum in 1885 during the Mahdist uprising.

In 1913 Kitchener introduces a new constitution that gives the country some representative institutions locally and nationally.

When the British occupation began, the Assembly of Delegates had ceased to exist.

It had been superseded by an assembly and legislative council that are consultative bodies whose advice is not binding on the government.

The Organic Law of 1913 provides for a legislative assembly with an increased number of elected members and expanded powers.

There are three British agents and consuls general in Egypt between 1883 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914: Lord Cromer (1883-1907), Sir John Eldon Gorst (1907-11), and Lord Herbert Kitchener (1911-14).

Cromer is an autocrat whose control over Egypt is more absolute than that of any Mamluk or
khedive.

Cromer believes his first task is to achieve financial solvency for Egypt.

He services the debt, balances the budget, and spends what money remains after debt payments on agriculture, irrigation, and railroads.

He neglects industry and education, a policy that becomes a political issue in the country.

He brings in British officials to staff the bureaucracy.

This policy, too, is controversial because it prevents Egyptian civil servants from rising to the top of their fields.

The British have been forced to quickly revise their tactics.

They concentrate on restricting the freedom of movement of the Boer commandos and depriving them of local support.

The railway lines had provided vital lines of communication and supply, and as the British had advanced across South Africa, they had used armoured trains and had established fortified blockhouses at key points.

They now build additional blockhouses (each housing sic to eight soldiers) and fortify these to protect supply routes against Boer raiders.

Eventually some eight thousand such blockhouses will be built across the two South African republics, radiating from the larger towns along principal routes.

Each blockhouse costs between £800 to £1,000 and takes about three months to build.

They prove very effective; not one bridge at which a blockhouse is sited and manned is blown.

The blockhouse system requires an enormous number of troops to garrison.

Well over fifty thousand British troops, or fifty battalions, are involved in blockhouse duty, greater than the approximately thirty thousand Boers in the field during the guerrilla phase.

In addition, up to sixteen thousand Africans are used both as armed guards and to patrol the line at night.

The Army links the blockhouses with barbed wire fences to parcel up the wide veld into smaller areas.

"New Model" drives are mounted under which a continuous line of troops can sweep an area of veld bounded by blockhouse lines, unlike the earlier inefficient scouring of the countryside by scattered columns.

Herbert Kitchener, upon succeeding Frederick Roberts as commander-in-chief of the British forces in South Africa on November 29, implements a "scorched earth" policy under which they targeted everything within the controlled areas that could give sustenance to the Boer guerrillas with a view to making it harder for the Boers to survive.

As British troops sweep the countryside, they systematically destroy crops, burn  homesteads and farms and intern Boer and African men, women, children and workers in concentration camps.

Finally, the British also establish  their own mounted raiding columns in support of the sweeper columns.

These are used to rapidly follow and relentlessly harass the Boers with a view to delaying them and cutting off escape, while the sweeper units catch up.

Many of the ninety or so mobile columns formed by the British to participate in such drives are a mixture of British and colonial troops, but they also have a large minority of armed Africans.

The total number of armed Africans serving with these columns has been estimated at approximately twenty thousand.

The British Army also makes use of Boer auxiliaries who have been persuaded to change sides and enlist as "National Scouts".

Serving under the command of General Andries Cronjé, the National Scouts are despised as joiners but come to number a fifth of the fighting Afrikaners by the end of the War. 

The British utilize armoured trains throughout the war to deliver rapid reaction forces much more quickly to incidents (such as Boer attacks on blockhouses and columns) or to drop them off ahead of retreating Boer columns.

From late May 1900, the first successes of the Boer guerrilla strategy had been at Lindley (where five hundred Yeomanry had surrendered), and at Heilbron (where a large convoy and its escort had been captured) and other skirmishes resulting in fifteen hundred British casualties in less than ten days.

In December 1900, De la Rey and Christiaan Beyers attack and maul a British brigade at Nooitgedacht.

As a result of these and other Boer successes, the British, led by Lord Kitchener, mount three extensive searches for Christiaan de Wet, but without success.

However, the very nature of the Boer guerrilla war and the Boer raids on British camps are sporadic, poorly planned, and have little overall long-term objective, with the exception to simply harass the British.

This leads to a disorganized pattern of scattered engagements between the British and the Boers throughout the region.