The outbreak of World War I created a very peculiar situation for Egypt. Legally Egypt still owned allegiance to the Sultan of Turkey, while practically she was under the occupation of Britain.
As in the war, Britain and Turkey were pitched in opposite camps, an unomaly was created. As Turkey was fighting against Biiiain, ail her subjects including the Egyptians were to be considered at war and all their hostile actions were legally justified.
To overcome this anomaly Britain declared Egypt as a Protectorate and freed it from the suzerainty of the Turkish Sultan. The other alternatives possible for Britain in this course were that she could have either annex Egypt or granted her full independence. Britain did not consider either of these courses as desirable.
While annexation would have raised the suspicion of the neutral nations as well as the Allies, full autonomy would have added to the anxiety of Britain as to how to maintain her vital interests. Under the circumstances the Protectorate seemed to be the best solution. As Elizabeth Monroe has said, it was “less humiliating to Egyptians, more palatable to allies” and made “no difference to the British military grip on the country.”
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The Egyptians felt quite annoyed over this arrangement. Whatever understanding existed between Britain and Egypt was demolished during the war.
However, the Egyptians remained neutral during the war and did not respond to the call for Jihad given by the Sultan of Turkey, because they were also tried of long Turkish domination of their country. The attack on the Suez canal and the atrocities committed by the Turks in Syria made the Egyptians even more hostile to the Sultan of Turkey.