134 -^ Short History of the Middle East
no one. ... The agitation has from the beginning been entirely
pacific in character. .. . The present movement cannot be com-
pared in importance with that of Mustafa Kami!, and there seems
to be no reason why it should affect the decisions of H.M. Govern-
ment on constitutional questions and the proper form to be given
to the protectorate/
The Egyptian Prime Minister, denied permission to plead his
country's case at the Peace Conference, resigned on i March 1919,
and strikes, disturbances and riots followed. The Residency coun-
selled firmness: four nationalist leaders, three of whom—Zaghlul,
Isma'il Sidqi, and Mohammed Mahmud—have made their mark
in subsequent politics, were deported to Malta. This was followed
by a widespread insurrection among the fellahin, inspired by the
middle-class nationalists. Railways and telegraph and telephone
communications was extensively cut, and Cairo was isolated from
the rest of the country, where British authority had ceased to be
effective. Provincial "republican governments* were proclaimed
and even villages set up their OWTL independent authorities.
Isolated parties of British troops and some European residents
were massacred. By 23 March however railway communication
between Cairo and the north had been restored, and three weeks
later the army had re-imposed order almost everywhere.
The Residency subsequently tried to explain the revolution by
allegations that the hand of Bolshevist, Young Turk and even
German agents had been "clearly discernible'; but the Milner
Commission placed these hypotheses in their true perspective:
'The Anglo-Egyptian authorities appear to have been so greatly
out of touch with native sentiment that such statements must be
accepted with reserve. They have shown a complete lack of fore-
knowledge for which it is almost impossible to account/ The
internal organization of the Residency had in fact become far from
adequate for its increased responsibilities; the duties of the various
senior officials had never been clearly defined, and it had no sound
system for obtaining and assessing intelligence.
Meanwhile Lloyd George had recalled the High Commissioner
and appointed in his place Lord Allenby, the victor of the Palestine
campaign, 'to maintain the Protectorate on a secure and equitable
basis*. The new High Commissioner adopted a conciliatory
policy towards the nationalists. The four deported deputies were
released, and Zaghlul went offto Europe to lay Egypt's case before