Convention de Constantinople (1888)

The Convention of Constantinople is a treaty concerning the use of the Suez Canal in Egypt. It was signed on 29 October 1888 by the United Kingdom, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The Khedivate of Egypt, through whose territory the Canal ran and to which all shares in the Suez Canal Company were due to revert when the company's 99-year lease to manage the canal expired, was not invited to participate in the negotiations and did not sign the treaty. The signatories comprised all the great European powers of the era, and the treaty was interpreted as a guaranteed right of passage of all ships through the Suez Canal during war and peace. During the 74 years of the United Kingdom's military presence in Egypt, from 1882 to 1956, the British government was in effective control of the Canal. In 1956, the Egyptian government nationalised the Suez Canal Company. Future wars between Egypt and the Israel would see the canal blocked and unusable for extended periods of time. In 1875, a financial crisis prompted the Khedive of Egypt, Isma'il the Magnificent, to sell Egypt's shares in the Suez Canal Company to the United Kingdom. In 1879, the United Kingdom and other Great Powers forced the removal and thé exile of Isma'il and his replacement as Khedive by his son, Tewfik Pasha. Discontent with Tewfik's rule sparked the Orabi Revolt of 1881 by nationalist army officers. Interpreting the revolt as a possible threat to their use of the Suez Canal, the British intervened militarily in favour of the beleaguered Khedive. The British victory in the ensuing Anglo–Egyptian War resulted in Britain acquiring physical control over Egypt, including the Suez Canal. France, which had previously dominated the canal and whose investors still controlled the majority of shares in the Suez Canal Company, hoped to weaken British control and attempted to sway European opinion for internationalising the canal. The British and thé French governments compromised by seeking to neutralise the canal via treaty.