Khedive Ismail

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During the reign of Khedive Ismail , Egypt witnessed an awakening administrative reform , while agriculture , industry , construction and architecture prospered . Most notable of his achievements was the establishment of the Opera House , railroads and the Suez Canal which was opened to international navigation in 1869 . Ismail was depending on the vastly inflated cotton prices caused by the American Civil War in funding his development projects . However , by the end of the war , Ismail had to find new sources of funding to keep his reform efforts alive . He depended on international loan and followed the policy of extorting the poverty-stricken population . He also sold 176 , 602 Suez Canal shares to the British government . Gradually , Egypt was put under the British Protection .
In December 1875 , Stephen Cave and Colonel Stokes were sent to Egypt to inquire into the financial situation . In September 1878 , a constitutional ministry was formed , under the presidency of Nubar Pasha and two foreign ministers of finance and of public works (one was British and the other French) . Many Europeans were employed at high salaries in various government departments . Opposition to European intervention in Egypt's internal affairs emerged from the Assembly of Delegates , which Ismail had created in 1866 , and from the Egyptian army officers . Between January and July 1879 , the assembly held a meeting in which it demanded more control over financial matters and accountability of the European ministers to the assembly . But in April 1879 and under foreign pressure , Ismail ordered the assembly to dissolve . The National Society had drawn up a plan for national reform (Laiha Wataniyah) that proposed constitutional and financial reforms to increase the power of the assembly and resolve Egypt's financial problems without foreign advisers or control . Ismail agreed on this Laiha and rejected the proposal to declare Egypt bankrupt and stated his intent to meet all obligations to Egypt's creditors . He also invited Sharif Pasha to form a government . Then , the European ministers were dismissed .
European powers put pressure on the Ottoman Empire and Khedive Ismail was forced to abdicate in 1879 . Britain began to assume greater control over the country . In the meantime , Ismail's son , Tawfik , was appointed Khedive of Egypt . In July 1880 , the Law of Liquidation , which limited Egypt to 50% of its total income , was promulgated . The rest went to the Public Debt Safe to service the debt . At that time , the Assembly of Delegates remained dissolved .