The year of the 1919 Revolution saw battles with the British on numerous fronts. In the cities, student demonstrators clashed with the British security forces. In the countryside, the peasant uprisings caused general turmoil, particularly with the severing of rail communications. Following the collapse of government authority, British protectorate authorities mobilised the various branches of military in order to impose their version of law and order. One battle on this front erupted in the autumn of that tumultuous year between the oldest Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram , and the oldest British newspaper, The Times .
Most wars begin with minor skirmishes that eventually flare up into full-scale combat.
The same applies to the battle of the pens waged between Al-Ahram and The Times that year. He ascribed the disturbances in part to the relationship between Egypt and Turkey. The current situation could only have been possible after the end of their rule and intervention in Egyptian affairs. Although Egyptians had no powerful desire for the return of Turkish rule, the sympathies between Egypt and Turkey were much stronger than most people generally think. The declaration of the British protectorate over Egypt, in his view, was a major cause for the 1919 uprising.