Evening star., 1951-10-28
A Map Explains

Only a map of the world can
explain the magnetic attraction
which Egypt has exercised SO
consistently in the field of power
politics, both ancient and modern
In area, the country embraces
less than 100000 square miles
Nearly $4,000 of these are desert
areas, hardy distinguishable from
the main body Of the Sahara, un-
productive and uninhabitable in
any substantial degree. Some
mineral deposits exist but not In
greatly profitable quantity or ae-
cessibility. on has been found but
proven reserves are small by COM
parison with the rich fields estab-
lished in the Persian Gulf littoral.
After allowance for the Nile surface
itself and for rural and urban set
tied areas, only about $4,000 square
miles of cultivable land is left
little more than the total size of
the State of Maryland. 1t is true
that these $4,000 square miles, en-
riched annually by the controlled
overflow of the Nile, are highly pro-
ductive. To Egypt, with an economy
that Is primarily agricultural, they
mean life. To the geopoliticians,
however, they are not the prize.
Commend Post for Conquest
1t Is Egypt's location rather than
its natural wealth which makes it a
command post for conquest, either
military or economic.
At the northeast corner of the
African continent, Egypt provides,
roughly on a north-south line, a
bridge between the Mediterranean
and the Red Seas, always the most
direct route between Europe and
Asia and even today the shortest
passage between the entire North
Atlantic community and the sig
nificant resources of the Persian
Gulf and South Asian areas. On
an east-west line 1t stands, too, as
a bridge between Asia Minor, the
back alley to and from Russia, and
Africa itself-a continent of greater
potential resources perhaps than
any other In the world today.
At some critical point In their
development, the avenues of either
military or economic exploitation
necessarily deviate to navigable
waters. The Mediterranean and the
Red Seas constitute such waters.
In ancient times the thin neck of
land between the Mediterranean
and the Gulf of Suez at the head
Of the Red Sea was traversed by
ships Of the desert, the camel
trains. Today 1t is sliced deeply
by the suez Canal and even the air
above 1t is criss-crossed by the
routes and instrumentalities Of goth
CC1ltIy CO1IllI1GlCC.
It is for these reasons that Egypt
not only has been patty described
as a crossroads of the world, but
that every step in the development
of modern transport and every
opening of new areas of wealth and
natural resources have served to
emphasize and increase the impor-
tance of this crossroads.
Britain Enters Picture
British intervention in the his
tory Of Egypt had its real beginning
near the close of the 18th century
Already engaged in their pro-
tracted struggle with Napoleon and
the French for supremacy in Eu-
rope, synonymous then with su-
premacy in the world, the British
were not deceived by Bonaparte's
claim. that his military entry into
Egypt in the 1790s was for the altru-
istic purpose of freeing the country
from Mameluke oppression and re.
storing it to the authority of the
Turkish Empire. In fact, it was q
British Turkish alliance that finally
drove the French out in 1901.
For nearly 80 years, then, the
British seemed content to allow
Turkish influence to be dominant
in Egypt although there were occa-
sional forays of British diplomatic
or military maneuvering, seemingly
calculated to make clear that they
had not relinquished interest. II
was during this period that there
were two developments In modern
Egyptian history which are spot.
lighted in today's troubles.
In 1920, the virtually independent
Turkish governor, Mehemet Ali
ordered the conquest of the Sudan
an area which at various times ane
in varying degree had been consid.
cred within the province of tn,
Ottoman jurisdiction. The conques
was carried out, Egyptian contro
was established and Khartoum wa.
!, founded. q
In 1914, the dream OF o French