248 Egypt
Treaty of Versailles. While further reliance on any
pronouncements of President Wilson was useless after the
formal recognition of the Protectorate by the United
States, which was published by the U.S. Consul-General
on the same day as Allenby's proclamation (April 20,
1919). Egyptian nationalism was therefore thrown back
on its own resources and its front was transferred from
Paris to Cairo. With which the rebellion entered its third
phase, which may be distinguished as that of the
" boycott."
This was not a trade boycott like that of the Indian
Nationalists. For that would have required a control of
the commercial community, of which Egyptian nation-
alism was still incapable. Nor was it in the circumstances
necessary. For they realised that government, whether
autocratic or democratic, whether alien or autonomous,
rests not only on the expressed or implicit consent of the
governed, but also on a certain measure of co-operation.
Besides the more obvious forms of rebellion like the
sabotages in March and the strikes in April, there
remained another resource even more difficult to deal with
—namely, a refusal of all assistance to, or acceptance of,
the objectionable authority. And though the negative
nature of this form of fighting makes it difficult to describe
in terms of events, yet those who have been exposed to its
moral pressure bear testimony to its discouraging and dis-
integrating effect on the authorities that it attacks.
At first, of course, little impression was produced.
The riots and strikes were over and normal conditions
restored. The British carried on without Egyptian co-
operation, and apparently without inconvenience. After
some weeks, one, Mohamed Said, was found prepared
to form a government. The Budget was put in force
and necessary bills were passed under martial law. The