Wafd Party - The Rise of The Wafd Party

The Rise of The Wafd Party

The Wafd party was an Egyptian nationalist movement that came into existence in the aftermath of World War I. Though it was not the first nationalist group in Egypt, it had the longest lasting impact. It was preceded and influenced by smaller and less significant movements which evolved over time into the more modern and stronger nationalist Wafd Party. One of these earlier movements was the Urabi Revolt led by Ahmed Orabi in the early 1880s. This revolution was fought against the ruling powers of the Egyptian Khedive and European interference with Egyptian affairs. Saad Zaghloul, the future creator and leader of the Wafd Party, was a follower of Orabi, and participated in his revolution.

The actual party began taking shape during World War I. Saad Zaghloul began forming a group of individuals who shared his views, and did not include the assistance of the people. Saad Zaghloul and his contemporaries formed the Wafd (which literally means "delegation") near the end of the war. They presented themselves with Zaghloul as their representative to Reginald Wingate, the British governor in Egypt. They told Wingate that the main goal of the Wafd was the immediate termination of the British occupation of Egypt. This was what was originally told to the governor but he was not informed of their intention to use the Paris Peace conference to plead their case to the world powers. Zaghloul had created a delegation that involved representatives of most of the political and social groups of Egypt. Since it was full of so many different groups, it could not yet truly be considered a political party but more of a coalition. The Wafd had formed a constitution outlining the ways that they wish to govern Egypt.

The Wafd was denied its request to go to London and speak with the home government. They were not allowed to attend the Paris peace conference either. They counteracted this by publishing memos and giving speeches ensuring that the delegations in Paris would know what the real Egyptian delegation desired. Later protests and statements led to the deportation of Saad Zaghloul and other key figures of the Wafd to the island of Malta. These deportations caused the opposite effect to that the British had hoped. Though they tried to keep it quiet, word spread and eventually led to a strike of law students. This strike became a demonstration with chants including “Long live Saad… Long live Independence”. This started the revolution of 1919 and in the following days many more began to strike and the government and courts shut down entirely. The British then released Saad Zaghloul and his followers to create a rift in the Wafd leadership. In reaction they further unified the party and the strikes continued.

The Wafd was now becoming a true party and one with complete support of the people. The delegation made its way to Paris only to hear that U.S. President Woodrow Wilson supported the British Protectorate of Egypt. Though at this point the British were still in control, the Wafd was effectively leading the people of Egypt. In 1920, the British protectorate ended and the Wafd was placed in control of Egypt. The party rapidly became the dominant political organization in the country and was the governing party (albeit in a subordinate role to the executive power of the king) through most of the liberal period which came to an end with the rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser.