British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli advocated for restoring the Ottoman territories on the Balkan Peninsula during the Congress of Berlin, and in return, Britain assumed the administration of Cyprus in 1878.^[88] Britain later sent troops to Egypt in 1882 to put down the Urabi Revolt – Sultan Abdul Hamid II was too paranoid to mobilize his own army, fearing this would result in a coup d'état.

The uprising was ended by an Anglo-Egyptian War and takeover of the country. It thus began the History of Egypt under the British.^[87] While the British intervention was meant to be short term, it in fact persisted until 1954. Egypt was effectively made a colony until 1952.