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Egyptian Delegation

The Egyptian delegation (Wafd) at the Paris Peace Conference was led by Sa'd Zaghlul, known as "the father of the nation". Zaghlul served as a government minister from 1906-1913, and by 1918 was Vice President of the Egyptian Assembly and leader of its opposition faction

On Wednesday November 13 1918, a delegation of Egyptian public figures such as Saad Zaghloul, Abdel Aziz Fahmi, Ali Sharawi and others from the people's party put forward demands for Egypt's independence to local authorities. The delegation met British High Commissioner Reginald Wingate in office confessing Egypt's will to represented at the conference to seek self determination and independence for the country. They requested permission to travel to London and plead the case before the British Parliament.

A Delegation for their purpose was formed, however the British rejected their demands and denied them permission to travel. Zaghlul's legitimacy as a representative of Egypt was questioned , which Zaghlul's followers responded to by gathering money and signatures to demonstrate his legitimacy. Efforts were undermined by the British trying to confiscate certain petitions. the British also refused to meet any of the demands of the Nationalists. Zaghlul then forwarded a memorandum to the American President, Woodrow Wilson known in Egypt as 'The Delegation' (Wafd).

The Egyptian delegation's main demand at the conference was "complete independence for Egypt based on the principle of self-determination". Due to Britain's strategic reliance upon the Suez Canal, Whitehall refused to recognise the Egyptian delegation at the Conference and originally prevented them from travelling to Europe. Further to this, Zaghlul and many of his compatriots were arrested and interred in Malta following this prevention of their travel to Europe by the British. The 1919 Revolution, a popular uprising against the British in Egypt, made clear public anger at the arrest of Zaghlul and his compatriots, leading to their release and permission granted for them to travel to the conference.

The delegation were eventually released Zaghlul and allowed him and his delegation to travelto Paris on the 7th April 1919. Whilst at the conference, Zaghlul and his delegation protested vehemently against America's recognition of the British protectorate in Egypt, asking the United States to recognise Egypt's right to self-determination.