How did imperialism manage to bring both disaster and success to Egypt? The morality of imperialism is mixed; it all depends on perspective. It brought famines, heavy taxes and many other problems to Egypt. On the other hand, it opened trade routes from Britain to Asia and India, made a constant supply of cotton for Britain, etc. (period6-5imperialism10.wikispaces.com, Egypt) At first, Egypt actually tried to modernize, as an attempt to ward off European domination (Modern World History, 354), but debts and other financial problems pushed it into the arms of Great Britain. So how was Egypt affected? As a result of imperialism, Egypt received aid for some of its current problems, but found itself facing many new ones. First of all, imperialism was not something the Egyptians wanted. They witnessed the decline of the Ottoman Empire and this acted as a wake-up call. They can keep pace with the modernization of the world around them, or be overwhelmed and lost by it (Modern World History, 354). They decided to make new reforms as an attempt at modernization. One such attempt was the Suez Canal. It was a waterway that connected the Nile River, the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. It cost over $100 million to labor and opened in 1869 (Rosenberg). The Suez Canal, along with other reforms, put Egypt in a difficult economic situation. The British wanted control over the canal because it was the main route to India and other colonies. Due to the enormous debt, Egypt was forced to cede the canal to Great Britain. Subsequently, in 1882, Britain gained control of Egypt itself (Modern World History, 355). Therefore, Egypt was under new rule and became one of the many colonies of Great Britain. To sum up, Egypt has done a lot of reforms... middle of paper... overcome the problems solved by imperialism, it wasn't all bad for the Egyptians; financial aid and the Nile were just some of the problems faced by Britain. So, in conclusion, imperialism has done Egypt more harm than good. It seems they were right in trying to prevent European domination. Imperialism improved Egypt's overall economic status and some other benefits similar to other colonies, such as longer life expectancy. But with that came even more disadvantages; the major ones were famines and taxes, and more general problems such as the introduction of new diseases, cultural ruptures, etc. Based on simple statistics, it can be established that imperialism did more harm than good to the colonies. Without imperialism, we wouldn't live the same way we do now, but it was worth the countries and lives that were ruined in the process??