... the French withdrawal in 1882 left Britain in unwilling, and supposedly temporary, occupation. `Occupation was a perpetual embarrassment. France remained in a state of self-pitying resentment, sore at having withdrawn and jealous of the British still being there. With France in this state of mind, cordial relations were impossible. Looking for a way out, Salisbury sent Sir Henry Drummond Wolff as a special envoy to Constantinople to work for the evacuation of Egypt in agreement with the Sultan 'with certain privileges reserved for England'. On 22 May 1887, a convention was negotiated and signed, providing for the withdrawal of British troops within three years, but also postponement of the withdrawal if necessary, and for their return 'if order and security in the interior were disturbed'. `Unfortunately this convention was signed while the jingoist movement in France led by General Boulanger was at its height, and it was impossible for any French politician ...

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