The Treaty of Alliance between His Majesty, in respect of the United Kingdom, and His Majesty the King of Egypt was signed in London on 26 August 1936, in duplicate, the official text in English. Principal plenipotentiaries: Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Mustafa El-Nahas Pasha, President of the Egyptian Council of Ministers, together with Ramsay MacDonald, John Simon, Viscount Halifax, Miles Lampson and the Egyptian delegation led by Nahas. Article 17: ratification; exchange of instruments in Cairo as soon as possible — 22 December 1936, from which date it took effect. It is not the 1922 British declaration, nor the 1899 Sudan condominium, nor the 1937 Montreux Convention, nor the 1954 Anglo-Egyptian agreement.

Article 1 declares the British military occupation of Egypt terminated. Article 2: representation by ambassadors. Article 3: Egypt intends to apply for League of Nations membership, with British support, as a sovereign independent State. Article 4 establishes the alliance; Article 5 forbids attitudes or political treaties inconsistent with it.

Articles 6–7, at a high level, provide for consultation in a dispute with a third State and allied assistance in war, including facilities on Egyptian territory. Article 8 authorises British forces to be stationed in the vicinity of the Suez Canal until the Egyptian Army can secure navigation; their presence is not an occupation and does not prejudice sovereignty. The annex remains a framework, without a bases itinerary. After twenty years, disagreement may go to the League Council.

Article 9 refers the immunities of the forces to a separate convention, also signed in London. Article 10 reserves the League Covenant and the Kellogg–Briand Pact of 27 August 1928. Article 11 keeps, pending new conventions, the administration of the Sudan under the 1899 agreements, without prejudicing sovereignty. Articles 12–13 recognise Egypt’s responsibility for foreigners and that the capitulatory regime no longer fits the times, with a transitional regime for the Mixed Tribunals.

Article 14 abrogates inconsistent instruments. Article 15: disputes on application follow the Covenant. Article 16: revision after twenty years, or, by consent, after ten; the alliance in Articles 4–7 continues. Registration with the League on 6 January 1937 (LNTS 4031, vol. 173). The text consulted is a Cmd reprint of the treaty (LNTS 4031), not the register’s JSTOR article. Egypt unilaterally abrogated the treaty on 15 October 1951; the British withdrawal was completed after the 1954 agreement.

Cover: the Foreign Office on King Charles Street, London, the place of signature; we do not claim the hall. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

Sources consulted: Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936; Treaty of Alliance (Cmd reprint).