The Montreux Conference for the Abolition of the Capitulations in Egypt (1937): A Turning Point in the Anglo-Italian Rivalry in the Eastern Mediterranean?

The paper reviews the negotiations that led to the abolition of the regime of capitulations in Egypt, with specific emphasis on the 1937 Montreux Conference and the diplomatic contacts that preceded it. With reference to English, Italian and Egyptian sources, the paper first traces the linkages between these negotiations and the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian treaty and discusses how this process was affected by the diplomatic climate created by Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia. It will be argued, in particular, that a failure of these multilateral negotiations (most likely leading to Egypt’s unilateral abrogation of the capitulatory regime) could have affected the implementation of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty itself. The failure of the Italian delegation to capitalize on this opportunity at Montreux is contrasted with the more litigious approach of other capitulatory powers with substantial communities in Egypt – most notably France – and is critically discussed in relation to Italy’s broader diplomatic priorities and its interest in seeing its colonial conquests formally recognized by the international community. In its entirety, this analysis therefore helps fill a historiographical gap that is relevant both to the history of the inter-war years and to the history of foreign communities in Egypt.