Convention of Constantinople
1888 treaty regulating the Suez Canal / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Convention of Constantinople[3][4] is a treaty concerning the use of the Suez Canal in Egypt. It was signed on 29 October 1888 by the United Kingdom, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The Khedivate of Egypt, through whose territory the Canal ran and to which all shares in the Suez Canal Company were due to revert when the company's 99-year lease to manage the canal expired, was not invited to participate in the negotiations and did not sign the treaty.
Type | Multilateral trade treaty |
---|---|
Drafted | 2 March 1888 |
Signed | 29 October 1888 |
Location | Constantinople, Ottoman Empire |
Effective | 8 April 1904 [1][2] |
Expiration | N/A |
Signatories | |
Depositary | Ottoman Empire |
Language | French |
The signatories comprised all the great European powers of the era, and the treaty was interpreted as a guaranteed right of passage of all ships through the Suez Canal during war and peace. During the 74 years of the United Kingdom's military presence in Egypt, from 1882 to 1956, the British government was in effective control of the Canal. In 1956, the Egyptian government nationalised the Suez Canal Company. Future wars between Egypt and Israel would see the canal blocked and unusable for extended periods of time.