Erez Manela

The Wilsonian moment and the rise of Anticolonial nationalism: The case of Egypt

This article examines the influence of Woodrow Wilsons rhetoric of national self‐determination on the Egyptian nationalist movement in 1918–20 as a case study in the impact of the Wilsonian Moment on emerging anticolonial movements. It traces the impact of Wilsonian discourse on Egyptian expectations for the postwar international order, on the way they envisioned their place within it, and on the rhetoric and actions they utilized to fulfil these expectations. It concludes that the experiences of the Wilsonian Moment radicalized Egyptian national demands, transformed the Anglo‐Egyptian colonial relationship, and left a legacy of disappointment and bitterness among Egyptians towards liberal internationalism. The article ends by contextualizing the Egyptian case within the surge of anticolonial nationalism in the wake of World War I, and positing the Wilsonian Moment as a watershed in the transformation of colonial relations.

Dawn of a New Era: The ‘Wilsonian Moment’ in Colonial Contexts and the Transformation of World Order, 1917-1920

When Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States, steamed into the harbor of Brest on the French Atlantic coast on Friday, December 13, 1918, the mayor of Brest, who met the president at the dock, hailed him as an apostle of liberty, come to relieve the peoples of Europe from their suffering.1 The next morning, driving along the streets of Paris, Wilson was cheered by crowds of ecstatic Parisians: “Vive Wilson! Vive l’Amerique, vive la liberte!” The press in France and elsewhere sang his praises, and labor leaders hailed him as “the incarnation of the hope of the future.”2 Similar receptions met Wilson when he traveled to London and Rome in the next several weeks.3 The French pacifist author and Nobel laureate, Romain Rolland, seemed to express these widespread sentiments when he hailed Wilson as a figure poised to lead humanity toward a better, more just world, and called on him “to establish the new Charter of enfranchisement and of union” that would bring together all peoples.4