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    Characteristically many leaders proceeded from their birthplaces in the countryside to the religious educational institutes of Al-Azhar in Cairo, where they were educated in the spirit of originality.

    His courage, emotion, eloquence and wealth of experience made him well-qualified to influence and lead the masses into a popular uprising against British occupation.

    In 1873, he joined Al-Azhar, where he was a student of the eminent Islamic thinkers and leaders Gamal Eddin Al-Afghani and Mohammed Abdou. Later he obtained his LLB from Paris, France in 1897, and started his career as a public prosecutor. Saad Zaghloul was a staunch supporter of the Orabi Revolution, and expressed such support in articles published in "Al-Waqa'ie Al-Misriya" newspaper.

    Following the defeat of the Orabi Revolution, he was discharged from service and then opened a law office. He was chased down by the British occupation authorities and Khedive Tewfeek. On June 20, 1883, he was arrested under the charge of joining a clandestine organization scheming to overthrow the ruling regime.

    He performed an important role in conveying Sheikh Mohammed Abdou's viewpoints and the nationalists' revolutions to the Orabists on the battle front.

    On November 18, 1906, Saad Zaghloul was appointed Minister of Education. He seized this opportunity to put his nationalist orientations into effect. He was fully committed to people's right to education, the employment of nationalists in educational positions and resistance to British intervention in Egyptian education represented in Dunlop and other British advisors.

    On February 23, 1910, he was appointed Minister of Justice. As a Deputy- Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, he was an outstanding leader of opposition against the British colonialist policy.

    Before the declaration of World War I, Saad Zaghloul conferred with other nationalist leaders such as Abdul Aziz Fahmi, Ahmed Lutfi Assayed and Mohammed Mahmoud on what should be done after the armistice had been declared.

    When the declaration took place on November 11, 1918, Zaghloul, called for an expanded meeting, where it was decided that Saad Zaghloul, in his capacity as Deputy- Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, together with Abdel Aziz Fahmi and Al-Sharawi as members, should proceed to the British High-Commissioner on November 13, 1918 to demand evacuation of British troops from Egypt.

    . Saad, who became shortly after Egypt's prime minister, demanded the immediate withdrawal of British troops from Egypt. In response, the British exiled him and his followers to Malta, an act that spurred an unprecedented anger among Egyptian citizens in modern history.

   Thousands of Egyptians poured into the streets of Cairo, demanding the return of Saad and his friends. Moslem and Christian leaders carried "crescent and cross" banners in solidarity, and women who have always "stayed at home" joined the angry crowd. The British yielded, and Saad returned to form back the Wafd (Delegation) Party and continue his struggle toward independence.

    The 1919 Revolution was not made by only one of the political parties operating in Egypt before World War I. It was rather brought about by a united broad political front, historically known as "Al-Wafd". As the Revolution also raised the motto Religion for God and the Homeland for all", the unity of Moslems and Copts was one of its greatest achievements.

    In 1922, the British declared Egypt as a sovereign country with Fouad I of the Mohamed Ali Dynasty as its King. They did not, however, withdraw their army from Egypt, which left the situation de facto unchanged.

    Following the declaration of the Constitution on April 19, 1923, parliamentary elections were conducted, where Zaghloul's candidates won 195 seats out of the total seats of 224. Accordingly, Zaghloul formed the first people-based cabinet.

    On account of the assassination in Cairo of the British ruler of the Sudan, Sir Lee Stak, in 1924, Zaghloul had to resign. Consequently, the House of Representatives was resolved.

    In March 1925, Saad Zaghloul was re-elected as Speaker of the new House, which was soon likewise dissolved. In 1926, Saad Zaghloul was elected as Speaker of a coalition House of Representatives.

    In 1936, another treaty was signed between Mostafa El Nahas, the Wafd Party leader, and the British which limited Britain's intervention in Egypt's affairs, but it was no more than ink on paper. Nine years later, the Arab League was founded with its headquarters in the center of Cairo, and a sense of Arab nationalism grew among ordinary citizens. In 1946, the British troops had to withdraw from Cairo facing strikes and demonstrations by trade unions.

    The hostility toward the occupiers grew after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the founding of the state of Israel, which was supported by the British. On January 26, 1952, Cairo was set on fire by an angry crowd, a precursor to the events to follow that same year.