In the wake of World War I, the Egyptian Delegation party, known as the Wafd,was formed and headed by Saad Zaghlul; it became the mail party pressing the nationalist cause from that point onward. The Wafd requested the British High Commissioner, Reginald Wingate, to allow members of the party to attend the Paris Peace Conference in order to appeal for Egypt?s right to self-determination, in accordance with the principle newly declared by the American President Woodrow Wilson on the right of all peoples to self-determination. Wingate, however, refused to give them permission, claiming that they did not represent the Egyptian people in any official capacity. Therefore, Zaghloul printed up thousands of powers of attorney to be signed by ordinary Egytpians and distributed nationwide. Zaghlul sent a telegram to president Wilson requesting his support of the Egyptian cause. Meanwhile, the powers of attorney campaign proved a huge success. A series of telegrams were delivered at the sultani diwan with thousands of signatures expressing support of Zaghlul. As a result, Wingate was greatly disquieted by the emergence of this new Egyptian leadership, for the nationalist cause had lacked a popular and unified leader since the death of Mustafa Kamel and the exile of Mohammed Farid. Thus, Wingate arrested some of the Wafd members and sent them to Port Said on 8 March 1919. From there, a military vessel deported them to Malta.

On the following day, demonstrations broke out first by the students at the Egyptian University, then by those at Al-Azhar. People of all denominations and backgrounds, be they workers, farmers, or merchants, took to the streets throughout the country. National unity crystallized when the revolution chose the cross and the crescent for an emblem. Women were for the first time among protestors. Floods of protests and telegrams were delivered to the sultani diwan declaring the nation?s support for Zaghlul, objecting to the arrests, and demanding the release of the leaders and permission to travel to France. Great Britain was obliged to release Zaghlul and let him go to France. Meanwhile, Britain convinced President Wilson to acknowledge Egypt as a British protectorate, an achnowledgement that was given the very day that the delegation arrived at Marseille ? a fact that demoralized them since the delegation was counting on Wilson?s support as the spokesman of self-determination. Some delegation members wanted to return to Egypt and resume the struggle there. Zaghlul, however, insisted on continuing the mission and attempting to convince the European parliaments of Egypt?s right to self-determination.

Great Britain tried to exclude and then manipulate the Egyptian delegation by negotiating behind its back with the Egyptian government and several less important political figures in an attempt to reach a compromise and to undermine Zaghlul's basic purpose which was to gain Egypt's full independence. With this idea in mind, the British government sent out a committee chaired by Lord Milner. The Egyptians, however, boycotted the committee and declared their objection to its work. They declared that the Egyptian Delegation, headed by Zaghlul, was the sole legitimate representative of the people. Milner's mission came to naught. In his report, he recommended that Britain continue negotiations with Zaghlul, which recommendation the government accepted. However, the Zaghlul-Milner negotiations ultimately failed due to Zaghlul?s insistence on full independence and Milner?s insistence on a British presence in Suez Canal and on the protection of foreigners in Egypt.