Arming civilians deepens the Alexandria crisis

Threats against Christian residents led foreign communities in Alexandria to seek weapons. Pistols and revolvers arrived from Greece, and reports also alleged that the British fleet supplied arms for the defence of British families. Some local consuls supported a plan to arm between 3,000 and 4,000 people, while their superiors in Cairo warned that it could provoke a collision at any moment. Because part of the plan was already public, officials also feared that an abrupt reversal might be dangerous and kept the order to stop confidential. Extreme poverty and sharp inequality added to the city's instability. Fear, rumours, naval presence, and private armament were making the crisis harder to control.