Egyptian Sudan 6 When the British occupied Egypt in 1882, they set their sights on dismantling the Egyptian Empire and taking possession of Sudan. Their justification for remaining in Egypt was "political and financial disturbances in Egypt and the danger of the Mahdi in Sudan." As for the Mahdi, Gordon described it as a "movement of despair" after the British intensified their efforts to abolish the slave trade and slavery, driving people to despair. This was after they filled Sudan with foreign rulers, oppressing Egyptians and Sudanese, and after their occupation of Egypt and their dominance over it, preventing its government from taking action until they were forced to withdraw. Sir Baring (Lord Cromer)'s argument was that Egypt's budget bore an annual deficit of £260,000 for Sudan's budget, which was too weak to bear this burden. However, this claim was a means to sever Sudan from Egypt, as border protection thereafter required many times this expense, and they burdened Egypt's treasury with £400,000 annually for the occupation army. When they sent Gordon to evacuate Sudan, the rebels defeated him. They agreed among themselves, with their own money and wealth, on a situation for the Wali that cost 11 million pounds. Egypt's treasury paid Gordon's debts during his siege, amounting to £6,606,960, of which £6,572,580 was to foreigners, not to mention the Egyptian army that perished in Sudan after being left behind, Egyptian merchants, their money and property, forts and strongholds, warships and merchant vessels, and then the expenses for the recovery of Sudan, which exceeded seven million pounds. All this money was spent in 16 years, an economy of tens of thousands of pounds paid in one or two years. But they did not want economy; rather, they wanted to separate Sudan and then reclaim it for themselves, not for Egypt.