After the defeat of the Egyptian army in the Palestine War, many young Egyptian military officers blamed the defeat on both the British and the monarchy. The British had controlled all military training and equipment for the Egyptian army, and the monarchy and its political followers were involved in major arms scandals and corruption during the war. The Free Officers' movement headed by Lieutenant Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser was organized in 1949. Over the next three years it gained in strength, organization, and momentum.
The Egyptian population reacted vocally and at times violently against the presence of British troops on Egyptian soil and against a monarchy that traced its roots to Ottoman Turkish rule. Community life became more chaotic, and on July 23,1952, the Free Officers took over the government in a bloodless military coup. King Farouk was forced to abdicate and was sent into exile.
The military governed the first year through a Revolutionary Command Council chaired by Nasser. The council adopted an Agrarian Reform Law in September, 1952, which broke up large agricultural landholdings, redistributed the confiscated land to the peasant population, and fixed land rents at their 1952 levels. This change eliminated the large landowners as a political power and helped build peasant support for the military regime. However, these reforms also created economic and social obstacles
Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser addressing air force cadets on the eve of the 1956 Suez War (National Archives)
To improved agricultural productivity that would pose serious problems for Egypt forty years later.
When a republic was declared in 1953, General Muhammad Naguib became president. Within a year a power struggle occurred among the Free Officers. Naguib wanted an early return to civilian democratic rule, but he was forced to resign in 1954, and Nasser assumed the presidency and full control of the government.
In July, 1956, the United States and Great Britain withdrew their financial support for building the Aswan High Dam, a major priority of the Egyptian regime, and Nasser turned to the Soviet Union for financial help and military aid. On July 26, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in a surprise move, leading to an invasion of Egypt in October by Britain, France, and Israel.
In a rare show of unity, both the United States and the Soviet Union urged the invaders to adopt a cease-fire and withdraw. The invading countries agreed and by December had withdrawn their forces. Since that time revenues from the operation of the Suez Canal have contributed greatly to economic stability in Egypt.
Nasser focused substantial resources on building the Aswan Dam, which when fully completed expanded agricultural land by 25 percent in Egypt and controlled for the first time the seasonal flooding of the Nile. He used the nationalization of foreign companies and the confiscation of the property of Egyptian opponents to build a socialist economy, with heavy emphasis on public ownership and massive industrialization. These policies, however, created internal social problems.
In 1958 Nasser outlawed political parties and imposed an ever-increasing repressive hold on Egyptian politics. Community groups that had been legal and active before the revolution sought to achieve their separate goals in opposition to the regime. The Muslim Brotherhood promoted Islamic influence over social and political decisions. Other more liberal and secular groups demanded a more open democratic government. During the late 1950's and the 1960's, Nasser eliminated these domestic voices that were critical of his policies.
Nasser enjoyed a wide following in the Arab world, but his efforts had little lasting impact. He united Egypt with Syria in 1958, but this Arab nationalist union fell apart in 1961. When a 1962 military coup in Yemen brought a plea for outside help, Nasser sent Egyptian troops to assist the new republic as a gesture of Arab solidarity. This commitment lasted through 1967 and created an increasingly heavy burden on the Egyptian economy. In May, 1967, Nasser used troop movements and a naval blockade to intimidate Israel. However, his maneuvering ended in the June war, in which Israel gained control of the entire Sinai Peninsula.
Nasser was a charismatic leader who, by force of events and personality, became a symbol of Arab nationalist resurgence, pride, and independent leadership. He built a vocal and passionate following among Arab nationalists throughout the Middle East but at the same time overcommitted Egypt militarily, ideologically, and economically. When Nasser died of a heart attack in September, 1970, the new regime under President Anwar Sadat established new directions in all three areas.
World History
