The 1952 revolution and the Nasser era
Young army officers overthrow King Farouk, and Gamal Abdel Nasser builds a republic of land reform, nationalisation and pan-Arab pride, ruled by the army and the secret police.
- Nasser's Blessed Movement: Egypt's Free Officers and the July Revolution — Joel Gordon, Oxford University Press (1992)
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
- The Society of the Muslim Brothers — Richard P. Mitchell, Oxford University Press (1969)
- The Arabs: A History — Eugene Rogan, Basic Books (2009)
By 1952 the monarchy of King Farouk was discredited. British troops still guarded the Suez Canal zone, a handful of great landowners held much of the best land, and Egypt’s army had been humiliated in the 1948 war against the new state of Israel, a defeat many officers blamed on corruption at the top. On 26 January 1952, “Black Saturday”, crowds burned much of downtown Cairo after British troops killed dozens of Egyptian policemen at Ismailia.
- Nasser's Blessed Movement: Egypt's Free Officers and the July Revolution — Joel Gordon, Oxford University Press (1992)
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
The coup
On the night of 22–23 July 1952 a secret group of middle-ranking officers, the Free Officers, seized power almost without bloodshed. Farouk sailed into exile on 26 July. General Muhammad Naguib was the public face, but the real leader was Lieutenant Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, a postal clerk’s son from a family with roots in Upper Egypt. The monarchy was abolished in June 1953, and after a power struggle Nasser pushed Naguib aside in 1954 and became president.
- Nasser's Blessed Movement: Egypt's Free Officers and the July Revolution — Joel Gordon, Oxford University Press (1992)
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
A new Egypt
Within weeks the officers passed a land reform that capped holdings and redistributed estates to peasants. Political parties were dissolved in 1953. After a Muslim Brother tried to shoot Nasser in Alexandria in 1954, the Brotherhood was crushed and thousands of members jailed; its ideologue Sayyid Qutb, radicalised in prison, was hanged in 1966.
- The Society of the Muslim Brothers — Richard P. Mitchell, Oxford University Press (1969)
- Nasser's Blessed Movement: Egypt's Free Officers and the July Revolution — Joel Gordon, Oxford University Press (1992)
In 1956 Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal and survived the British, French and Israeli invasion that followed, becoming a hero across the Arab world. With Soviet help he built the Aswan High Dam (1960–70), which ended the Nile’s floods, generated electricity and expanded farmland, but also drowned Nubian villages. From 1961 his “Arab socialism” nationalised banks, industry and foreign-owned businesses, and promised free university education and a state job to every graduate.
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
- Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East — Keith Kyle, I. B. Tauris (2003)
The Arab dream
Through the radio station Voice of the Arabs, Nasser spoke directly to people across the region, over the heads of their kings. Egypt and Syria merged as the United Arab Republic in 1958, but Syria broke away in 1961. From 1962 Egypt fought a long, costly war in Yemen against royalists backed by Saudi Arabia, a bitter “Arab cold war” between Nasser’s republics and the Gulf monarchies.
- The Arabs: A History — Eugene Rogan, Basic Books (2009)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
The other side
Nasser’s Egypt was also a police state. Thousands of opponents, from communists to Islamists, were tortured in desert prisons. The press was nationalised. Egypt’s Greek, Italian, Jewish and other foreign communities, many there for generations, left after 1956 and the nationalisations, and cosmopolitan Alexandria faded.
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
Defeat and farewell
In June 1967 Israel destroyed Egypt’s air force and took Sinai in six days. On 9 June Nasser went on television and resigned; huge crowds poured into the streets begging him to stay, and he did. He died of a heart attack on 28 September 1970, aged 52, and millions of grieving Egyptians followed his funeral through Cairo.
- Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East — Michael B. Oren, Oxford University Press (2002)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
- The Arabs: A History — Eugene Rogan, Basic Books (2009)
1952 freed Egypt from a corrupt king, a feudal landlord class and British occupation. Nasser gave land to peasants, free education and jobs to millions, built the High Dam, nationalised the canal and made Egyptians and Arabs feel they could stand tall in the world. His failures do not cancel that.
- Nasser's Blessed Movement: Egypt's Free Officers and the July Revolution — Joel Gordon, Oxford University Press (1992)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
1952 was a coup that ended Egypt's flawed but real parliamentary life, abolished parties, jailed and tortured communists and Muslim Brothers, nationalised the press and drove out Egypt's cosmopolitan communities. Its economic model failed and its adventures abroad ended in the disaster of 1967.
- The Society of the Muslim Brothers — Richard P. Mitchell, Oxford University Press (1969)
- Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State — Arthur Goldschmidt Jr., Westview Press (2004)
Why it matters today
The republic Nasser founded, led by officers, with a vast state sector and a powerful security apparatus, is in many ways the Egypt of today. 23 July is still the national day. For many Egyptians Nasser stands for dignity, free education and standing up to the West; for others, for the beginning of military dictatorship. Few figures stir such warm or bitter feelings.