The 25 January revolution and the 2013 takeover
Eighteen days of protest topple Hosni Mubarak; the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi wins the presidency, and in July 2013 the army removes him amid mass protests, followed by the deadliest crackdown in modern Egyptian history.
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring — Neil Ketchley, Cambridge University Press (2017)
- All According to Plan: The Rab'a Massacre and Mass Killings of Protesters in Egypt — Human Rights Watch (2014)
- Report: Mubarak complicit in protest deaths, excessive force used — Voice of America (2011)
- Arab Spring — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
By 2010 Hosni Mubarak had ruled for nearly thirty years and seemed to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him. Young Egyptians faced unemployment, rising prices and a police force that acted with impunity. In June 2010 police in Alexandria beat to death a young man named Khaled Said, and a Facebook page, “We Are All Khaled Said”, drew hundreds of thousands of followers. When Tunisia’s dictator fled on 14 January 2011, activists called for protests in Egypt on 25 January, National Police Day.
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring — Neil Ketchley, Cambridge University Press (2017)
- Arab Spring — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Eighteen days
Tens of thousands marched on 25 January. On Friday 28 January, the “Friday of Anger”, far larger crowds overwhelmed the police across the country, burning police stations and the ruling party’s headquarters; the police withdrew from the streets. Protesters occupied Tahrir Square in Cairo, setting up clinics, kitchens and stages. Muslims prayed while Christians formed protective circles around them, and Christians held Mass in the square. On 2 February, regime-backed thugs charged the square on horses and camels and were driven back. On 11 February, after the army made clear it would not save him, Mubarak resigned and handed power to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring — Neil Ketchley, Cambridge University Press (2017)
- Arab Spring — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Report: Mubarak complicit in protest deaths, excessive force used — Voice of America (2011)
A turbulent transition
The army’s rule was rough. In October 2011, at Maspero in Cairo, soldiers attacked a mostly Coptic protest, and some 27 people died, many crushed by military vehicles. Parliamentary elections in 2011–12 gave Islamist parties, the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafist Nour Party, about two-thirds of the seats. In June 2012 the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi narrowly won the presidency against Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, with about 52% of the vote.
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring — Neil Ketchley, Cambridge University Press (2017)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
Morsi’s year
Morsi’s presidency polarised the country. In November 2012 he issued a decree placing his decisions beyond judicial review, and a constitution drafted mainly by Islamists was pushed through. Fuel shortages, power cuts and sectarian incidents grew, and opponents accused the Brotherhood of trying to take over the state; Morsi’s supporters said the old regime’s police, courts and media were sabotaging him. A petition campaign, Tamarod (“Rebellion”), called for early elections, and on 30 June 2013 vast crowds demanded that he go.
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring — Neil Ketchley, Cambridge University Press (2017)
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
3 July and Rabaa
On 3 July 2013 the defence minister, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, announced on television that Morsi had been removed, with the backing of the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, the Coptic pope and opposition leaders. Morsi’s supporters set up sit-ins at Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares in Cairo. On 14 August security forces cleared them. Human Rights Watch documented at least 817 deaths at Rabaa alone and called it probably a crime against humanity; the government gave a lower figure and said armed protesters had attacked police. In the days that followed, Islamist mobs attacked dozens of churches, especially in Upper Egypt.
- All According to Plan: The Rab'a Massacre and Mass Killings of Protesters in Egypt — Human Rights Watch (2014)
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring — Neil Ketchley, Cambridge University Press (2017)
After
The Muslim Brotherhood was declared a terrorist organisation in December 2013, and tens of thousands of its members and, later, secular activists were jailed. Sisi was elected president in 2014. Morsi died in a courtroom in 2019 while on trial.
- All According to Plan: The Rab'a Massacre and Mass Killings of Protesters in Egypt — Human Rights Watch (2014)
- Egypt — Encyclopaedia Britannica
Young Egyptians of every background rose up peacefully for "bread, freedom, social justice" and human dignity. Their revolution was stolen, first by the Brotherhood, then by the army, which restored a harsher version of the old regime. Rabaa was a massacre, and tens of thousands of political prisoners remain its legacy.
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring — Neil Ketchley, Cambridge University Press (2017)
- All According to Plan: The Rab'a Massacre and Mass Killings of Protesters in Egypt — Human Rights Watch (2014)
Morsi's year in power showed the Brotherhood putting its organisation above the nation. When millions took to the streets on 30 June 2013, the army answered the people's call, as in 1952. Firm rule since then has protected Egypt from civil war and terrorism, at a painful but necessary price.
- Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to the Muslim Brotherhood — Tarek Osman, Yale University Press (2013)
- Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring — Neil Ketchley, Cambridge University Press (2017)
Morsi was Egypt's first freely elected civilian president, removed in a military coup after a year of obstruction by the "deep state". The killing of hundreds of peaceful protesters at Rabaa and al-Nahda in August 2013, and the jailing of the movement's members, were crimes that still demand justice.
- All According to Plan: The Rab'a Massacre and Mass Killings of Protesters in Egypt — Human Rights Watch (2014)
- The Society of the Muslim Brothers — Richard P. Mitchell, Oxford University Press (1969)
Why it matters today
No event divides Egyptians more. For some, 2011 was the greatest moment of their lives and 2013 a counter-revolution that ended in massacre and mass imprisonment. For others, 2013 was a second revolution that saved Egypt from the Brotherhood and from the chaos that engulfed Syria, Libya and Yemen. Many simply remember fear and hardship and want stability above all.