Nasser

Nasser: Origin and Nature Outline


 * 1) Conditions that produced authoritarian and single-party states
 * 2) Defeat of the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli War increased the unpopularity of King Farouk
 * 3) War convinced the younger officers of the incompetence of the men ruling Egypt
 * 4) Two opposition groups emerged
 * 5) First was Muslim Brothers and a Pan-Islamic group which was formed in 1928
 * 6) Modern Egypt emerged in 1952 from military coup: Egyptian Revolution, brought down King Farouk, put in military regime
 * 7) New rulers rallying around a strong sentiment of nationalism, succeeded in introducing a series of reform to modernize Egypt
 * 8) Challenged the West and affirmed Egypt’s independence on international scene
 * 9) Man closely related to this is Gamal Abdel Nasser, “the embodiment of what the Arab world wanted to be: assertive, independent and engaged in the construction of a new society freed from the imperial past and oriented towards a bright Arab future” (William Cleveland)
 * 10) July 1952, the airport headquarters the airport and communication centers were seized by the Free Officers
 * 11) King Farouk’s government was replaced with the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC)
 * 12) King sent into exile where he remained until his death
 * 13) 1923 Constitution was withdrawn, RCC obtained the right to rule, under new regime Nasser became Vice President and Naghib was President
 * 14) Emergence of leaders: aims, ideology, support
 * 15) New regime led by the military and the Free Officers demonstrated organizational skills, military discipline and authority
 * 16) Military rulers respected nation, members of new government represented the ordinary people and not just the privileged people
 * 17) Nasser originated from rural poor, symbolized the new Egypt, spoke their language and understood their plight
 * 18) “The Egyptian masses were to weak to start a revolutionary action to improve their lot, so we your brothers started it for you, but you are the revolution” (Nasser Speech)
 * 19) Populist Regime, claimed to represent people (also one party system), no other parties were needed
 * 20) 1956 New Constitution
 * 21) Without permitting any other political parties in Constitution
 * 22) Arab Socialist Union representing people of Egypt, elections did not take place
 * 23) New regime “redistribute the wealth”
 * 24) Nasser transformed the military coup into a revolution, named the National Charter (able to explain policies)
 * 25) Nationalism was synonymous with revolution because it was only through independence that Egypt could bring social justice to Egypt
 * 26) Totalitarianism: the aim and the extent to which it was achieved
 * 27) Arab Socialism
 * 28) State-run centralized planned economy, a series of welfare measures and the will to export these ideas to other Arab states
 * 29) Nasser insisted on uniting the Arab world and he cultivated a sense of communalism as well as nationalism
 * 30) Objective was to restore the pride and confidence of the Arabs through this
 * 31) Opposition repressed
 * 32) Muslim Brotherhood and the Communist Party were severely repressed, after attempt of assassination of Nasser six of Muslim Brotherhood leaders executed and members imprisoned
 * 33) 1957 intelligence service the Mukhaberat was set up and its job was to keep a strict watch on the people
 * 34) Economic and social policies
 * 35) End privileges of large landowners, build popular support amongst poor
 * 36) Agrarian Reform Act - farmers better life, fairer distribution of land
 * 37) Labor Laws, raise in minimum wage, reduction in working hours

Works Cited

Habibi, Mariam, et al. //History of Europe and the Middle East: Course Companion//. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.

I. Egyptian Nationalism, impatience with the king, and hatred of the British were all reasons behind the overthrow of government. This overthrow placed the power in the leader of the revolution, Gamal Abdul Nasser. A. Long Term Causes a. Hatred of the British i. The Egyptians were fed up with the British and their government seemed to be a British pawn B. Short Term Causes a. King nullifies the 1936 treaty i. The king tries to get rid of the British by nullifying the treaty, but it also gets rid of some Egyptian power that they treaty granted them. ii. People then became impatient with the King and he became unhappy with himself iii. The Wafd party lost all credibility during World War II b. “Free Officers” Coup i. Proclamation of the Republic of Egypt ii. Muhammad Naguib is weak and Nasser emerges as strong leader from the revolution iii. One of two opposition parties, the other being the Muslim Brothers II. Nasser took power with a military regime that focused on not only Egypt’s own nationalism by ridding the country of British control, but on Pan-Arab nationalism. A. The Military Regime i. Nasser has a lot of military experience and rose to power with the Free Officers Coup. ii. The people in power began representing the country as a whole as opposed to just those of wealthy upbringing. B. Nationalism i. Nasser’s first goal was to rid Egypt of British control. The Egyptian people were fed up and embarrassed of the British presence. ii. Nasser then turned his focus on uniting the Arab countries as the Israelis gained strength. Nasser’s focus on the pan-Arab nationalism against Israel can probably attributed to Nasser’s fighting in the 1948 war. III. Nasser’s regime was a left-leaning populist regime. A. A Populist Regime i. This means that it “claimed to represent the people”. Because the regime represented all of the people there was no need for political parties. ii. Nasser wanted a “co-operative state’ so that there would be less conflict iii. In 1953 a political representation of the people was formed called the National Liberation Rally. Nasser was the leader of it. B. Even though there were no other political parties, there were still elections i. The National Liberation Rally did evolve into other parties, but there was only ever one party at a time. ii. The party in power got to chose and dictate the candidates. C. Opposition Oppression a. The two major opposition groups were the Muslim Brotherhood and the Communist Party. i. After there was attempted Nasser assassination by the Muslim Brotherhood he executed six of its leaders and imprisoned thousands of its members. ii. After a strike in a textile factory was said to have been started by the Communist Party, the army was brought in. Two people were executed and many prison sentences were handed out. b. The Mukhaberet, an intelligence service that was meant to keep watch over the people was established. c. The press was heavily censored. Nasser was very paranoid about conspiracy leading to an overthrow. D. Nasser made himself very popular among the people. i. He was a representation of Arab nationalism and was always present for the people.