Praewa Kobkurkul

The Egyptian revolution of 1952

Symptom

The prolonged rise of Egyptian nationalists was one of the factors causing the Egyptian

revolution of 1954. It was drove by the ineffectiveness of the former revolution in 1919, which

failed to completely end the British occupation and influence in Egypt. After the declaration of

independence which abolished the protectorate and granted the ruling power back to the monarch,

the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 was signed with King Farouk’s fear of Italian invasion. It

allowed the presence of British troops in several areas, for instance, the Suez canal, as well as

ensured their power to protect the security of the state; therefore the British dominance still

occurred during the post-revolutionary period. As a result, Egyptian nationalists continued to exist,

determining to terminate the British interference in the country. Furthermore, the popularity of the

king was significantly decreased, due to his incapability of dealing with the foreign involvement.

With the king’s aim to change the political system back to absolute monarchy, he purposely

appointed Ali Mahir from the minority party to become the Prime Minister; therefore the king

would hold the highest power. He also continually interfered the parliament — creating the

instability within the government. Consequently, during this period, the political organisation and

parliament became weaken. Egypt faced a number of setbacks due to the economic crisis,

intensified by the world wars. The income gap created frustration among groups of people who

were unable to make ends meet. In addition, the loss of 1948 Arab-Israeli War humiliated

nationalists who gained influence, and created even more public discontent against King Farouk. It

can be seen as a turning point of the country, as it strongly signalled the ineptness of rulers and the

weakness of Egypt. The public turned to support the military with the aim of eliminating the corrupt

government.

Due to all the crisis and the regress, there emerged two main revolutionary groups in Egypt

— Free Officers Movement, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Free Officers Movement was formed,
 Praewa Kobkurkul
following a number of revolutions occurring in the Arab and the Middle East. Most of these

revolutions resulted a positive outcome, for example, the economic progress. Accordingly, it urged

military and government officers, workers, and the middle class to unite and revolt against the

current politicians. Likewise, the Muslim Brotherhood aimed to reform the political system.

Notwithstanding, their ultimate objective was to impose the sharia laws.

Rising fever

The anti-British fedayeen groups, a self-sacrifice with the goal of revolting, signalled the

inevitable rise of civilians’ ire towards the British. Following the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936,

the British military troops were in present along the Suez Canal, which was one of the major

sources of income in Egypt. A number of people were against this action, as it took over the

sovereignty of the country. Therefore, the groups of Fedayeen were organised to wipe out all British

soldiers throughout Egypt.

As a result of this, the British commander, Brigadier Exham, demanded the withdrawal of

Egyptian troops and its auxiliary police around the Suez Canal. However, the Ismailia Governorate

—appointed officials who governed the northeastern area including the Suez Canal— refused to do

so. In response, the British soldiers attacked the governorate building, killing nearly fifty Egyptians.

This event, when reached Cairo, was an important trigger that provoked the rage of Egyptian people

and eventually led to a series of riots and protests, known as The Cairo Fire, on the 26th of January,

1952. In spite of the lack of evidence, many people believed that the Muslim Brotherhood was

behind the riots that took place. The turmoil took a further step when the protesters, consisted of

workers and students, progressed to the Prime Minister’s office, calling for the termination of

Egypt-United Kingdom relations as well as a war against it. Nonetheless, it turned out that the

demand was turned down by king Farouk; therefore created a great angry sentiment toward him.

Not until the arrival of Egyptian army did the unrest began to settle down. At this point, it can be

seen that the Egyptian government was completely unable to control the situation. Consequently,
 Praewa Kobkurkul
after the Cairo Fire, king Farouk discharged the current Wafdist government, and the new cabinets

were appointed. However, they were still incapable of returning the political stability and reinstated

the public faith in the monarchy. During this period of time, there was a clear indication of

instability which led to the Free Officer coup d’etat—believed to be supported by the Muslim

Brotherhood— on 23 July 1952. King Farouk was abdicated and exiled out of Egypt, and his

successor, Ahmed Fuad, was put to the throne. For less than a year, the coup was turned into a real

revolution which ended the Muhammad Ali dynasty, abolished the monarchy system, and

announced the declaration of the Republic of Egypt. The Revolutionary Command Council was

established to constitute the power. Mohammed Naguib, the main chief leading the revolution, then

served as the first president.

Crisis

After the revolution, Egypt started to be modernised. The goal of the Revolutionary

Command Council was to implement the Arab socialism, by an agrarian reformation. Before the

revolution, aristocrats owned the majority of land, and they charged extremely high rental cost,

leaving peasants little profits or even creating them dept. The council administrated the issue by

enforcing the new law, which controlled the amount of lands owned per person, set the boundary of

the rental cost, and indicated a minimum wage for farming labours. However, this law was against

Ali Maher Pasha, a current Prime Minister of the council. Accordingly, he was forced to step down,

and Mohammed Naguib replaced his position.

Despite the popularity and public support Mohammed Naguib received, he was, in fact,

merely a puppet of other members in the Free Officers due to his age. It turned out that Gamal

Abdel-Nasser, a young member of the Free Officers ,was the one who was influential. Naguib’s

view toward the future of Egypt was also contradict with Nasser and the rest of the members.

Naguib believed that after the revolution the military force should be curtailed, giving back the

ruling power to citizens, and the road to a true democracy had to be paved. In contrast, Nasser
 Praewa Kobkurkul
thought that democracy and the withdrawal of the military occupation would allow both the former

government, and the muslim brotherhood, which turned against the Free Officers after the

revolution and later made an attempt to assassinate him due to the difference in ideology, to gain

back their power. He also banned all political parties and other revolutionary movement such as; the

Democratic Movement for National Liberation, a communist organization emerged before the

revolution ; and established a new party, the Liberation Rally, in order to maintain the

Revolutionary Command Council’s influence and power. Nonetheless, because of the lack of

authority, Naguib’s plans were turned down since he did not receive the majority vote from the

council. Finally, Naguib announced the resignation; therefore the Nasser’s regime began to rise.

Convalescence

The initial reformation during Nasser’s regime was to release Egypt from the British control,

since it was considered one of the key factors leading the revolution and chaos at the first place. By

doing so, he believed that Egypt had to give the complete independence to Sudan, its condominium

with the British, as they needed to conquer Sudan by interfering Egypt’s sovereignty. As a result, he

signed the treaty which granted the Sudanese independence, and the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement of

1954, which called for the withdrawal of British troops and allowed the return when Egypt was

under attack.

The Muslim Brotherhood was also another major concern that he viewed as a threat to the

Revolutionary Command Council. Despite the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood played a

supporting role to the Free Officers Movement during the revolution, their political views were

contrasting and often clashing with each other. While they desired for an islamic constitution,

Nasser insisted on applying a secular one. After the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement of 1954 was signed,

they attempted to assassinate him, while he was delivering a speech in Alexandria, nevertheless, it

failed. Nasser used this situation as an opportunity to annihilate the Muslim Brotherhood from the

country. They were announced as an outlaw movement. The leader of the group received a capital
 Praewa Kobkurkul
punishment, some were imprisoned, and others fled to foreign countries. Naguib was also accused

of assisting them; therefore he received house arrest.

As a result of an agrarian reform, the status quo of peasants was improved. The public

services, including education, employment, healthcare, and residents, became accessible to the

citizens. The economy of the country grew, approximately nine percents per year, due to many

modernisation projects, for instance, Aswan Dam, a crucial infrastructure for Egypt’s prospective

industrialisation and an irrigation system.

Conclusion

According to Crane Brinton’s anatomy of revolution, the Egyptian revolution of 1952 can be

applied to all four stages. Firstly, the symptom, it can be seen that before the revolution, there was a

great amount of dissatisfactory among both middle class, and poor people, due to the economic

crisis in the country. Later, it drove the country into a revolutionary period, led by the Free Officer

Movement. The next step is the rising fever, which includes a series of events: the Fedayeen, the

Cairo Fire, the military coup, and eventually the revolution. Thirdly, the crisis is in the period which

Nasser’s influence began to overwhelm. Even though there were some modernisation projects done

during Naguib’s regime, he wasn’t the one who actually proposed since most of his ideas were

contradict to other members; therefore they were turned down. The most significant point was his

lack of influence and power in the RCC, eventually leading to his resignation. Furthermore, the

government tried to main all the power by abolishing other political parties. Lastly, the

convalescence period clearly occurred after Nasser stepped up to be the second president. Egypt

began to develop more. Nonetheless, despite the abolition of the monarchy system, the country still

ended up where it began. The form of government just shifted from a monarchy to a dictatorship.

Civilians did not gain their rights to exercise a political power, and there were still only group

people who held all the power.

 Praewa Kobkurkul
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