Modern Egypt 🇪🇬
Location of Egypt
A country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and the Sinai Peninsula in the southwest corner of Asia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the North, the Gaza Strip of Palestine to the Northeast, the Red Sea to the East, Sudan to the South and Libya to the West. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Early Modern Period: Ottoman Egypt (1517-1867) —> 1805-1867
After the French were expelled, power was seized in 1805 by Muhammad Ali Pasha, an Albanian military commander of the Ottoman army in Egypt. Muhammad Ali massacred the Mamluks and established a dynasty that was to rule Egypt until the revolution of 1952. Muhammad Ali annexed Northern Sudan, Syria, and parts of Arabia and Anatolia. In 1841, the European powers forced him to return most of his conquests to the Ottomans. He modernized the country, building industries, canals, and civil services. He constructed a military state with around 4% of the populace serving the army to raise Egypt to a powerful position in the Ottoman Empire. Egypt under the Ali dynasty remained nominally an Ottoman province, and was granted the status of an autonomous vassal state (khedivate) in 1867.
Sultanate and Kingdom of Egypt —> 1951-1952
As the British refused to leave their base around the Canal, the Egyptian government cut off the water and refused to allow food into the Suez base, boycotted British goods, forbade Egyptian workers from entering the base and sponsored guerrilla attacks. In 1952, Egyptian guerrillas staged a fierce attack on British Suez forces. In response, General George Erskine sent out British tanks and infantry to surround the auxiliary police station in Ismailia. They were ordered to fight "to the last man and the last bullet". The resulting battle saw the police station leveled and 43 Egyptian policeman killed with 3 British soldiers. This outraged Egypt, and the next day was declared "Black Saturday", as the anti-British riot was known, that saw much of downtown Cairo burned down. Farouk blamed the Wafd and dismissed Nara's as prime minister, where he was replaced by Ali. Maher Pasha.
Population of Egypt
At approximately 107 million inhabitants, Egypt is the 14th most populated country in the world, and the third most populated in Africa.
Sultanate and Kingdom of Egypt —> 1923-1940
Despite being nominally independent, the Kingdom was still under British military occupation and the UK still had great influence over the state. The new government drafted and implemented a constitution in 1923 based on a parliamentary system, and the Wafd party won in a landslide victory in the 1923-1924 election and Saad Zaghloul was elected as the new prime minister. In 1936, the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was concluded and British troops withdrew from Egypt except the Suez Canal. The treaty did not resolve the question of Sudan and the existing Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement. Britain continued using Egypt as a base for Allied operations throughout the region, especially in the battles in North Africa against Italy and Germany. Its highest priorities were control of the Eastern Mediterranean and keeping the canal open for merchant ships and military connections. When the war began in 1939, Egypt declared martial law and broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and Italy.
Summary of Egypt
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage along the Nile Delta back to the 6th-4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of civilization, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanization, organized religion and central government. It was an early and important center of Christianity, later adopting Islam from the seventh century onwards. Egypt became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1517 until its local ruler Muhammad Ali established modern Egypt as an autonomous Khedivate in 1867. The country was then occupied by the British Empire alone with Sudan and gained independence in 1922 as a monarchy.
Summary of Egypt pt. 3
Egypt is a developing country with the second-largest economy in Africa. It is considered to be a regional power in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Muslim world, and a middle power worldwide. Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language. Egypt is a founding member of the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the African Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, World Youth Forum, and a member of BRICS.
Early Modern Period: Ottoman Egypt (1517-1867) —> 1517-1805
Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1517, after which it became a province of the Ottoman Empire. The defensive militarization damaged its civil society and economic institutions, which combined with the effects of the plague left it vulnerable to foreign invasion. Portuguese traders took over their trade, and it experienced six famines between 1687 and 1731. the 1784 famine cost it roughly one-sixth of its population. It was always difficult for control of the Ottomans due to Mamluk influence, the Egyptian military caste who had ruled the country for centuries. Egypt remained semi-autonomous under the Mamluks until it was invaded by French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. After the French were defeated by the British, a three-way power struggle ensued between the Ottoman Turks, Egyptian Mamluks, and Albanian mercenaries.
Republican Egypt under Nasser (1952-1970) —> 1952-1956
Following the 1952 Revolution by the Free Officers Movement, the rule of Egypt passed to military hands and all political parties were banned. In 1953, the Egyptian Republic was declared, with General Muhammad Naguib as the first President of the Republic, serving in that capacity for a little under one and a half years. Naguib was forced to resign in 1954 by Gamal Abdel Nasser — a Pan-Arabist and the real architect of the 1952 movement — and was later put on house arrest. After Naguib's resignation, the position of the president was vacant until the election of Nasser in 1956. In 1954, the UK and Egypt agreed to abolish the Anglo-Egyptian Condominum Agreement of 1899 and grant Sudan independence; the agreement came into force in 1956. Nasser assumed power as president in 1956 and began dominating the history of modern Egypt. British forces completed their withdrawal from the occupied Suez Canal Zone in 1956.
Summary of Egypt pt. 2
Following the 1952 revolution, Egypt declared itself a republic. For a brief period between 1958 and 1961, Egypt merged with Syria to form the United Arab Repubilic. It fought several armed conflicts with Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, and occupied the Gaza Strip intermittently until 1967. In 1978, Egypt signed the Camp David Accords, which recognized Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from the occupied Sinai. After the Arab Spring of 2011, the country faced a protracted period of political unrest, followed by a short lived democratic election in 2012. This resulted in the government being overthrown by the military after mass protests in 2013. The current government is a semi-presidential republic led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was elected in 2014 but is widely regarded as authoritarian.
Sultanate and Kingdom of Egypt —> 1914-1923
In 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered WW1 in alliance with the Central Empires; Khedive ABBAs II decided to support the motherland. Following this decision, the British forcibly removed him and replaced him with his brother Hussein Kamel. Kamel declared Egypt's independence from the OTtoman Empire and assumed the title of Sultan of Egypt. It was at this point where Egypt was declared a British protectorate. After WW1, Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party led the Egyptian nationalist movement to a majority at the local Legistlative Assembly. When the British exiled him and his associate, the first modern revolution arose in Egypt in 1919. The revolt led to the UK government to issue a declaration of Egypt's independence in 1922. Following this, Sultan Fuad I assumed the title of King of Egypt.
Sultanate and Kingdom of Egypt —> 1952-1953
In 1952, The Free Officers Movement, led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser, launched a coup against the king Farouk, where he abdicated the throne to his son Fouad II (a seven month old baby). Popular expectations for immediate reforms led to the workers riots in Kafr Dakar in 1952. Following a brief experiment with civilian rule, the Free Officers abrogated the monarchy and 1923 constitution, declaring Egypt a republic in 1953. Naguib was proclaimed as president, while Nasser was appointed the new prime minister.
Republican Egpyt under Nasser (1952-1970) —> 1956-1967
Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, and his hostile approach towards Israel and economic nationalism prompted the beginning of the Second Arab-Israeli War in which Israel occupied the Sinai Peninsula and Canal. The war came to an end because of US and USSR diplomatic intervention. In 1958, Egypt and Syria formed a sovereign union known as the United Arab Republic. This was short lived and ended in 1961 when Syria seceded. During most of its existence, the UAR was also in a loose confederation with North Yemen known as the United Arab States. In the 1960s, Egypt became fully involved in the North Yemen Civil War. Despite several military moves and peace conferences, the war sank into a stalemate. In 1967, the Soviet Union issued warnings to Nasser of an impending Israeli attack on Syria. Nasser took three successive steps to make the war inevitable; by deploying troops near the Sinai border, expelling the UN peacekeepers, and closing the Straits of Tiran.
Sultanate and Kingdom of Egypt —> 1940-1951
The Egyptian Army did no fighting during WW1. Following a ministerial crisis in 1942, however, the ambassador Sir Miles Lampson pressed Farouk to have a Wafd coalition replace Hussein Siri Pasha's government, and British troops and tanks were sent to surround Abdeen Palace in Cairo where Lampson presented Farouk with an ultimatum. Farouk capitulated, and Nahhas formed a government after. Most British troops were withdrawn to the Suez Canal in 1947, but nationalist, anti-British feelings festered after the War. The 1950 election saw a landslide victory of the Wafd party, and the King was forced to appoint Mustafa El-Nahas as the new prime minister. In 1951, Egypt withdrew from the Anglo-Egyptian Treat of 1936 and ordered all remaining British troops leave the Suez Canal.
Early Modern Period: Ottoman Egypt (1517-1867) —> 1867-1906
The Suez Canal, built in partnership with the French, was completed in 1869. It was financed by European banks. In 1875, Isma'il, a successor of Muhammad Ali, avoided bankruptcy by selling all Egypt's shares in the canal to the British government. Within three years this led to the imposition of British and French controllers who sat in the Egyptian cabinet and were the real power in the government. Other circumstances, such as famine, floods and diseases drove the economic downturn to increase Egypt's dependency on foreign debt further. Local dissatisfaction with the Khedive led to nationalist group uprisings, such as the Urabi Revolt in 1879. After increasing tensions and revolts, Britain invaded in 182, crushing the army at the Battle of Tell El Kebir and militarily occupying the country. This led to the Khedivate becoming a de facto British protectorate under Ottoman sovereignty until 1899 declared Sudan to be a condominium.
Republican Egypt under Nasser (1952-1970) —> 1967-1970
The beginning of the Third Arab Israeli War (Six Day War) was prompted, where Israel attacked Egypt and occupied the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip. During the 1967 war, an Emergency Law was enacted and remained in effect until 2012, where police powers were extended, constitutional rights suspended and censorship legalized. At the time of the fall of the Egyptian monarchy in the 1950s, less than half a million Egyptians were considered upper class and rich, four million middle class and 17 million lower class and poor. Fewer than half of all primary school aged children attended school. Nasser's policies changed this, with land reform and distribution, the dramatic growth in university education, and government support to national industries greatly improving social mobility and flattening the social curve. During the 1960s, however, the Egyptian economy went from sluggish to the verge of collapse, the society became less free, and Nasser's appeal waned considerably.
Capital of Egypt
The capital of Egypt is Cairo, with a population of 10 million people.
