The Egyptian Revolution of 1952

33.5.3: The Egyptian Revolution of 1952

From July 22-26, 1952, a group of disaffected army officers led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew King Farouk, whom the military blamed for Egypt’s poor performance in the 1948 war with Israel.

Learning Objective

Analyze the reasons for the Revolution of 1952

Key Points

  • The Egyptian monarchy was seen as both corrupt and pro-British, and the military blamed King Farouk for Egypt’s poor performance in the 1948 war with Israel.
  • The Egyptian revolution of 1952 was led by the Free Officers Movement, a group of army officers led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser.
  • Along with overthrowing King Faruq, the movement had more ambitious political aims, such as abolishing the constitutional monarchy and ending the British occupation of the country.
  • In November 1954, President Naguib, who became the first Egyptian president during the revolution, was ousted and replaced by Nasser.
  • Just four years after the revolution, the Suez Crisis of 1956 became a political victory for Egypt, as it left the Suez Canal in uncontested Egyptian control for the first time since 1875, eliminating the vestiges of British occupation.
  • Wholesale agrarian reform and huge industrialization programs were initiated in the first fifteen years of the revolution, leading to an unprecedented period of infrastructure building and urbanization.

Key Terms

Suez Crisis
An invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel, followed by the United Kingdom and France. The aims were to regain Western control of the Suez Canal and remove Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser from power. After the fighting started, political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated Great Britain and France and strengthened Nasser.
Free Officers Movement
A group of nationalist officers in the armed forces of Egypt and Sudan that instigated the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Originally established in 1945 as a cell within the Muslim Brotherhood under Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf, it operated as a clandestine movement of junior officers during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Muhammad Naguib joined in 1949, after the war, and became their official leader during the turmoil leading up the revolution because of the hero status he had earned during the war and his influence in the army.
Arab nationalism
A nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization and the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world. Its central premise is that the peoples of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, constitute one nation bound together by common linguistic, cultural, religious, and historical heritage. One of its primary goals is the end of Western influence in the Arab world, seen as a “nemesis” of Arab strength, and the removal of Arab governments considered dependent upon Western power.

Overview

The Egyptian revolution of 1952, also known as the 23 July Revolution, began on July 23, 1952, by the Free Officers Movement, a group of army officers led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser. The revolution’s initial goal was to overthrow King Faruq. The movement also had more ambitious political aims and soon moved to abolish the constitutional monarchy and aristocracy of Egypt and Sudan, establish a republic, end the British occupation of the country, and secure the independence of Sudan. The revolutionary government adopted a staunchly nationalist, anti-imperialist agenda, expressed chiefly through Arab nationalism and international non-alignment.

The revolution was faced with immediate threats from Western imperial powers, particularly the United Kingdom, which had occupied Egypt since 1882, and France. Both were wary of rising nationalist sentiment in territories under their control throughout the Middle East and Africa. The ongoing state of war with Israel also posed a serious challenge, as the Free Officers increased Egypt’s already strong support of the Palestinians. These issues conflated four years after the revolution when Egypt was invaded by Britain, France, and Israel in the Suez Crisis of 1956. Despite enormous military losses, the war was seen as a political victory for Egypt, especially as it left the Suez Canal in uncontested Egyptian control for the first time since 1875, erasing what was considered a mark of national humiliation. This strengthened the appeal of the revolution in other Arab and African countries.

Wholesale agrarian reform and huge industrialization programs were initiated in the first 15 years of the revolution, leading to an unprecedented period of infrastructure building and urbanization. By the 1960s, Arab socialism became a dominant theme, transforming Egypt into a centrally planned economy. Fear of a Western-sponsored counter-revolution, domestic religious extremism, potential communist infiltration, and the ongoing conflict with Israel were all cited as reasons for severe and longstanding restrictions on political opposition and the prohibition of a multi-party system. These restrictions would remain in place until the presidency of Anwar Sadat from 1970 on, during which many of the policies of the revolution were scaled back or reversed.

The early successes of the revolution encouraged numerous other nationalist movements in other Arab and African countries, such as Algeria and Kenya, where there were anti-colonial rebellions against European empires. It also inspired the toppling of existing pro-Western monarchies and governments in the region and continent.

Photo of Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser (right) and President Muhammad Naguib (right) in an open-top automobile during celebrations marking the second anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.

The Egyptian Revolution of 1952: Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser (right) and President Muhammad Naguib (right) in an open-top automobile during celebrations marking the second anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.

Causes

The Egyptian monarchy was seen as both corrupt and pro-British, with its lavish lifestyle that seemed provocative to the free officers who lived in poverty. Its policies completed the image of the Egyptian government as a puppet in the hands of the British government. The end of the monarchy would signal an end of British intervention. The military also blamed King Farouk for Egypt’s poor performance in the 1948 war with Israel and lack of progress in fighting poverty, disease, and illiteracy in Egypt. In the warning that General Naguib conveyed to King Farouk on July 26 upon the king’s abdication, he provided a summary of the reasons for the revolution:

In view of what the country has suffered in the recent past, the complete vacuity prevailing in all corners as a result of your bad behavior, your toying with the constitution, and your disdain for the wants of the people, no one rests assured of life, livelihood, and honor. Egypt’s reputation among the peoples of the world has been debased as a result of your excesses in these areas to the extent that traitors and bribe-takers find protection beneath your shadow in addition to security, excessive wealth, and many extravagances at the expense of the hungry and impoverished people. You manifested this during and after the Palestine War in the corrupt arms scandals and your open interference in the courts to try to falsify the facts of the case, thus shaking faith in justice. Therefore, the army, representing the power of the people, has empowered me to demand that Your Majesty abdicate the throne to His Highness Crown Prince Ahmed Fuad, provided that this is accomplished at the fixed time of 12 o’clock noon today (Saturday, 26 July 1952, the 4th of Zul Qa’ada, 1371), and that you depart the country before 6 o’clock in the evening of the same day. The army places upon Your Majesty the burden of everything that may result from your failure to abdicate according to the wishes of the people.

After the Revolution

In the following two years, the Free Officers consolidated power, and following a brief experiment with civilian rule, abrogated the 1953 constitution and declared Egypt a republic on June 18, 1953, with Muhammad Naguib as Egypt’s first president.

Within six months all civilian political parties were banned and replaced by the “Liberation Rally” government party, the elites seeing a need for a “transitional authoritarianism” in light of Egypt’s poverty, illiteracy, and lack of a large middle class. In October and November 1954 the large Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization was suppressed and President Naguib was ousted and arrested. He was replaced by Nasser, who remained president until his death in 1970.

President Nasser announced a new constitution on January 16 at a popular rally, setting up a system of government in which the president had the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. A law was passed on March 3 granting women the right to vote for the first time in Egyptian history. Nasser was elected as the second president of the Republic on June 23. In 1957, Nasser announced the formation of the National Union (Al-Ittihad Al-Qawmi), paving the way to July elections for the National Assembly, the first parliament since 1952.

Attributions