Cairo fire
Cairo fire Black Saturday | |
---|---|
Location | Cairo, Egypt |
Coordinates | 30°3′29″N 31°13′44″E / 30.05806°N 31.22889°E |
Date | 26 January 1952 12:30 pm – 11 pm (UTC+02:00) |
Target | Buildings owned by or associated with Europeans |
Attack type | Riots, arson |
Deaths | 26[1] (inc. 9 Britons)[2] |
Injured | 552[1] |
Perpetrator | Unknown (several theories) |
The Cairo fire (
The spontaneous anti-British protests that followed these deaths were quickly seized upon by organized elements in the crowd, who burned and ransacked large sectors of Cairo amidst the unexplained absence of security forces.[3] The fire is thought by some to have signalled the end of the Kingdom of Egypt.[5][6] The perpetrators of the Cairo Fire remain unknown to this day, and the truth about this important event in modern Egyptian history has yet to be established.[7]
The disorder that befell Cairo during the 1952 fire has been compared to the chaos that followed the
Background
In 1952, the British occupation of Egypt was entering its 70th year, but by then was limited to the Suez Canal zone. On the morning of 25 January 1952, Brigadier Kenneth Exham, the British commander in the region, issued a order to Egyptian policemen in Ismaïlia, demanding that they surrender their weapons and leave the canal zone. Exham's order came in response to attacks against British forces by fedayeen groups, which were being supported by Egyptian policemen. The Ismailia Governorate refused the British request, a refusal that was reiterated by interior minister Fouad Serageddin.[9]
On January 25 1952, 7,000
Events
The following day, news of the confrontation in Ismaïlia reached Cairo, provoking the ire of the Egyptian public. The unrest began at Almaza Airport, when workers there refused to provide services to four British airplanes. It was followed by a police demonstration in the Abbaseya barracks, who wished to express their solidarity with their dead and captured colleagues in Ismaïlia. Protesters then headed towards the university building, where they were joined by students. Together they marched towards the prime minister's office to demand that Egypt break its diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom and declare war on Britain. Abdul Fattah Hassan, the Minister of Social Affairs, told them that the Wafdist government wished to do so, but faced opposition from King Farouk I. As a result, protesters went to Abdeen Palace where they were joined by students from Al-Azhar. The crowd expressed its discontent towards the king, his supporters and the British.[11]
The first act of
Damage
Most of the destruction, the extent of which was unforeseen by everyone,[3] occurred between 12:30 pm and 11 pm.[1] A total of £3.4 million damage was done to British and foreign property.[3] Nearly 300 shops were destroyed, including some of Egypt's most famous department stores, such as Cicurel, Omar Effendi and the Salon Vert. The damage tally also included 30 corporate offices, 13 hotels (among which Shepheard's, Metropolitan and Victoria), 40 movie theaters (including Rivoli, Radio, Metro, Diana, and Miami), eight auto shows,[clarification needed] 10 firearms shops, 73 coffeehouses and restaurants (including Groppi's), 92 bars and 16 social clubs. As for the human casualties, 26 people died and 552 suffered injuries such as burns and bone fractures. The dead included the 82-year old mathematician James Ireland Craig, who had devised the Craig retroazimuthal projection to enable Muslims to find the qibla, the direction to Mecca. Thousands of workers were displaced due to the destruction of these establishments.[1]
Aftermath
The events were seen at the time as evidence of the Egyptian government's inability to maintain order.
The king was holding a banquet at
Conspiracy theories
No one was arrested during the disorder.[11] It appears that there were organized elements in the crowd, both left-wing and right-wing.[3] According to official sources as well as eyewitnesses, the disturbances had been masterminded beforehand, and the groups responsible for it were highly skilled and trained. This was evidenced by the speed and precision with which the fires were ignited. The perpetrators held tools to force open closed doors, and used acetylene stoves to melt steel barriers placed on windows and doors. They executed their plan in record time through the use of nearly 30 cars.[14] The timing was also another clear indication of the careful planning behind the arson. Saturday afternoon was chosen due to the weekend closure of offices and department stores, as well as the post-matinée closure of movie theaters.[1]
Although some of the country's politicians may have been implicated in the initial outbreak of violence,
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e خسائر الحريق [The Fire Damage]. Al-Ahram (in Arabic). 12 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
- ^ a b King 1989, p. 208
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j King 1989, p. 207
- ^ a b c d e f g Goldschmidt & Johnston 2004, p. 83
- ^ a b The Rebellion Within, An Al Qaeda mastermind questions terrorism. by Lawrence Wright. newyorker.com, June 2, 2008
- ^ Egypt on the Brink by Tarek Osman, Yale University Press, 2010, p.39
- ^ a b c Hassan, Fayza (24–30 January 2002). "Burning down the house". Al-Ahram Weekly (570). Archived from the original on 2009-11-08. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
- ^ Muhammad, Mohsen (3 February 2011). خسارة [Khusara]. Al Gomhuria (in Arabic). Archived from the original (Reprint) on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
- ^ معركة الاسماعيلية [The Battle of Ismaïlia]. Al-Ahram (in Arabic). 13 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
- ^ معركة الاسماعيلية [The Battle of Ismaïlia]. Al-Ahram (in Arabic). 13 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
- ^ a b c d حريق القاهرة 1952 [The 1952 Cairo Fire]. Al-Ahram (in Arabic). 12 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b c d e f إقالة النحاس وثورة يوليو [The Dismissal of el-Nahhas and the July Revolution]. Al-Ahram (in Arabic). 9 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
- ^ a b c من وراء حريق القاهرة؟ [Who Was Behind the Cairo Fire]. Al-Ahram (in Arabic). 18 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
Bibliography
- Goldschmidt, Arthur; Johnston, Robert (2004). Historical Dictionary of Egypt (3rd ed.). American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-424-875-7.
- Kerbœuf, Anne-Claire (2005). "The Cairo Fire of 26 January of 1952 and the Interpretations of History". In Goldschmidt, Arthur; Johnson, Amy J.; Salmoni, Barak A. (eds.). Re-Envisioning Egypt 1919–1952. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 194–216. ISBN 978-977-424-900-6.
- King, Joan Wucher (1989) [First published 1984]. Historical Dictionary of Egypt. Books of Lasting Value. American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-424-213-7.
Further reading
- Reynolds, Nancy Y. A City Consumed: Urban Commerce, the Cairo Fire, and the Politics of Decolonization in Egypt. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012.
External links
- "Special: Cairo Fire". Al-Ahram Weekly (570). 24–30 January 2002. Archived from the original on 2011-02-05. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
- "Photo Album". Al-Ahram (in Arabic). 13 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-02-04.