Gamal Abdel Nasser

Nasser's first battlefield experience was in

The Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum hosted a public celebration for the officers' return despite reservations from the royal government, which had been pressured by the British to prevent the reception. The apparent difference in attitude between the government and the general public increased Nasser's determination to topple the monarchy.^[52] Nasser had also felt bitter that his brigade had not been relieved despite the resilience it displayed.^[53] He started writing his book Philosophy of the Revolution during the siege.^[49]

After the war, Nasser returned to his role as an instructor at the Royal Military Academy.^[54] He sent emissaries to forge an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood in October 1948, but soon concluded that the religious agenda of the Brotherhood was not compatible with his nationalism. From then on, Nasser prevented the Brotherhood's influence over his cadres' activities without severing ties with the organization.^[45] Nasser was sent as a member of the Egyptian delegation to Rhodes in February 1949 to negotiate a formal armistice with Israel, and reportedly considered the terms to be humiliating, particularly because the Israelis were able to easily occupy the Eilat region while negotiating with the Arabs in March.^[55]

Nasser's return to Egypt coincided with

On 11 October 1951, the Wafd government abrogated the unpopular Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 by which the United Kingdom had the right to maintain its military forces in the Suez Canal Zone.^[58] The popularity of this move, as well as that of government-sponsored guerrilla attacks against the British, put pressure on Nasser to act.^[58] According to Sadat, Nasser decided to wage "a large scale assassination campaign".^[59] In January 1952, he and Hassan Ibrahim attempted to kill the royalist general Hussein Sirri Amer by firing their submachine guns at his car as he drove through the streets of Cairo.^[59] Instead of killing the general, the attackers wounded an innocent female passerby.^[59] Nasser recalled that her wails "haunted" him and firmly dissuaded him from undertaking similar actions in the future.^[59]

Sirri Amer was close to King Farouk, and was nominated for the presidency of the Officer's Club—normally a ceremonial office—with the king's backing.^[59] Nasser was determined to establish the independence of the army from the monarchy, and with Amer as the intercessor, resolved to field a nominee for the Free Officers.^[59] They selected Mohamed Naguib, a popular general who had offered his resignation to Farouk in 1942 over British high-handedness and was wounded three times in the Palestine War.^[60] Naguib won overwhelmingly and the Free Officers, through their connection with a leading Egyptian daily, al-Misri, publicized his victory while praising the nationalistic spirit of the army.^[60]

On 25 January 1952, at a time of growing

The Free Officers' intention was not to install themselves in government, but to re-establish a parliamentary democracy. Nasser did not believe that a low-ranking officer like himself (a lieutenant colonel) would be accepted by the Egyptian people, and so selected General Naguib to be his "boss" and lead the coup in name. The revolution they had long sought was launched on 22 July and was declared a success the next day. The Free Officers seized control of all government buildings, radio stations, and police stations, as well as army headquarters in Cairo. While many of the rebel officers were leading their units, Nasser donned civilian clothing to avoid detection by royalists and moved around Cairo monitoring the situation.^[61] In a move to stave off foreign intervention two days before the revolution, Nasser had notified the American and British governments of his intentions, and both had agreed not to aid Farouk.^[61][62] Under pressure from the Americans, Nasser had agreed to exile the deposed king with an honorary ceremony.^[63]

On 18 June 1953, the monarchy was abolished and the Republic of Egypt declared, with Naguib as its first president.^[61] According to Aburish, after assuming power, Nasser and the Free Officers expected to become the "guardians of the people's interests" against the monarchy and the pasha class while leaving the day-to-day tasks of government to civilians.^[64] They asked former prime minister Ali Maher to accept reappointment to his previous position, and to form an all-civilian cabinet.^[64] The Free Officers then governed as the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) with Naguib as chairman and Nasser as vice-chairman.^[65] Relations between the RCC and Maher grew tense, however, as the latter viewed many of Nasser's schemes—agrarian reform, abolition of the monarchy, reorganization of political parties^[66]—as too radical, culminating in Maher's resignation on 7 September. Naguib assumed the additional role of prime minister, and Nasser that of deputy prime minister.^[67][68] In September, the Agrarian Reform Law was put into effect.^[66] In Nasser's eyes, this law gave the RCC its own identity and transformed the coup into a revolution.^[69]

Preceding the reform law, in August 1952, communist-led riots broke out at textile factories in

In January 1953, Nasser overcame opposition from Naguib and banned all political parties,

When Naguib began showing signs of independence from Nasser by distancing himself from the RCC's land reform decrees and drawing closer to Egypt's established political forces, namely the Wafd and the Brotherhood,[74] Nasser resolved to depose him.^[73] In June, Nasser took control of the interior ministry post from Naguib loyalist Sulayman Hafez,^[74] and pressured Naguib to conclude the abolition of the monarchy.^[73]

On 25 February 1954, Naguib announced his resignation after the RCC held an official meeting without his presence two days prior.^[75] On 26 February, Nasser accepted the resignation, put Naguib under house arrest,^[75] and the RCC proclaimed Nasser as both RCC chairman and prime minister.^[76] As Naguib intended, a mutiny immediately followed, demanding Naguib's reinstatement and the RCC's dissolution.^[75] While visiting the striking officers at Military Headquarters (GHQ) to call for the mutiny's end, Nasser was initially intimidated into accepting their demands.^[77] However, on 27 February, Nasser's supporters in the army launched a raid on the GHQ, ending the mutiny.^[78] Later that day, hundreds of thousands of protesters, mainly belonging to the Brotherhood, called for Naguib's return and Nasser's imprisonment.^[79] In response, a sizable group within the RCC, led by Khaled Mohieddin, demanded Naguib's release and return to the presidency.^[73] Nasser acquiesced, but delayed Naguib's reinstatement until 4 March, allowing him to promote Amer to Commander of the Armed Forces—a position formerly occupied by Naguib.^[80]

On 5 March, Nasser's security coterie arrested thousands of participants in the uprising.

On 26 October 1954, Muslim Brotherhood member Mahmoud Abdel-Latif attempted to assassinate Nasser while he was delivering a speech in Alexandria, broadcast to the Arab world by radio, to celebrate the British military withdrawal. The gunman was 25 feet (7.6 m) away from him and fired eight shots, but all missed Nasser. Panic broke out in the mass audience, but Nasser maintained his posture and raised his voice to appeal for calm.^[85][86] With great emotion he exclaimed the following:

My countrymen, my blood spills for you and for Egypt. I will live for your sake and die for the sake of your freedom and honor. Let them kill me; it does not concern me so long as I have instilled pride, honor, and freedom in you. If Gamal Abdel Nasser should die, each of you shall be Gamal Abdel Nasser ... Gamal Abdel Nasser is of you and from you and he is willing to sacrifice his life for the nation.^[86]

The crowd roared in approval and Arab audiences were electrified. The assassination attempt backfired, quickly playing into Nasser's hands.^[87] Upon returning to Cairo, he ordered one of the largest political crackdowns in the modern history of Egypt,^[87] with the arrests of thousands of dissenters, mostly members of the Brotherhood, but also communists, and the dismissal of 140 officers loyal to Naguib.^[87] Eight Brotherhood leaders were sentenced to death,^[87] although the sentence of its chief ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, was commuted to a 15-year imprisonment.^[88] Naguib was removed from the presidency and put under house arrest, but was never tried or sentenced, and no one in the army rose to defend him. With his rivals neutralized, Nasser became the undisputed leader of Egypt.^[86]

Nasser's street following was still too small to sustain his plans for reform and to secure him in office.

Nasser made secret contacts with Israel in 1954–55, but determined that peace with Israel would be impossible, considering it an "expansionist state that viewed the Arabs with disdain".^[92] On 28 February 1955, Israeli troops attacked the Egyptian-held Gaza Strip with the stated aim of suppressing Palestinian fedayeen raids. Nasser did not feel that the Egyptian Army was ready for a confrontation and did not retaliate militarily. His failure to respond to Israeli military action demonstrated the ineffectiveness of his armed forces and constituted a blow to his growing popularity.^[93][94] Nasser subsequently ordered the tightening of the blockade on Israeli shipping through the Straits of Tiran and restricted the use of airspace over the Gulf of Aqaba by Israeli aircraft in early September.^[93] The Israelis re-militarized the al-Auja Demilitarized Zone on the Egyptian border on 21 September.^[94]

Simultaneous with Israel's February raid, the

Following Bandung, Nasser officially adopted the "positive neutralism" of Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as a principal theme of Egyptian foreign policy regarding the Cold War.^[98][104] Nasser was welcomed by large crowds of people lining the streets of Cairo on his return to Egypt on 2 May and was widely heralded in the press for his achievements and leadership in the conference. Consequently, Nasser's prestige was greatly boosted, as was his self-confidence and image.^[105]

With his domestic position considerably strengthened, Nasser was able to secure primacy over his RCC colleagues and gained relatively unchallenged decision-making authority,^[101] particularly over foreign policy.^[106]

In January 1956, the new Constitution of Egypt was drafted, entailing the establishment of a single-party system under the National Union (NU),^[106] a movement Nasser described as the "cadre through which we will realize our revolution".^[107] The NU was a reconfiguration of the Liberation Rally,^[108] which Nasser determined had failed in generating mass public participation.^[109] In the new movement, Nasser attempted to incorporate more citizens, approved by local-level party committees, in order to solidify popular backing for his government.^[109] The NU would select a nominee for the presidential election whose name would be provided for public approval.^[106]

Nasser's nomination for the post and the new constitution were put to

After the three-year transition period ended with Nasser's official assumption of power, his domestic and independent foreign policies increasingly collided with the regional interests of the UK and France. The latter condemned his strong support for

Nasser was informed of the British–American withdrawal in a news statement while aboard a plane returning to Cairo from Belgrade, and took great offense.^[114] Although ideas for nationalizing the Suez Canal Company were in the offing after the UK agreed to withdraw its military from Egypt in 1954 (the last British troops left on 13 June 1956), journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal asserts that Nasser made the final decision to nationalize the company that operated the waterway between 19 and 20 July.^[114] Nasser himself would later state that he decided on 23 July, after studying the issue and deliberating with some of his advisers from the dissolved RCC, namely Boghdadi and technical specialist Mahmoud Younis, beginning on 21 July.^[114] The rest of the RCC's former members were informed of the decision on 24 July, while the bulk of the cabinet was unaware of the nationalization scheme until hours before Nasser publicly announced it.^[114] According to Ramadan, Nasser's decision to nationalize the canal was a solitary decision, taken without consultation.^[115]

On 26 July 1956, Nasser gave a speech in Alexandria announcing the nationalization of the

The nationalization announcement was greeted very emotionally by the audience and, throughout the Arab world, thousands entered the streets shouting slogans of support.[119] US ambassador Henry A. Byroade stated, "I cannot overemphasize [the] popularity of the Canal Company nationalization within Egypt, even among Nasser's enemies."^[117] Egyptian political scientist Mahmoud Hamad wrote that, prior to 1956, Nasser had consolidated control over Egypt's military and civilian bureaucracies, but it was only after the canal's nationalization that he gained near-total popular legitimacy and firmly established himself as the "charismatic leader" and "spokesman for the masses not only in Egypt, but all over the Third World".^[120] According to Aburish, this was Nasser's largest pan-Arab triumph at the time and "soon his pictures were to be found in the tents of Yemen, the souks of Marrakesh, and the posh villas of Syria".^[119] The official reason given for the nationalization was that funds from the canal would be used for the construction of the dam in Aswan.^[117] That same day, Egypt closed the canal to Israeli shipping.^[118]

France and the UK, the largest shareholders in the Suez Canal Company, saw its nationalization as yet another hostile measure aimed at them by the Egyptian government. Nasser was aware that the canal's nationalization would instigate an international crisis and believed the prospect of military intervention by the two countries was 80 percent likely.^[121] Nasser dismissed their claims,^[122] and believed that the UK would not be able to intervene militarily for at least two months after the announcement, and dismissed Israeli action as "impossible".^[123] In early October, the UN Security Council met on the matter of the canal's nationalization and adopted a resolution recognizing Egypt's right to control the canal as long as it continued to allow passage through it for foreign ships.^[124] According to Heikal, after this agreement, "Nasser estimated that the danger of invasion had dropped to 10 percent".^[125] Shortly thereafter, however, the UK, France, and Israel made a secret agreement to take over the Suez Canal, occupy the Suez Canal zone,^[117][126] and topple Nasser.^{[127][128][129]}

On 29 October 1956, Israeli forces crossed the Sinai Peninsula, overwhelmed Egyptian army posts, and quickly advanced to their objectives. Two days later, British and French planes bombarded Egyptian airfields in the canal zone.^[130] Nasser ordered the military's high command to withdraw the Egyptian Army from Sinai to bolster the canal's defenses.^[131] Moreover, he feared that if the armored corps was dispatched to confront the Israeli invading force and the British and French subsequently landed in the canal city of Port Said, Egyptian armor in the Sinai would be cut off from the canal and destroyed by the combined tripartite forces.^[131] Amer strongly disagreed, insisting that Egyptian tanks meet the Israelis in battle.^[131] The two had a heated exchange on 3 November, and Amer conceded.^[131] Nasser also ordered blockage of the canal by sinking or otherwise disabling forty-nine ships at its entrance.^[130]

Despite the commanded withdrawal of Egyptian troops, about 2,000 Egyptian soldiers were killed during engagement with Israeli forces,^[132] and some 5,000 Egyptian soldiers were captured by the Israeli Army.^[131] Amer and Salah Salem proposed requesting a ceasefire, with Salem further recommending that Nasser surrender himself to British forces.^[117] Nasser berated Amer and Salem, and vowed, "Nobody is going to surrender."^[130] Nasser assumed military command. Despite the relative ease in which Sinai was occupied, Nasser's prestige at home and among Arabs was undamaged.^[133] To counterbalance the Egyptian Army's dismal performance, Nasser authorized the distribution of about 400,000 rifles to civilian volunteers and hundreds of militias were formed throughout Egypt, many led by Nasser's political opponents.^[134]

It was at Port Said that Nasser saw a confrontation with the invading forces as being the strategic and psychological focal point of Egypt's defense.^[135] A third infantry battalion and hundreds of national guardsmen were sent to the city as reinforcements, while two regular companies were dispatched to organize popular resistance.^[135] Nasser and Boghdadi traveled to the canal zone to boost the morale of the armed volunteers. According to Boghdadi's memoirs, Nasser described the Egyptian Army as "shattered" as he saw the wreckage of Egyptian military equipment en route.^[135] When British and French forces landed in Port Said on 5–6 November, its local militia put up a stiff resistance, resulting in street-to-street fighting.^[134][136] The Egyptian Army commander in the city was preparing to request terms for a ceasefire, but Nasser ordered him to desist. The British-French forces managed to largely secure the city by 7 November.^[136] Between 750 and 1,000 Egyptians were killed in the battle for Port Said.^[132]

The US

Relations between Nasser and King Hussein of Jordan deteriorated in April when Hussein implicated Nasser in two coup attempts against him^[152][153]—although Nasser's involvement was never established^[154][155]—and dissolved al-Nabulsi's cabinet.^[152][153] Nasser subsequently slammed Hussein on Cairo radio as being "a tool of the imperialists".^[156] Relations with King Saud also became antagonistic as the latter began to fear that Nasser's increasing popularity in Saudi Arabia was a genuine threat to the royal family's survival.^[152] Despite opposition from the governments of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Lebanon, Nasser maintained his prestige among their citizens and those of other Arab countries.^[147]

By the end of 1957, Nasser nationalized all remaining British and French assets in Egypt, including the tobacco, cement, pharmaceutical, and phosphate industries.^[157] When efforts to offer tax incentives and attract outside investments yielded no tangible results, he nationalized more companies and made them a part of his economic development organization.^[157] He stopped short of total government control: two-thirds of the economy was still in private hands.^[157] This effort achieved a measure of success, with increased agricultural production and investment in industrialization.^[157] Nasser initiated the Helwan steelworks, which subsequently became Egypt's largest enterprise, providing the country with product and tens of thousands of jobs.^[157] Nasser also decided to cooperate with the Soviet Union in the construction of the Aswan Dam to replace the withdrawal of US funds.^[157]

Despite his popularity with the people of the Arab world, by mid-1957 his only regional ally was Syria.

As political instability grew in Syria, delegations from the country were sent to Nasser demanding immediate unification with Egypt.[159] Nasser initially turned down the request, citing the two countries' incompatible political and economic systems, lack of contiguity, the Syrian military's record of intervention in politics, and the deep factionalism among Syria's political forces.^[159] However, in January 1958, a second Syrian delegation managed to convince Nasser of an impending communist takeover and a consequent slide to civil strife.^[160] Nasser subsequently opted for union, albeit on the condition that it would be a total political merger with him as its president, to which the delegates and Syrian president Shukri al-Quwatli agreed.^[161] On 1 February, the United Arab Republic (UAR) was proclaimed and, according to Dawisha, the Arab world reacted in "stunned amazement, which quickly turned into uncontrolled euphoria."^[162] Nasser ordered a crackdown against Syrian communists, dismissing many of them from their governmental posts.^[163][164]

On a surprise visit to Damascus to celebrate the union on 24 February, Nasser was welcomed by crowds in the hundreds of thousands.

In Lebanon, clashes between pro-Nasser factions and supporters of staunch Nasser opponent, then-President Camille Chamoun, culminated in civil strife by May.^[174] The former sought to unite with the UAR, while the latter sought Lebanon's continued independence.^[174] Nasser delegated oversight of the issue to Sarraj, who provided limited aid to Nasser's Lebanese supporters through money, light arms, and officer training^[175]—short of the large-scale support that Chamoun alleged.^[176][177] Nasser did not covet Lebanon, seeing it as a "special case", but sought to prevent Chamoun from a second presidential term.^[178] In Oman, the Jebel Akhdar War between the rebels in the interior of Oman against the British-backed Sultanate of Oman prompted Nasser to support the rebels in what was considered a war against colonialism between 1954 and 1959.^[179][180]

On 14 July 1958, Iraqi army officers Abdel Karim Qasim and

Relations between Nasser and Qasim grew increasingly bitter on 9 March,

By December, the political situation in Syria was faltering and Nasser responded by appointing Amer as governor-general alongside Sarraj. Syria's leaders opposed the appointment and many resigned from their government posts. Nasser later met with the opposition leaders and in a heated moment, exclaimed that he was the elected president of the UAR and those who did not accept his authority could "walk away".[185]

Opposition to the union mounted among some of Syria's key elements,

On 8 February 1963, a military coup in Iraq led by a Ba'athist–Nasserist alliance toppled Qasim, who was subsequently shot dead. Abdel Salam Aref, a Nasserist, was chosen to be the new president.^[200] A similar alliance toppled the Syrian government on 8 March.^[202] On 14 March, the new Iraqi and Syrian governments sent Nasser delegations to push for a new Arab union.^[203] At the meeting, Nasser lambasted the Ba'athists for "facilitating" Syria's split from the UAR,^[204] and asserted that he was the "leader of the Arabs".^[203] A transitional unity agreement stipulating a federal system^[203] was signed by the parties on 17 April and the new union was set to be established in May 1965.^[205] However, the agreement fell apart weeks later when Syria's Ba'athists purged Nasser's supporters from the officers corps. A failed counter-coup by a Nasserist colonel followed, after which Nasser condemned the Ba'athists as "fascists".^[206]

In January 1964, Nasser called for an Arab League summit in Cairo to establish a unified Arab response against Israel's plans to divert the Jordan River's waters for economic purposes, which Syria and Jordan deemed an act of war.^[207] Nasser blamed Arab divisions for what he deemed "the disastrous situation".^[208] He discouraged Syria and Palestinian guerrillas from provoking the Israelis, conceding that he had no plans for war with Israel.^[208] During the summit, Nasser developed cordial relations with King Hussein, and ties were mended with the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Morocco.^[207] In May, Nasser moved to formally share his leadership position over the Palestine issue^[208] by initiating the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).^[208][209] In practice, Nasser used the PLO to wield control over the Palestinian fedayeen.^[209] Its head was to be Ahmad Shukeiri, Nasser's personal nominee.^[208]

After years of foreign policy coordination and developing ties, Nasser, President Sukarno of Indonesia, President Tito of Yugoslavia, and Prime Minister Nehru of India founded the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1961.^[210] Its declared purpose was to solidify international non-alignment and promote world peace amid the Cold War, end colonization, and increase economic cooperation among developing countries.^[211] In 1964, Nasser was made president of the NAM and held the second conference of the organization in Cairo.^[212]

Nasser played a significant part in the strengthening of African solidarity in the late 1950s and early 1960s, although his continental leadership role had increasingly passed to Algeria since 1962.^[213] During this period, Nasser made Egypt a refuge for anti-colonial leaders from several African countries and allowed the broadcast of anti-colonial propaganda from Cairo.^[213] Beginning in 1958, Nasser had a key role in the discussions among African leaders that led to the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963.^[213]

In 1961, Nasser sought to firmly establish Egypt as the leader of the Arab world and to promote a second revolution in Egypt with the purpose of merging Islamic and socialist thinking.