United Arab Republic
United Arab Republic الجمهورية العربية المتحدة ( Arabic) al-Jumhūriyya al-ʿArabiyya al-Muttaḥida | |||||||||||||||
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1958[1]–1971 | |||||||||||||||
Anthem: " Arabian | |||||||||||||||
Government | Federal Nasserist one-party Arab socialist republic
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President | |||||||||||||||
• 1958–1970 | Gamal Abdel Nasser | ||||||||||||||
• 1970–1971 | Anwar Sadat | ||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||
• 1958–1962 (first) | Gamal Abdel Nasser | ||||||||||||||
• 1970–1971 (last) | Mahmoud Fawzi | ||||||||||||||
Legislature | National Assembly | ||||||||||||||
Historical era | UAR renamed to Arab Republic of Egypt | 11 September 1971 | |||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||||
• Total | 1,195,000 km2 (461,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Currency |
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Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) | ||||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) | ||||||||||||||
Calling code | +20 | ||||||||||||||
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Today part of |
The United Arab Republic (UAR;
The republic was led by
History
Origins
The United Arab Republic was established on 1 February 1958[3] as the first step towards a larger pan-Arab state, originally being proposed to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser by a group of political and military leaders in Syria.
In mid-1957, Western powers began to worry that Syria was close to a Communist takeover; it had a highly organized
On 11 January 1958, al-Bizri led a Syrian delegation composed of military officers to Cairo, and personally encouraged Syrian-Egyptian unity. Nasser opted for a quick merger. Only Syrian advocates of unity, including
Nasser's final terms for the union were decisive and non-negotiable: "a plebiscite, the dissolution of parties, and the withdrawal of the army from politics". While the plebiscite seemed reasonable to most Syrian elites, the latter two conditions were extremely worrisome. They believed it would destroy political life in Syria.[8] Despite these concerns, the Syrian officials knew it was too late to turn back. The members of the elite in Syria viewed the merger with Egypt as the lesser of two evils. They believed that Nasser's terms were unfair, but given the intense pressure that their government was undergoing, they believed that they had no other choice.[citation needed]
A plebiscite was held on 21 February 1958, with Egyptians and Syrians voting in favor of the merger.[9] The result was announced on 22 February[10] and Nasser was declared the new president of the United Arab Republic.[1]
Egyptian and Syrian leaders signed the protocols, although Azem did so reluctantly.[11] Nasser became the republic's president and very soon carried out a crackdown against the Syrian Communists and opponents of the union. This included dismissing Bizri and Azem from their posts.[6][12]
Early history
Advocates of the union believed that Nasser would use the
Though Nasser allowed former Ba'ath Party members to hold prominent political positions, they never reached positions as high in the government as did the Egyptian officials. During the winter and the spring of 1959–60, Nasser slowly squeezed prominent Syrians out of positions of influence. In the Syrian Ministry of Industry, for example, seven of the top thirteen positions were filled by Egyptians. In the General Petroleum Authority, four of the top six officials were Egyptian. In the fall of 1958, Nasser formed a tripartite committee, consisting of
In Syria, opposition to union with Egypt mounted.
In Egypt, the situation was more positive, with a GNP growth of 4.5 per cent and a rapid growth of industry. In 1960, Nasser nationalized the Egyptian press, reducing it to his personal mouthpiece.[16]
Foreign relations
The union was interpreted by the other nations of the world as a major threat to
In nearby
On 14 July 1958, Iraqi army officers staged a
Later in July, the US government convinced Chamoun not to seek a second term. This allowed the election of
After the overthrow of its Hashemite monarchy in 1958, Iraq became the Arab state most supportive of the UAR. Iraq sought to join the union; however, in 1959 Qasim cancelled the unity talks. After Qasim's overthrow in 1963 the union idea resurrected with the proposal of Egypt, Iraq, and Syria reforming the UAR. A new flag was proposed, with three stars symbolizing the three states constituting the proposed union. However, the plan for a tri-partite union never materialised. Iraq continued to use the three-star flag and later adopted it as the national flag. This three-star flag remained Iraq's national flag (with some modifications) until 2007.
Flag
The UAR adopted a flag based on the
Nationalization
In June 1960, Nasser tried to establish economic reforms that would bring the Syrian economy more in line with the strong Egyptian public sector. However, these changes did little to help either economy. Rather than shift growth toward the private sector, Nasser embarked on an unprecedented wave of nationalizations in both Syria and Egypt. These began in July 1961, without consulting top Syrian economic officials.[22] The entire cotton trade was taken over by the government, as well as all import-export firms. Nasser announced the nationalization of banks, insurance companies, and all heavy industry, July 23, 1961. Nasser also extended his social justice principles. The land limit was reduced from 200 to 100 feddans. Interest rates for farmers were dramatically reduced to the point of elimination in some cases. A ninety percent tax was instituted on all income above £E10,000. Workers and employees were allowed representatives on management boards. They were also given the right to a twenty-five percent share in the profit of their firm. The average workday was also cut from eight hours to seven without a reduction in pay.[23]
Culture
Upon accepting the 1960 Best Supporting Actor award given to Hugh Griffith for his "wonderfully humorous, human, and sympathetic characterization of an Arab sheik" in Ben-Hur (1959), director William Wyler expressed regret that the people of the United Arab Republic would not be permitted to see Griffith's performance.[24]
Collapse
Instead of a federation of two Arab peoples, as many Syrians had imagined, the UAR turned into a state completely dominated by Egyptians. Syrian political life was also diminished, as Nasser demanded all political parties in Syria to be dismantled. In the process, the strongly centralized Egyptian state imposed Nasser's socialistic political and economic system on weaker Syria, creating a backlash from the Syrian business and army circles, which resulted in the Syrian coup of September 28, 1961, and the end of the UAR. According to Elie Podeh, "... this unity scheme was successful in consolidating the shaky Syrian identity. In fact, once the Syrians lost their independence they suddenly realized that they did indeed possess a different identity than the Egyptians."[25][page needed]
Despite the economic difficulties, what truly produced the demise of the UAR was Nasser's inability to find a suitable political system for the new regime. Given his
The immense increases in public sector control were accompanied by a push for
Without any close allies to watch over Syria, Nasser was unaware of the growing unrest of the military. On September 28 a group of officers staged a coup and declared Syria's independence from the UAR. Though the coup leaders were willing to renegotiate a union under terms they felt would put Syria on an equal footing with Egypt, Nasser refused such a compromise. He initially considered sending troops to overthrow the new regime, but chose not to once he was informed that the last of his allies in Syria had been defeated.[28] In speeches that followed the coup, Nasser declared he would never give up his goal of an ultimate Arab union. However, he would never again achieve such a tangible victory toward this goal.
After Syria's withdrawal
After Syria's withdrawal from the union in 1961, Egypt retained its "United Arab Republic" name until 1971.
In the early 1960s, Nasser sent an
From 5 to 10 June in 1967,
Geography
If it existed today, the United Arab Republic would be the
See also
- Armed Forces of the United Arab Republic
- History of modern Egypt
- Pan-Arabism
- Kingdom of Jordan
- Kingdom of North Yemen, and Syria
- Federation of Arab Republics (1972–1977) – Egypt, Libya, and Syria
- Arab Islamic Republic (1974) – Libya and Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
- Arab Cold War
Further reading
- Vatikiotis, P. J. (1961). "Dilemmas of Political Leadership in the Arab Middle East: The Case of The United Arab Republic". American Political Science Review. 55 (1): 103–111.
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b "Cairo Wild as Nasser Takes Post". Fort Lauderdale News. 23 February 1958. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-61069-285-4.
- ^ "Egypt, Syria Union Aim at Arab Unity". The San Francisco Examiner. Associated Press. 2 February 1958. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9781588260345. Archivedfrom the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- ^ a b c d e "United Arab Republic (U.A.R.)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ^ a b Aburish 2004, pp. 150–151
- ^ Podeh 1999, pp. 43
- ^ Palmer 1966, pp. 53
- ^ "Nasser to Head Egypt-Syria Union". The Nottingham Evening Post. 22 February 1958. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ^ "Nearly All Voters in Egypt Approve Arab Republic". The Pantagraph. Bloomington, Illinois. 22 February 1958. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
- ^ Podeh 1999, pp. 49
- ^ Podeh 1999, pp. 44–45
- ^ Aburish 2004, pp. 162–163
- S2CID 159943632. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 November 2016.
- ^ Aburish 2004, p. 185
- ^ Aburish 2004, pp. 189–191
- ^ Aburish 2004, p. 164
- ^ Aburish 2004, p. 166
- ^ Aburish 2004, pp. 169–170
- ^ Aburish 2004, p. 172
- ^ Aburish 2004, p. 173
- ^ Stephens 1971, p. 338
- ^ Stephens 1971, pp. 329–30
- ^ "Hugh Griffith Wins Supporting Actor: 1960 Oscars". Oscars. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- ^ Podeh 1999.
- ^ Stephens 1971, p. 337
- ^ Stephens 1971, pp. 338–339
- ^ Stephens 1971, p. 340
- ^ Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs (13 December 2007). "The Oslo Accords, 1993". 2001-2009.state.gov. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
- ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
- ^ "Hamas: The Palestinian militant group that rules Gaza". BBC News. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-312-28683-X
- Palmer, Monte (1966), "The United Arab Republic: An Assessment of Its Failure", Middle East Journal, 20 (1): 50–67, JSTOR 4323954
- Podeh, Elie (1999), The Decline of Arab Unity: The Rise And Fall of the United Arab Republic, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 1-84519-146-3
- ISBN 0-14-021687-1