Egypt
Link to syllabus
Link to WDI
Link to UM-D Library
Link to http://canvas.umd.umich.edu/
MERIP on Egypt in Year ThreeInterview with Springborg
Egypt map
Egypt Topographical map
Link to Egypt Chronology
Muhammad Ali
Born ~1770 in Albania into a military family. Came to power about 1803. Died in Egypt in 1849. Spoke Turkish initially.
Participated in military expedition inEgypt against French; stayed andparlayed that into control. Was instrumental in pushing fordevelopment of Egypt; he lessenedOttoman power, but faced increasingBritish influence. Encouraged cottonand sugar cultivation, and new manufacturing industries. Also,v educational reforms.
Picture from Hassan, In the House of Muhammad Ali
A painting of
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Said
1822-1863 (son of Muhammad Ali)
Ruled 1854-1863
Friendship with DeLessepsled to French constructionof Suez Canal.
Ismail 1830-1895 Ruled 1863-1879
Grandson of Muhammad Ali,(and son of Ibrahim pasha). Made a mess out of the Suez Canal. Was essentially thrown out of office, after which the British ran Egypt.
"My country is no longer in Africa; we are now part of Europe. It is therefore natural for us to abandon our former ways and to adopt a new system adapted to our social conditions". [Wiki]
Commissioned Aida from Verdi.
Why the Suez Canal is Important
Satellite view of Suez
Inauguration of the Suez Canal
Painting byMahmoud Said (1897-1964)French Empress Eugenie
Early Nationalism in Egypt, 1920s
King Fuad
1868-1936
King 1922-1936
Negotiated with Britain the conditions of Egypt’s “independence” in 1922. Fought with the Wafd Party; this period is considered to have been quite unstable politically.
Sa’ad Zaghul 1857-1927
Born into middle class peasant family.Studied at al-Azhar and Egyptian School of Law. Married daughter of the Prime Minister; went on to be Minister of Education, and of Justice. Dynamic orator.
Founder of the Wafd Party, which asked to represent Egypt at Versailles. Wafd instigated disorders in 1918; Zaghul was exiled, returned to become Prime Minister.
The Wafd is generally considered to have been a failed middle class reformistParty.
Talaat Harb 1867-1941
Leading Egyptian economist/businessman who established the Bank of Egypt (BanqueMisr) in 1920.
The Bank of Egypt became the center ofan extensive group of companies, owned and managed by Egyptians, in areas suchas textiles, shipping, publishing, movies,and Egypt Air.
The Bank established branches in severalother Middle Eastern countries.
Hassan Al-Banna
1905-1949Father was a watch repairman; hestudied to be a teacher at Cairo’s TeacherCollege, and at Al-Azhar.
Established Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 as a youth club, aimed at moral and social reform.
Traveled widely to set up branchesof the Brotherhood in other countries.
Was assassinated by King Farouk’s secret service agents.
King Tutankhamon
Discovered 1920
Egypt Awakening
Sculpture by MahmoudMukhtar, 1928.
Example of nationalism, basedon Pharaonic images, mixedwith modernism symbolized bypeasant woman lifting her veil.
Now positioned at the entranceof Cairo University
Tears of Isis
Painting by Mohamed Naghi 1937
Resurrection of the goddess Isis, mourning her murdered husband Osiris, whom she was eventually able to bring backto life through her divine powers.
This painter was important in establishingstrands of the new (post WWI) Egyptian nationalism. Modern Egyptian woman,Eternal peasants, Valley of the Kings, Pharaonic images.
King Farouk
1920-1965 (died in exile)King 1936-1952
Tried to keep Egypt neutral during WWII. Was not able to work with Wafd and other opposition groups. Became infamous for decadent life style
Overthrown by coup of the Free Officers, from which Nasseremerged.
King Farouk
Princess Fawzia
Sister of King Farouk
About the time she marriedthe Shah of Iran.
A similar picture appeared onthe cover of Life magazine.
Prince Hussein’s Palace, near Cairo
From Hassan, In the House of Muhammad Ali
Part of the palace of Mohamad Ali in the Citadel, Cairo
Egypt: Rice Vendor, Cairo 1870s
Source: Perez Focus East Early Photographs in the Near East p. 174
Egypt: Water Carriers, Cairo
1880s
Source: Perez, Focus East Early Photographs in the Near East, p. 133
Egypt: al-Azhar University, 1880s
Photo taken by G. Lekegian. Photograph title given in source book.Source: Perez Focus East Early Photographs in the Near East p.69
Spread of irrigation in Egyptian Delta. Source: Richards: Egypt’s Agricultural Development…
Egypt: Ag GDPEgypt: Agricultural GDP
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Gamel Abdel Nasser1918-1970President: 1954-1970
Son of a postman. Studied at a military academy; participated in 1948 war. Nationalist. Leader of coup. SecularistPromulgated “Arab Socialism,”and had short union with Syria. Land reform-directed at political enemies. After Britain and US denied funds for Aswan Dam, he nationalized Suez Canal in 1956. Led country into defeat in 1967 War. Died of a heart attack.
Why the Military Coup against Farouk?External and internal crises had de-legitimized the established order. Wafd was too identified with the urban elites, and had alienated Egyptian nationalists by working with British during WWI.Palace had been inept during the 1948 war with Israel.Palace had not successfully repressed the MB nor the Marxist left.… Mutual exhaustion between the Palace and the Wafd.
Note the threat to other MENA regimes represented by this coup: Successful: Iraq, Libya, eventually Yemen, then Iran. Attempted, but not successful: Jordan, Morocco. One could also talk about insecurity in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Gulf countries.
Nasser is important, because:
Egyptian, born of humble origins. Was a nationalist. Military man.Came to power by a coup against the monarchy.Secularist (actually fought with the Muslim Brotherhood).Economic Policy: Nationalizations, of foreign firms, Egyptian firms, Suez Canal Land Reform (not particularly successful – not enough land) Protectionist, pushed industrialization Aswan dam (eventually financed by USSR)Pan-Arabist: Union with Syria (short-lived). Third World leader.War with Israel in 1967.
His successor, Anwar Sadat, reversed Nasser’s policies in important ways. Sadat pushed for economic liberalization, and eventually signed the peace treaty with Israel.
Gamel Abdel Nasser 1918-1970
Nasser and Nehru
Nasser as a leader of the “Third World “
Anwar Sadat
1918-1981
President 1970-1981Had military education, participated inYoung Officers’ Coup. Is judged to have re-directed Egypt’sDestiny towards “the west”-US&UK.After losing 1973 June War, he visited Jerusalem in 1977 to discuss peace, whichled to Camp David Accords and NobelPrize, but isolation in Arab world, and hisassassination by army soldiers during amilitary parade.
Handshake: Sadat-Begin-Carter. Camp David September, 1978
Sadat’s Assassination, October 6, 1981
Hosni Mubarak
Born 1928President 1981-
Born to an upper middle classfamily, he studied military school andbriefly in USSR. Has maintained Sadat’s western orien-tation, with some economic liberalizationand political openings to MuslimBrotherhood and Islamists, althoughhe has run un-opposed in his ownelections. Supported sanctions againstIraq, & Gulf Wars. Important link to Palestinians. Escaped assassination in 1995? in Ethiopia.
Mubarak and Bush
Cairo’s Tahrir Square during the Feb. 2011 Uprising
Diagram of the Battle for Tahrir Square – NYT Feb 3, 2010
Egypt: Election photos
Mohamed MorsiBorn in a small town in 1951Degrees at Cairo University,Ph.D. Univ. Southern California
Served in the Egyptian Parliament 2000-05.A leading member of the MuslimBrotherhood, became its presidentialcandidate after M. Khairat el-Shaterwas declared ineligible
Egypt’s first democratically elected president, in June, 2012; overthrown in July, 2013. Now in jail, awaiting trial. Initially, Morsi had promised an inclusive government, but he didn’t, and alienated liberals and the armed forces. The current gov’t/military backlash is attempting to isolate or even eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood.
Current Leaders of Egypt
Adly Mansour,Interim President,Previous head of theSupreme Court
Hazem el-BeblawiInterim Prime MinisterEconomist; Ph.D. ParisTaught in US, workedat UN-ESCWA
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi,Minister of Defense.Positioning himself to run for president.
Egypt’s current Cabinet
http://www.cabinet.gov.eg/Cabinet/Cabinet.aspx
Backup link through Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Egypt#Present_Egyptian_Cabinet
Gamal Mubarak
1963-
Second son of current president, Hosni Mubarak.
MBA from AUC.Head of NDP (ruling party).
Widely suspected of beinggroomed to succeed his father,although this is denied by both of them.
Candidates to Succeed Pres. Hosni Mubarak
Gamal Mubarak 1963- General Omar SuleimanMBA from AUC. (Head of Intelligence)Head of NDP (ruling party).
Anwar Sadat 1918-1981
Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi
Born 1935, in Cairo.
Minister of Defense since 1991, and since February 2011 is the Headof the Supreme Council of the ArmedForces, essentially the head of thegovernment
He participated in the Suez War of 1956, the wars of 1967 and 1973,and the Gulf War.
It was unclear if he and the military would give up power.
Said Pasha’s Palace