Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918 - 1970) was an Egyptian army officer and statesman who served as President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. [1] A leader of the Free Officers who overthrew the monarchy in 1952, he nationalised the Suez Canal Company in 1956 and survived the ensuing invasion by Israel, Britain and France, a political victory that made him the pre-eminent figure of Arab nationalism. [2] His rule combined land reform, state-led industrialisation and non-alignment abroad with authoritarian control at home, and ended in the shadow of Egypt's defeat in the 1967 war.
Early life and military career
Nasser was born on 15 January 1918 in Bakos, a district of Alexandria, the son of a postal official from an Upper Egyptian village. [1] He took part in student demonstrations against British influence in the 1930s, briefly studied law at Cairo University, and then entered the Egyptian Military College, graduating as an officer in 1938.
He served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, where he was wounded at Faluja. [2] The performance of the Egyptian army, and the corruption and faulty equipment blamed for it, deepened the resentment of a group of younger officers around him who formed the clandestine Free Officers movement.
Revolution and consolidation of power
On 23 July 1952 the Free Officers seized power, forcing King Farouk to abdicate. General Muhammad Naguib became the public face of the new government, while Nasser directed it from behind the scenes. [3] A land reform limiting large estates was introduced almost immediately, and the monarchy was abolished in 1953.
A power struggle with Naguib ended in 1954 with Nasser in control; an assassination attempt against him that year was followed by mass arrests of the Muslim Brotherhood and the suppression of organised opposition. [1] He became president in 1956 under a new constitution that made Egypt a one-party state.
Suez and Arab nationalism
After the United States and Britain withdrew financing for the Aswan High Dam, Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal Company in July 1956 to fund the project. [2] Israel, Britain and France responded with a coordinated invasion in October. Militarily Egypt fared badly, but pressure from the United States and the Soviet Union forced the withdrawal of the invading forces, and Nasser emerged with immense prestige across the Arab world.
He pursued a policy of positive neutrality between the superpowers, helping to found the Non-Aligned Movement alongside Tito, Nehru and Sukarno, while accepting Soviet arms and aid for the Aswan High Dam. [3] In 1958 Egypt and Syria merged as the United Arab Republic, a union that collapsed in 1961, and from 1962 Egyptian forces were drawn into a long and costly intervention in the North Yemen civil war.
1967 and final years
Tensions with Israel escalated in May 1967 when Nasser demanded the removal of United Nations peacekeepers from Sinai and closed the Straits of Tiran. The Six-Day War that followed in June destroyed much of the Egyptian air force and left Israel in occupation of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. [1] Nasser announced his resignation but withdrew it after large public demonstrations calling on him to stay.
His remaining years were spent rebuilding the armed forces, prosecuting the War of Attrition along the Suez Canal and mediating between Jordan and Palestinian organisations. He died of a heart attack in Cairo on 28 September 1970. [2]
Legacy
Nasser's programme expanded education, health care and industry and redistributed land, but state planning and war spending left the economy strained. [4] Politically he built a system without independent parties, press or judiciary, in which security services detained and tortured opponents. He remains a central and contested figure in Arab history, admired as a symbol of independence from colonial rule and criticised for the authoritarian state he created and for the defeat of 1967.
