1.

2 Nasser’s Consolidation of Power

 Expectations to satisfy
o Political (e.g. freedom of expression), economic (e.g. redistribution of land) & social (gender equality, elimination of corruption) –
“just tyrant” to restore order
 Curbing the opposition
o Eliminating rivals (Left, Muslim Brothers & Wafd party) by banning all parties (natural for authoritarian rule)
o Cleansing campaign replacing older-generation politicians with younger ones
o Ruthless repression of opposition through force & propaganda  shows authoritarian nature
 Liberation Rally (11 objectives, incl. withdrawal of foreign troops, fair distribution of wealth and freedom of expression)
 New government
o Ali Maher (elite & conservative) was PM after coup, resigned when he opposed agrarian reforms  Neghib as PM
o Constitution rewritten  King deposed, General Neghib as president & Free Officers as ministers.
 Nasser’s emergence as leader
o Free Officers had elected Nasser as leader (charismatic & an ordinary Egyptian  personality cult to maintain power)
o Neghib vs. Nasser  Nasser called for free elections
o Nasser portrayed Neghib as a representative of the old system’s chaos  unpopular  Nasser could restore order
o Nasser outmanoeuvred Neghib (put him under house arrest) & became leader

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1.3 Nasser’s Policies

 Domestic policies
 National Union = single party
 Need for diversified economy (cotton production insufficient) & land redistribution (more social equity)
 3 Agrarian Reform Laws (1952, 1961 & 1969)
o Land redistribution, but only benefited the poorest, whole economy did not benefit
o State owned the redistributed land & controlled the production through cooperatives
 Development strategy
o Despite the major role played by agriculture in the economy, Egypt needed to industrialise in order to become more independent.
o Phase one (1952-1956); private enterprise economy
 The state invested into the public sector, while encouraging private & foreign investors as well  not much success
 Inland production instead of import, industrial projects (dams) to help the agriculture (US funds)
o Phase two (1956-1970); state capitalism (system stays capitalist, but production is owned by the state  more centralised)
 Lack of investments  state nationalised private properties. USSR also provided loans for industrial projects.
 Ministry of Industry established & became prominent.
o The first Five-Year Plan (1960-1965)
 Objective: Egypt totally self-reliant in 5 years.
 Expansion of consumer goods sector & promotion of industries with export potential
 Public sector acquired more & more of Egypt’s wealth. Lack of competition  lack of incentive  risk of economic
stagnation
 Failed; public sector too large, Egyptian economy not improving  1967 Nasser stopped trying
 Silencing the opposition
o Trade unions  strikes forbidden (repression), workers given privileges as appeasement. Allowing many trade unions 
preventing a concentration of power
o Universities  Liberation Rally offices in universities + monitoring of student and professor activities (repression).
o Islam (Muslim Brothers  banned). Islamic university brought under state control, non-clerics appointed as professors 
incorporate Islam into the system  silence it as a potential “centre of power”.
 The National Charter
o New constitution after secession of Syria from UAR (see below)
 o Idea of uniting Arab nations under Nasser’s leadership. National Union  replaced by Arab Socialist Union (ASU)
Evaluating Nasser’s domestic policies
 Agrarian Reforms: helped acquire popular support; cooperatives & land under state control  centralised economy.
 Expansion of public sector: problematic, bad planning. New projects  neglect of existing agriculture. Public sector = ultimate
authoritarian tool to control the people  served a political purpose rather than an economic one.

Nasser’s foreign policies

 Egypt’s move away from the West
o Wanted to remove British influence from entire Arab world
o Non-Aligned country, neutral during the Cold War
 The Suez (Tripartite) War
o See Cold War Notes 2.6
 Egypt’s move towards the Soviet camp
o Nasser was not communist, but both he and Khrushchev wanted a working relationship between Egypt and the USSR. Khrushchev
agreed to a loan to help finance the Aswan dam. US didn’t like this, portrayed Nasser as an enemy of the West.
 The United Arab Republic (UAR)
o Nasser’s success in Suez Crisis  saw himself as hero in Arab world  other Arab leader saw him as a threat
o Arabism: an ideology that sees Arabs as one nation. Nasser wanted to united Arab nations to achieve more power
o Unstable Syria  came to Nasser for help  United Arab Republic Nasser as president  Syria left  Nasser didn’t give up
o 2nd attempt: Iraq, Egypt and Syria, failed.
o Example of Nasser’s obsession with power + conviction that his policies were correct/only way to proceed
 The Yemen episode
o Civil war in Yemen  republicans went to Nasser for help  sent Egyptian (“UAR”) troops  many died, money lost
 drop in Nasser’s popularity.
 Confrontation with Israel
o Nasser pro-Palestinian  tensions with Israel
o “Six Day War”: War against Israel
 Cause: clashes along Syrio-Israeli border + Arab leaders accused Nasser of hiding behind UN  had to prove himself as
 leader of the Arab world.
 Reckless, led to defeat; army weakened by Yemen war.

Evaluating Nasser’s foreign policies from different perspectives

 Britain: Nasser was a demon who had forced them out.
 US: Nasser was a threat because of his relationship with the USSR.
 USSR: The relationship with Egypt was useful and satisfactory.
 Israel: Nasser was a threat because he was powerful and anti-Israel.
 Arab world: Nasser’s attempt to unite the Arab world proved impossible; existing nations didn’t want to give up autonomy
 Egypt: Successfully got rid of Brits, but wars were unwelcome; Egyptians gave up lives & money for wars irrelevant to them

Nasser’s use of the media as propaganda

 Low literacy rate  cinema & radio more accessible to public
 Arab language had the advantage of being international.
 Cinema: pro-Nasser films critical of the past
 Radio = Cheap, entertaining & easily accessible propaganda tool. Government-controlled, colloquial Arabic & “we” to promote Arab
unity & be closer to people.
Nasser resigns but he doesn’t, then he dies
 Six Day War defeat  Nasser announced resignation  protests  nvm I’ll stay  blamed army officers & air force for defeat instead
 Nasser re-evaluated some policies, toning down his socialist intentions & creating friendlier relations with other Arab leaders. His view on
Israel remained unchanged and a further war took place.
 Died in 1970
Nasser’s legacy
 Succeeded by Anwar Sadat, who liberalised the economy and made peace with Israel.
 Nostalgia surrounding Nasser’s era, but
 Got the British to leave & attempted social justice; criticised for rash & compulsive policies. All in all, it is undisputed that he established
an authoritarian state with a single party, repressed opposition and censored press.