Egypt

History

Ancient Egyptian History

Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest human settlements in prehistoric Egypt date to around 30,000 BCE, when nomadic groups began to settle, take up farming, and form villages. Some evidence suggests these villages engaged in sporadic warfare with each other. This state of affairs is thought to have lasted for around 27,000 years until the ancient Egyptian dynasties unified all of Egypt under one ruler, the pharaoh. Ancient Egypt was characterized by the rule of the pharaohs, who built large stone pyramids to serve as their tombs.

For the 2,500 years following the rise of the pharaohs, Egypt was ruled by a succession of dynasties. Ancient Egyptian history saw the rule of 31 dynasties. Dynastic succession could sometimes be violent. With the death of a ruler and the end of a dynasty, it was not always clear who the next ruler should be, causing Egypt to fall into a state of warfare known as “intermediate periods.” Historians use these periods as dividing markers that separate Egyptian history into kingdoms.

Egypt Under Empires & A Transition From Dynastic Rule

The dynastic pattern was not broken when the Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered Egypt during the 26th dynasty in 525 BCE. Egypt even briefly regained independence in 401 BCE under Pharaoh Amyrtaeus, but it was reconquered by the Persians in 343 BCE. Greeks led by Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BCE, an event that marked not only the end of the Late Period but also the end of Egypt’s dynastic rule. Egypt was conquered again by the Romans under Caesar Augustus in 30 BCE and by the Persian Sassanids in 619 CE.

In 641, the Arabs conquered Egypt and brought Islam to the region. Control of Egypt shifted amongst different Islamic groups for the next six centuries. The Righteous Caliphs ruled for a short period. The Ummayad Caliphs, the next four rulers, quickly replaced them, though their rule only lasted until 747. Smaller groups scrambled to control Egypt until 1174 when the Kurdish Ayyubids came to power. In 1252, the Ayyubids were overthrown by the Mamluks, who had previously formed the bulk of the Ayyubid military. Mamluk dominance of the country lasted until 1517 when Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. However, instead of deposing the Mamluks, the Ottomans declared Egypt a semi-autonomous province, allowing the Mamluk military regime to stay in power and granting them some control over Egypt.

British and French Intervention in Ottoman-Controlled Egypt

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt, intending to block British trade routes to India. Mamluk troops met the French at the pyramids, where the Mamluk forces were destroyed within an hour. Napoleon continued to Cairo, but was unable to defeat the Ottoman forces there. The French army retreated, and in 1805 Muhammad Ali Pasha, took control of the country. He convinced the Ottomans to declare Egypt an autonomous vassal state, meaning that legally Egypt still belonged to the empire, yet it could manage its own affairs without interference from the Ottomans. Ultimately, European powers forced Ali to return the land.

In 1867, Khedive Ali’s grandson, Ismail Pasha, became the Khedive of Egypt. He enacted bold initiatives such as constructing the modern railway, establishing the cotton and sugar industry, and building the Suez Canal.Even with aid from Britain and France, put Egypt on the brink of bankruptcy.

France and Britain used this indebted status as a tool to leverage  over Egypt.This led Egypt into a financial crisis. Fearing they would not be repaid with Khedive Ismail in charge, the two powers convinced the Ottoman Empire to remove him from power and to replace him with his son Tewfik Pasha, who was predicted to be a weak ruler, likely susceptible to European influence.

Egypt as British Protectorate

Nationalist sentiment in Egypt had been growing due to increased European influence and Tewfik’s appointment.In 1882, violent riots broke out in Alexandria and Egyptian Colonel, Ahmed Urabi, seized the opportunity to incite a nationalist uprising, the Urabi Revolution.The British sent in military that crushed the uprising, securing Khedive Tewfik’s authority and making Egypt an unofficial British protectorate later becoming an official protectorate in 1914, and changing the Egyptian leader’s name from khedive to sultan.

In 1919, during the reign of Sultan Fuad I, a group called the Wafd Party began challenging British control over the country through means of demonstrations, strikes, and riots. The Wafd Party enjoyed high levels of support from the Egyptian population. The British exiled Wafd Party leaders, hoping to prevent social unrest, but this backfired, sparking riots in which British institutions were attacked. In response, the British offered to make Egypt a sovereign nation, with a few conditions. The offer was accepted, and Sultan Fuad changed his title to King of Egypt.

Independent Egypt & the Suez Crisis

King Faud I ruled until he died in 1936, when his son, Farouk I, became the king at the age of 16. Also during this year, Egypt and Britain signed a Treaty of Friendship, mandating the withdrawal of the remaining 10,000 British troops.This would have been satisfactory, if it weren’t for Farouk I’s extravagant lifestyle which soon quashed any excitement the Egyptians had for their new young king. In 1942, he was forced into a coalition government with the Wafd Party after the British army surrounded his palace.

Farouk I remained king until 1952 when the Free Officers Movement (FOM), led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser, staged a military coup and Farouk I was forced to abdicate. In 1953, the FOM abolished the monarchy and formed the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). They declared the RCC would govern the country for a three-year transitional period. In 1954, the RCC demanded that the British and French relinquish control of the Suez Canal. After an initial refusal, Egypt signed a treaty for the removal of foreign control of the Suez Canal by 1956.

In 1956, a new constitution was announced and Egypt became a republic; Abdel Nasser was elected president, and the Suez Canal was nationalized. The Canal’s nationalization came after the Suez Crisis.

President Nasser and Sadat’s Interventions in the Middle East

In the 1960s, Egypt was involved in two wars. The first was the North Yemen Civil War that pitted royalists from the Kingdom of Yemen against factions from the Yemen Arab Republic, who wanted Yemen to be a republic instead of a monarchy. Nasser had been waiting for a regime in Yemen that would support and align itself with Egypt because he felt the need to reassert his power in the Middle East, which he perceived as waning after the dissolution of the United Arab Republic in 1961. Thus, in a show of support, Nasser sent them as many as 70,000 troops, along with a supply of chemical weapons.

Egypt had also gathered intelligence of an imminent Israeli attack on Syria. Although the report was false, Nasser sent 100,000 troops to the Sinai Peninsula in preparation. Fearing they would be invaded, Israel launched a preemptive strike against the Jordanian, Syrian, and Egyptian air forces on June 5, 1967, an event that officially began the Six-Day War. A UN ceasefire agreement halted the conflict on June 10, but Israel was in possession of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, areas which Egypt had held since 1948.

With the death of Nasser in 1970, Anwar Sadat became president. Egypt, along with Syria, attacked Israel in 1973 in an effort to regain the Sinai Peninsula in the Yom Kippur War. Their efforts failed, although the Israelis returned after peace talks in 1979. Sadat then implemented the Infitah, an economic policy to promote foreign investment to modernize Egypt. Due to the elimination of food subsidies , prices went up 50%, and the lower class rioted. The government repealed this policy, leading to the end of the riots.

President Sadat made history in 1977 by going to Israel for the Sinai Peninsula peace talks and joining the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and US President Jimmy Carter to sign the Camp David Accords. These Accords established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Other Arab countries were infuriated by these actions, as it was the first time that an Arab state officially recognized Israel. 

Egypt & the Arab Spring

On October 6, 1981, an Islamic extremist assassinated Sadat and Vice President Hosni Mubarak became the new president just as a new, turbulent period in Egypt’s history began. The period from 1980 to 2000 saw a rise in terrorist activity by groups like Tanzim al-Jihad and Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya. Both the government and the tourist industry were targeted.

Mubarak enacted limitations on freedom of speech and expression and eliminated parliament’s role in government. Protests began against Mubarak’s government, demanding freedom of expression and solutions for high unemployment rates and rising food prices. These protests were collectively named the January 25 Revolution and were inspired by the Jasmine Revolution protests in Tunisia and are considered to be a part of the Arab Spring uprisings. In response, Mubarak resigned in February 2011 and the military took control.

President Morsi, the 2013 Coup D’État, & the Rise of President Al-Sisi

In June 2012, Mohamed Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood became the first democratically-elected president in Egypt. Morsi began to strengthen Egypt’s relations with other Middle Eastern countries, and draft a new constitution. Morsi drew heavy criticism for the November 2012 decree that shielded him from any legal challenge and sparked nationwide protests.

By June 2013, mass protests erupted and called for Morsi’s resignation.  Protesters were frustrated with the economic crisis, the new constitution supporting Sharia law, and Morsi granting himself temporary unlimited power. The Egyptian military issued an ultimatum: Morsi was to resign by July 3rd or face military intervention. Morsi refused so on July 3, General Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi removed him from power in a 2013 coup d’état. Chief Justice Adly Mansour was appointed interim president, and Morsi was put under house arrest. In September 2013, Egyptian courts banned the Muslim Brotherhood from political participation and confiscated all their assets. On January 14-15, 2014, Egyptian voters overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, politically legitimizing Al-Sisi.

Al-Sisi was elected with 96.1% of the vote in 2014. The election was denounced as “unfair.”. Nevertheless, he took office in 2014 and has presided over Egypt since.Al-Sisi called for the Egyptians to brace for “hard work.” He has attempted to spur economic growth and slash deficits by eliminating long-popular fuel and food subsidies, liberalizing the economy, investing in infrastructure projects, and seeking foreign investment. Initially these projects were not successful with foreign reserves being at $15.5 billion during July 2016; however they have since increased to $35.3 billion during February 2024. 

Hopes for future economic growth seem pessimistic as revenues from the Suez Canal have declined and national industry is almost nonexistent. What economic growth has been achieved is attributed to the huge amounts of capital inflows from the Gulf States.

The security situation under current leadership has steadily worsened. Al-Sisi faces a worsening terrorist insurgency in the Sinai with two downed jets and multiple terror attacks. He relies on heavy-handed methods to quell opposition to policies, often inciting complaints from human rights monitors. He has conducted raids on the journalists’ union, imprisoned over 41,000 people, and allowed widespread abuse of the population by the police. Nonetheless, public approval of Al-Sisi has remained high, according to the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research. However, Al-Sisi’s approval rating among young people has seen a decline since 2015. Although young people cannot organize due to restrictive laws, they have been able to express their political concerns mostly through protests and writing articles. Demonstrations have been stifled by the Egyptian protest law (act 107) which requires three days’ notice before protesting, and the government can “cancel, postpone or move” the protest.

Al-Sisi moved to prevent the military from becoming a political opposition force. In 2018, Al-Sisi won reelection with 97% of the vote after months of intimidation and arrests of other potential candidates. In a new law passed on July 6th, 2020, any military personnel who want to run for any political office must first get an endorsement from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), headed by Al-Sisi. Since April 2017, Egypt has been in a state of emergency due to a terrorist attack claimed by ISIS,only being lifted after four years of being in effect.