Political History of Modern Egypt

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The two-century period of the history of the modern state of Egypt comprise of a series of remarkable events that have shaped both the country’s past and future. Over the course of these two hundred years, Egypt saw its declaration as a Khedievate by the then Wali of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. Following this, it fell into the British occupation, after its protector, the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers. Under the British, Egypt was proclaimed a sultanate. Yet, its life as a sultanate did not last much, due to the anti-British sentiments among its people. Fearing a mass revlot, the British decided to grant Egypt its independence in 1922, thus proclaiming the Kingdom of Egypt, with Sarwat Pasha as its first Prime Minister. Though de jure an independent state, much of Egypt’s domestic and foreign affairs remained under the direct control of the British. This led to the revolution of 1952, which overthrew the King, abolished the monarchy and established the Egyptian Republic, which has survived up until today. The republic period was not one worthy of praise either. With all but the last of its presidents coming from a military background, Egypt received a small share of social justice and human rights. It experienced dramatic switches in its foreign policy orientation, its head being turned from the USSR towards the US in instanteous movements. Just when it seemed that the country had finally begun to walk towards a democtratic society based on the rule of law, the military stroke again, removing the first Egyptian president ever to come to office by popular democratic vote.

This period spans from Muhammad Ali Pasha’s declaration of the Khedievate of Egypt in 1805, up until the Revolution of 1952 which abolished the t...

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... against the Muslim Brotherhood. In the 1970s, it emerged that the plot had probably been fabricated by the security services as part of a conflict between different factions within the regime.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khedivate_of_Egypt http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13315719 http://books.google.mk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xhpfWRp-BL0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=%22history+of+modern+egypt%22&ots=lAGhH2nbwg&sig=Hxd9a3G29aqXOHBVQdLReKP2ARM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22history%20of%20modern%20egypt%22&f=false http://books.google.mk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WrbCziCWJPEC&oi=fnd&pg=PP5&dq=%22history+of+modern+egypt%22&ots=mx_Hf5mPbp&sig=_z6mcgvvTrW3bLfzw3tmjSYvkbI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22history%20of%20modern%20egypt%22&f=false http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wadah-khanfar/egypt-military-coup_b_3647871.html
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/gamal_abdel_nasser.htm

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