Nasser - Rise to Power

NASSER’S RISE TO POWER

Free Officers Movement

1.      Nasser joined Free Officers in 1942. The movement rose out of frustration for the failure of current leaders (King Farouk and government of Egypt) to address British influence over Egypt.

a.       Its success came from the combination of secrecy and widespread links across the army and other civilian movements: cells of five men known only to each other were established in all major parts of the army, and only Abdel Hakim Amer and Nasser knew the full extent of the network.

2.      By the end of 1952 the Free Officers Movement had 1000 members.

a.       The Free Officers had greater familiarity with the ordinary soldiers when compared to the older, senior, pro-Royalist officers. This facilitated the Free Officer’s success.

3.      The Free Officers distributed nationalist leaflets appearing from 1949.

4.      In January 1952 the Free Officers succeeded in getting their candidate elected in the Officer’s Club. This was a clear challenge to the senior and royalist officers. This was resented by the King because he saw the Army as his main opposition, and their victory confirmed the King’s growing unpopularity.

5.      In January 1952, violent demonstrations reached a climax when British troops killed 50 Egyptian officers and policemen after skirmishes between the British and Egyptians in Ismailia. The next day (“Black Saturday”) saw massive public protests and violence in Cairo.

a.       Public unrest was rampant, and anti-British feelings resulted in frequent guerrilla attacks on British troops. The Egyptian government was unable and unwilling to repress the anti-British anger of the masses, and this resulted in numerous shifts in government control.

b.      In the six following months there were four different governments. The weakness of the government was apparent.

c.       Events of ‘Black Saturday’ drove Nasser to decide that he must act soon. The fury of the people against British and the unwillingness of the government to intervene drove Nasser to conclude that he must act soon.

6.      Nasser used General Mohammad Naguib as the face of the Free Officers Movement.

a.       He was well known and had widespread support among the population, and served as a better public figurehead because the other leaders of the Movement were young men in their early thirties.

7.      The Free Officers conducted a coup on July 22 1953. King Farouk was removed in favour of his youngest son, but in reality the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), composed of members of the Free Officers’ Movement, was in charge.

a.       Nasser’s coup was known to the Americans before it was carried out, and this information was relayed to the British.

                                                  i.      The British would not intervene in a highly organized coup, just as it had not to save the lives of British civilians on ‘Black Saturday’.

b.      General Neguib was made prime minister in September 1952.

Power Struggle

8.      A power struggle between Neguib and Nasser was apparent following Neguib’s resignation in February 1953. Eventually a compromise was reached and Naguib would return as president while Nasser would be prime minister and head of the RCC.

a.       This was a tactical withdrawal for Nasser. He did this to quell the deep divisions in the armed forces. Also from this position, Nasser could undermine subtly Naguib more effectively.

9.      In March 1954 Nasser resigned from his posts as prime minister and head of the RCC and also compelled the RCC to vote in favour of elections.

a.       This gave the appearance of democracy and a return to the old system of ineffective party rule in Egypt, which the 1952 coup was held against in the first place.

b.      This resulted public protest in favour of maintaining the revolution.

10.  In April 1954 Neguib resigned once again. He admitted he was “outmanoeuvred by Abdul Nasser and my junior colleagues.” Neguib 1955.

a.       Nasser skilfully and effectively outmanoeuvred Neguib. Now he was triumphant both within and outside the army.  

11.  An attempt on Nasser’s life was made in Octobers 1954 by Mahmud Abdul Latif, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

a.       Nasser used this as an opportunity to purge the Muslim Brotherhood, and eventually dissolve it. Initially as many as 700 of the Brotherhood were rounded up and imprisoned. Prison camps contained them and the Muslim Brotherhood was dissolved.

12.  The RCC appoints Nasser as Prime Minister in January 1955.

Quotes

1.      Nasser comments on the 1952 coup: “Thus it was not the Army…that determined the role it was to play in the course of events. The reverse was nearer the truth.”  1972

a.       The rapid decay of the political system and growing unpopularity of the King after the defeat in Palestine facilitated the success of the 1952 coup.

2.      General Neguib comments on the 1952 coup: “Our military movement has nothing to do with politics." July 1952

3.      On the day of his assassination attempt by Latif, Nasser shouts: “Let them kill Nasser. He is one among many and whether he lives or dies the revolution will go on.”

Historiography

1.      Robert St. John, The Boss: The Story of Gamal Abdel Nasser, 1960. “It was a calculated risk, and Gamal Abdel Nasser violated all his own principles and ignored all his own theories by taking it.”

2.      Peter Woodward, Nasser, 1992.  “…the ruthless manoeuvring and organisational skills of Nasser” ensured his victory over Neguib.

3.      Robert Stephens, Nasser: a Political Biography, 1971. Nasser was “not so much a soldier who went into politics as a politician who went into the army.”