Major historical landmarks of the 19th and 20th centuries
p. 22-23
Texte intégral
1805 | 1953 | 1970 | 1981 |
Mohamed Ali becomes viceroy | Proclamation of the Republic | Death of Nasser Sadat succeeds as president | Assassination of Sadat Mubarak becomes president |
The bright promise of the 19th century
1In 1801 Mohamed Ali landed in Egypt with the Ottoman forces sent to combat the French troops of the Egyptian Expedition. The country was then a province of the Ottoman Empire. Once elevated to the position of viceroy, Mohamed Ali launched a modernisation programme that transformed the country into a regional power. The Sultan in Constantinople called upon the conscripted army of Egypt to re-establish order in different parts of the empire. The Arabian Peninsula, Crete and Syria fell under the authority of Mohamed Ali and his son Ibrahim. Egyptian troops were also sent to conquer southern territory. The Sudan was constituted under the control of Mohamed Ali and Khartoum was founded to be the seat of the Egyptian administration. In Egypt itself, an efficient system of dykes, canals and reservoirs was developed and the surface area under cultivation was doubled. A printing press and specialist schools were opened: young Egyptians were sent to be trained in Europe.
2The growing power of Egypt fascinated and worried Europe. While Victor Hugo celebrated “the only colossus that this century might compare to Bonaparte”, the British government feared the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent damage to trade in the south-eastern region and so it intervened. In 1840 the authority of Mohamed Ali was restricted to the borders of Egypt and its southern dependencies. As compensation, governance of the province became hereditary and a dynasty was founded to lead Egypt, which would continue until the proclamation of the republic in 1953.
3Mohamed Ali’s successors endeavoured to continue the modernisation programme, and the general impression was one of prosperity. Egypt sold its cotton to the textile industries of Europe and major works were launched, such as the digging of the Suez Canal. This feverish construction was, however, financed by loans, and Egypt benefited from European bankers’ enthusiasm for “turban shares” until 1876 when the country reached the verge of bankruptcy. The financial crisis provided the opportunity for the French and the British, who were anxious to control the route to India, to insert themselves in the internal affairs of Egypt. Financial supervision served to catalyse opposition and a nationalist movement formed behind Colonel Orabi. The landing of British forces in the Canal Zone in August 1882 put an end to the crisis. The occupation of Egypt had begun.
Independence and regional influence
4The khedives* were no longer able to exert political control, which was now in the hands of the British Consul General. Egypt appeared to have escaped this subjugation in 1922 after three years of violence and political struggle guided by the Wafd*, but independence was just an illusion: the British did not leave the Nile Valley and continued to intervene in decisions of governance. The desire for full and undivided sovereignty possessed the Egyptian nation and neither the treaty of 1936 nor the post-Second World War arrangements were convincing. In July 1956, the struggle ended in the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, by now a symbol of European imperialism. The actions of Nasser placed Egypt in the forefront of the international scene: the country was attacked by Israel in alliance with British and French power, which attempted to cover the aggression with diplomatic camouflage; Egypt carried the economic and social aspirations of the developing world; the country solidified the dream of Arab unity through its union with Syria (1958-1961). Nasser sent the army into Yemen to support the republicans, but became embroiled in a drawn out conflict. A terrible setback occurred in 1967 with the defeat by Israel and the loss of territory.
New political choices
5On the death of Nasser it was up to Sadat to work towards the reconquest of the Sinai, which had been occupied by Israel. Hostilities reopened in October 1973. The successful crossing of the Suez Canal helped to wash away the humiliations of previous defeats and led to the opening of a dialogue with Israel that would result in the signing of a peace agreement in 1979. This initiative caused Egypt to be expelled from the Arab League (until 1989). The orientation of Egyptian politics in the 1970s meant rapprochement with the United States, the infitah* and the abandonment of socialism. In 1977 and again in 1991 accords were signed with the IMF, but instead of the hoped for prosperity, social inequalities increased, made all the greater by demographic growth and the State’s disengagement from the social sector. The regime of Hosni Mubarak, which suffered from a growing lack of legitimacy towards the end of the 20th century, finally fell in 2011. After the so-called “Arab Spring”, Egypt was faced with a security crisis and turned back to an authoritarian exercise of power that promoted national pride.
Auteur
Anne-Claire De Gayffier-Bonneville, lecturer in the history of the contemporary Arab world, INALCO
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