Gamal
Abdel Nasser was the first head of state of Egypt. The pioneer
of Arabic socialism and the leader of their struggle in one of
the most critical periods in their history, Nasser was born on
the 15th of January in 1918 in the poor Alexandrian suburb of
Bacos to southern Egyptian parents. He came from the small
village of Beni Morr, which was located in Upper Egypt in the
province of Assiut. Perhaps belonging to such a place was may
be the reason why Nasser always focused his thoughts on
peasants, particularly their poverty and suffering.
Nasser
was brought up and educated in Alexandria and Cairo. He joined
the military collage after the signature of the 1936 pact
which allowed lower class youth to join such a college that
they were not allowed to before this pact. He graduated from
the Military Academy in July 1938 and joined the Egyptian army
and was appointed as an Officer in the Infantry Regiment in
Assiut. Nasser
worked in Sudan (a part of the Egyptian Kingdom at that time).
He was later transferred to Cairo and was appointed as an
instructor in the Military Academy. Shortly after, he joined
the General Staff Academy where he was appointed again as
instructor.
He
participated in
the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 " First Palestine
War", which increased his awareness of the Palestinian
problem and the contemporary Arabic case.
Dissatisfied
with the corruption of the Egyptian King Farouk regime and the
British
occupation, he formed together with a group of colleagues, a
semi-underground organization, " The Free Officers",
known in Egypt as El-Dhobatt El-Ahrar. By the time he led the 23rd July 1952 Revolution "
El Thawrah", Gamal
Abdel Nasser had reached the rank of a Colonel . He became the
Minister of Interior, then the Prime Minister in 1954. He
began the negotiations to end the 1936 Treaty and signed an
agreement with Britain for the evacuation of British forces
from the Canal base in July 27, 1954.
On
June 18th, 1953, the last King was deposed and Egypt declared
a Republic, with Mohamed Naguib as its first president. For the first time in millennia, Egyptians ruled Egypt.
Nasser, who became the country’s head of state, deposed
Mohamed Naguib in 1954. Nasser
played a key role in the Bandung Conference in 1955 in which
the Non-alignment call was launched. In
1956, a referendum was conducted on the new constitution and
on electing him as president of the Republic.
As
president, Nasser was highly praised for his Nationalization
of the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956 which led to the tripartite (Anglo-French-Israeli) aggression against Egypt on July
26, 1956 known as "The
Suez War 1956" or " Port Said War" . He became
popular for his agrarian reform, and his socialist policies
that brought the vast majority of Egyptians out of poverty. The
first Agrarian Reform Law was enacted in September 1952, and
for the first time, land was distributed to landless peasants.
He
inaugurated the first People’s Council on July 22, 1957. He
became the President of the Arab United Republic, which was
established between Egypt and Syria in February 1958 and continued until September
1961. Nasser issued the Land Reform Law to eliminate
feudalism. He issued a wide range of socialist resolutions in
July 1961 among which were the limiting of agricultural land
ownership to 100 feddans per family; nationalizing the major
institutions; and granting the workers and the peasants the
revolutionary merits. He initiated the Liberation Organization
in 1953, the National Union in May 1957, and the Socialist Union in 1962.
In
1959, Nasser initiated the building of the Aswan Dam with the
assistance of Russia.
The
Aswan Dam is arguably one of the great architectural
accomplishments of the
20th
century.
Nasser
achieved unprecedented popularity throughout the Arab world.
He was admired for his rousing support of Arab Nationalism.
Nasser spent his life defending the Arab Nationalism and the
people's right to be free. He supported the national
liberation movements in Africa and the Arab countries. Nasser
was a founding-leader of the non-aligned movement. Along with
India's Nehru and Indonesia's Sukarno, Nasser became a major
international power-broker in the politics of the developing
world.
Shortly
after the 1967 defeat, Nasser resigned, but thousands of
people marched in his support. For the next three years,
Nasser did his best to rebuild the Egyptian army and he almost
succeeded.
President
Gamal Abdel Nasser died on September 28th, 1970. His death in
1970 of serious health complications sent shock waves
throughout the Arab world. In a stunning display of emotion,
millions of Egyptians followed his funeral procession through
the streets of Cairo. When he died, fulfilled his promise to
die as a poor man. He was in debt and had not taken advantage
of his position to enrich himself or his family.