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IB History of EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST PDF
IB History of EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST PDF
Authors
Mariam Habibi is Assistant Professor with the taught IB History in France and Slovakia. He is
American Graduate School of International Relations co-ordinator of the European History e-Learning
and Diplomacy, based in Paris. She is a workshop Project (e-Help).
leader for InThinking, IB Teacher Workshops.
David Keys teaches IB History at the British
Peyman Jafari is a researcher at the International International School, Bratislava, Slovakia. He has
Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, and is taught History and English in Turkey, Saudi Arabia
currently a Phd candidate in the University of and the UK and is a translator and writer.
Amsterdam, Faculty of Social and Behavioural
David Smith teaches at the Ecole Lindsay Thurber
Science.
Comprehensive High School in Alberta, Canada.
Richard Jones-Nerzic teaches History at the He is a workshop leader for IB Americas, an
European School Brussels and runs the website examiner, application reader and a faculty member
www.internationalschoolhistory.net. He previously for the Online Curriculum Centre.
L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L
Egypt
When the war ended, relations between Egypt and the United
Kingdom remained tense. The Egyptians wanted the UK to
renegotiate the 1936 treaty and evacuate its troops from the Suez
Canal zone, but the British refused. The political situation was
unstable as both the King and the ruling Wafd Party were regarded
as compromised and weak in relation to the UK, so neither inspired
much loyalty. The Suez Canal was one of the major bones of
contention between Egypt and the UK. It is not surprising that it
came to blows in 1956 with a war between the two countries.
The Suez Canal Company was originally owned by the French, who
had been responsible for its construction. It was then taken over by
the Egyptians in 1863, during the reign of Ismail Pasha, for a sum of
3,800,000. But in 1875, faced with a major financial crisis due to a
drop in the demand for Egyptian cotton in the world market, Egypt
was forced to sell its shares to the British government. Furthermore,
the British government secured its investment by maintaining a
British force in the canal zone. The presence of British troops on
Egyptian soil angered many Egyptians and the Egyptian government
asked the British to leave on many occasions. In 1936 the Anglo-
Egyptian Treaty, which affirmed Egypts sovereignty, nonetheless
stipulated Britains hold on the canal zone. Stationed in the area to
protect it were 10,000 British troops. In 1951, when the government
finally chose to abrogate the treaty and force the British out, there
were violent clashes. The British troops remained in the area
until 1956.
Another factor contributing to rising discontent was the economic
situation of Egypt, and the growing gap between the rich and the
poor. As a country in which the economy was mainly based on food
production, this gap was particularly apparent amongst landowners.
There was a massive inequality in land distribution and in the size of
the holdings: 0.4 per cent of the landowners were in possession of
35 per cent of the countrys cultivable land, while 94 per cent of the Discussion point:
population owned 35 per cent of the land. The size of the holdings Land is an important source of
varied from 200 feddans or more (an Egyptian unit of area equivalent wealth in many countries. What
to 1.038 acres or 0.42 hectares) to 0.8 feddan. Given that many of the other sources of wealth can you
landowners were in fact the ruling politicians, no real attempts were think of? Does the source of
made to change the situation and consequently the politicians wealth define the type of country?
became the target of the anger of the poor.
Finally, the humiliating defeat of the 19489 ArabIsraeli War
(see chapter 4, p. 2136) increased the unpopularity of King Farouk.
The war convinced the younger officers of the incompetence of
the men ruling Egypt. Two opposition groups emerged. The first were
the Muslim Brothers, a Pan-Islamic group which had been formed Pan-Islamism is a political movement
in 1928 by Hassan al Banna. This was a movement which proposed a advocating the unity of Muslims under
return to Islamic values as a means of uniting Muslims in the Arab one Islamic state.
world against the intrusion of foreign powers. The other were the
Free Officers, a group of junior military officers formed immediately
after the 19489 war, who proposed a national revival to recoup
Egypts lost pride through the overthrow of the monarchy. They were
motivated by the desire to rid Egypt of British imperialism and bring
316 about social justice reforms that would combat social inequality.
6 L Egypt
Dead Sea
Principle Israeli advances 29 October 5 November 1956
paratroopers on Port Said on
British and French landings in Port Said Gaza
5 November.
Port Said Mediterranean Sea
Port Fuad
Although everything had gone Rafah
El Arish
according to plan, the attack
was halted at midnight on ISRAEL
Suez Canal
Kantara
6 November, and was Abu Aweigila
Negev
immediately condemned by both EGYPT
Bir Gafgafa Kusselma
the United States and the Soviet
Union. President Eisenhower was Ismailia Bir Hasana
so furious that he was ready to
sell the US governments Sterling JORDAN
ba
withdrew their troops in SAUDI
lf o
f Aqa
ARABIA
fS
Gulf o
z
Dahab
1957. The UN sent its troops to
the Sinai as a peacekeeping force.
In April 1957 the Suez Canal Tor
Nabek
re-opened for international Tiran
commerce.
Sharm el-Sheikh
Though Egypt had undergone a
military defeat, Nasser was not
overthrown as the three belligerent countries had hoped. Instead
the crisis turned into a political triumph for Nasser. Egypt retained
its newly acquired rights over the Suez Canal and Nasser was hailed
as a hero in the Arab world. According to William Cleveland, No
other Arab leader approached his status and no other Arab leader
aroused such high expectations.
The British and the French had been humiliated on the international
scene. Suez was indeed a watershed in terms of the decline of the
UKs role in the Middle East. As the former CIA official Chester L.
Cooper put it, Suez turned out to be the lions last roar. According
to Avi Shlaim, Suez was the turning point: the European phase in
the history of the Middle East gave way to the superpower phase.
The repercussions for the British and the French inside Egypt were
even worse; their nationals were expelled and their property seized.
The Egyptian Jews were also either expelled or chose to leave.
The Suez Crisis brought Egypt and the Soviet Union closer together.
In 1958 the Soviet Union finalized its offer of a loan for the construction
of the Aswan Dam. They also increased their military aid. Ideologically,
322 Egypt remained neutral. According to Nasser, Egypts foreign policy
6 L Egypt
would be 200 feddans. The surplus land was then sold at a favourable
price to those farmers who owned less than 5 feddans. The poor Discussion point
farmers were given 30 years to pay back the state. The dispossessed The Aswan Dam
owners were to be compensated with government bonds. As this was
The Aswan High Dam controls
deemed an insufficient amount of time to pay back the debt, in 1962,
the flooding of the Nile, stores
with the launching of the National Charter the period for payment water for times of drought and
was raised to 40 years. The National Charter also extended land provides hydro-electric power.
distribution by lowering the ceiling of ownership to 100 feddans in These benefits do not come
1962. As a result of the Land Reform Act, rents were lowered and without a price. Dams, like any
co-operatives were established for the very poor farmers (those who other technical advancement,
owned less than 5 feddans). These co-operatives provided farmers need to be reviewed in the light
with fertilizers, seeds, pesticides and transportation for the products of the environmental, and social
to the market. Other conditions included the introduction of a impact it has on the country.
minimum wage for agricultural workers, and access to the national
What type of environmental
power grid for electricity extended to many villages. and social impact did the
In April 1954 Nasser announced the confiscation of land belonging to Aswan Dam have?
the royal family. This was redistributed in the same manner to the poor
farmers. Through this redistribution, 869 landless peasant families in
the Beheira province near Alexandria were given land. On this occasion
Nasser pledged to work to establish decent living standards for all
workers and peasants, but urged them not to expect miraculous results.
The new labour laws addressed the industrial workers with a similar
aim to gain popularity and raise living standards. These reforms included
a raise in the minimum wage, a reduction in working hours, job
creation (especially in the public sector), the introduction of rent
control, and a programme to construct housing for workers.
In 1957 the National Planning Committee was established giving
the state a leading role in organizing the economy. The economic
system under Nasser has been called State Capitalism because,
while maintaining the capitalist system, it placed much of the
ownership in the hands of the state and created a large public
sector. In the 1960s economic policies shifted further towards a
greater state monopoly. In 1960 Egypt launched its first Five Year
Plan. The plan placed emphasis on industrial development
supported by a programme of nationalization announced in the
1962 National Charter. By 1970 the public sector accounted for
74 per cent of all industrial production, 46 per cent of all
production (as rural production remained largely in private
hands), 90 per cent of all investment and 32 per cent of the GNP.
The public sector workers were provided with a decent pension,
a minimum wage and health care.
The economic and social reforms included a major project to
build a dam at Aswan. This would improve the irrigation system
and be a major source of hydroelectric power. The project began
in 1960 and was completed in 1970. As a result of this project
the agricultural areas increased from 5.2 to 5.8 million feddans.
Another area of public life through which the Nasserist regime
could distinguish itself from the past was the provision of
education. The government increased its spending on education Ceremonies on completion of the Aswan High
324 with the goal of obtaining national and cultural unity. The slogan Dam. Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet
Two new schools every three days was posted everywhere. Union with Nasser, 01 January 1964.
6 L Egypt
ty:
Activi
Verdicts on Gamal Abdel Nasser
Nassers name has gone down in history as the Source B
dynamic and charismatic President who put Egypt back
He pushed Egypt ahead, but soon let his fantasy take over,
on the map. He broke with Egypts past and
leading to the disaster of 5 June 1967 From a zaim [Arabic
transformed its society according to a new set of rules.
work meaning the courageous one] he turned into a prophet
These rules were not always well thought-out in
whom no one could criticize. He was all in one. In him were
advance and some have left Egypt with a legacy of
embodied all the national gains of Egypt ever since the
economic inefficiency, an oversized bureaucracy and
country had a recorded history. Suez was the turning point. It
a political system centered around one person:
led him to believe that revolutionary Egypt vanquished
the president.
Imperialism and that had it not been for Nasser this would
Using the information in this section and the following not have happened. Victory was his victory, protected by
passages, discuss Nassers contribution to the history of Providence. Everyone forgot Egypt was not victorious in 1956!
the Egyptian state. Source: Hussein DhuI Fiqar Sabri, quoted in the independent
Egyptian weekly Rose-el Youssef. 18 July 1975.
Source A
Nasser changed the course of the country's history He Source C
understood what democracy is. He loved the common man.
For 18 Years Nasser Had Almost Hypnotic Power in His
Source: Statement by Amin Howeidi, former Minister of Defence
and chief of Egyptian General Intelligence, quoted in the bi-lingual
Leadership of Egyptians
EgyptianFrench daily newspaper Al Ahram. 5 November 2009. Source: Obituary headline, New York Times, 29 September 1970.
325
6 L Post-war developments in the Middle East, 19452000
Source D Source F
Abdel Nasser was not a tyrant as some believe. He was He overwhelmed us with his magic and the hopes, dreams
considerate, frank and decisive. He sought to understand and promises which underlay the victories of the revolution
what was being presented to him before he made a which he repeatedly announced to us with their pipes
decision. and drums, anthems, songs and films, which made us see
Source: Statement from 1968 by Abdel Wahab al Burullusi, ourselves as a great industrial state, leaders of the developing
Minister of Public Health, published in Rose-el Youssef. world and the strongest military power in the Middle East.
29 September 1975.
Source: Tawfig al Hakim, an Egyptian writer whose play, El Sultan
El Haer (The Perplexed Sultan) , from 1960, could be regarded as
Source E a mild critique of Nasser. Quoted in Vatikiotis, P.J. 1978. Nasser
and his Generation. New York, USA. St. Martins Press. p. 320.
signaled to the nation and it awoke; he signaled to the
army and it moved; he signaled to the king and he
Source G
departed; he berated imperialism and it exited from the
country, feudalism and it was smashed, political parties
and they were dissolved.
Source: From Shakhsiyyat Abdel Nasir (The Personality of Abdel
Nasser) by M Rabi, published in 1966. Quoted in Vatikiotis, P.J.
1978. Nasser and his Generation, New York, USA. St. Martins
Press. p. 313.