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The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 recognized full Egyptian sovereignty and provided for the gradual withdrawal of British troops, while giving the United Kingdom the right to maintain a garrison on the Suez Canal, and to use Alexandria and Port Said as naval bases. The Italian invasion of Egypt in 1940 and the subsequent Libyan campaign postponed the departure of British forces. After the Second World War, British forces withdrew from Egypt, except for a military presence in the Suez Canal Zone. When the British mandate in Palestine was ended in 1948, Arab armies intervened to oppose the newly-proclaimed State of Israel. A cease-fire was agreed in 1949, leaving Egyptian forces occupying the Gaza Strip.
In September Gen. Negib was appointed Prime Minister and Military Governor, with Col Nasser as Deputy Prime Minister. In December the 1923 Constitution was abolished, and in January 1953 all political parties were dissolved. On 18 June 1953 the monarchy was abolished, and Egypt was proclaimed a republic, with Gen. Negnib as President and Prime Minister. In April 1954 President Neguib was succeeded as Prime Minister by Col Nasser. In October Egypt and the United Kingdom signed an agreement providing for the withdrawal of all British forces from the Suez Canal by June 1956. In November 1954 President Neguib was relieved of all his remaining posts, and Col Nasser became acting Head of State. In foreign affairs, the new regime was strongly committed to Arab unity, and Egypt played a prominent part in the Non-Aligned Movement. In 1955, having failed to secure Western armaments on satisfactory terms, Egypt accepted military assistance from the USSR. On 23 June 1956 a new Constitution was approved by a national referendum, and Nasser was elected President. Egypt and Syria merged in February 1958 to forrn the United Arab Republic (UAR), with Nasser as President. The new nation strengthened earlier ties with the USSR and other countries of the East European bloc. In September 1961 Syria seceded from the UAR, but Egypt retained this title until September 1971. In 1958 the UAR and Yemen formed a federation called the United Arab States, but this was dissolved in 1961. |
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Egypt, a province of Turkey´s Ottoman Empire from the 16th century, was occupied by British forces in 1882.
The administration was controlled by British officials, although Egypt remained nominally an Ottoman province
until 1914, when a British protectorate was declared.
On 23 July 1952 King Farouk´s unpopular regime was overthrown in a bloodless military coup. Power was seized
by a group of young army officers, led by Lt-Col Gamal Abd An-Nasir (Nasser). Farouk abdicated in favour of his infant son, Ahmad Fuad II, and went into exile.