(continued above)
Fourteen, Egypt's road to modernization
During the ottoman rule, Egypt's supreme governor, called the Pasha, was appointed directly by the sultan of Istanbul. Most of the Pashas have come from Christian communities in the Balkans who converted to Islam.
The Mamluk dynasty made it conditional on its allegiance to the sultan of Istanbul, retaining many of its original privileges. The sharing of power between the Pasha and the Mamluks constituted a prominent phenomenon in the history of Egypt during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.
The period 1760-1798 is known in Egyptian history as the Neo-Mamluk Era. Ali bey, as the leader of the Mamluks, declared the Nile Valley out of the Ottoman Empire and drove out the Pasha appointed by the Sultan of Istanbul. Expand trade with European Christendom and implement reforms in accordance with the Western model.
In 1798, Napoleon led a French army of 40,000 men to invade Egypt, occupy Cairo, and drive out the Mamluk dynasty. The aim was to sever British ties with the British colony of India, thereby weakening the British mainland.
In 1799 Napoleon left Egypt and returned to France. The remaining French forces, under pressure from the Ottoman Empire and the British, also withdrew from Egypt.
The invasion and occupation of the French army led to the weakening of Egypt's traditional political power and the state of power vacuum.
In 1805, the Albanian Muhammad Ali established his dominance in the Nile Valley. He was given the title of Pasha by the Sultan of Istanbul (1805-1848).
After Muhammad Ali took control of Egypt, he frequently launched foreign expansion, sending troops to control the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and then marched south to invade the Sudan region.
From 1831 to 1833, Ibrahim, the son of Muhammad Ali, led an Egyptian army into Syria and occupied Damascus. And defeated the Ottoman army in Konya. The Ottoman sultans were forced to sign agreements recognizing Muhammad Ali's dominion over Syria, Palestine and Adana. Muhammad Ali recognized the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultans.
In 1839, the reign of Muhammad Ali reached its peak. Occupying a vast area of the Arabian Peninsula, it is like a symbol of the Arab world. Initially laid the political foundations for Egypt as a modern nation-state.
During the reign of Muhammad Ali, a policy of religious tolerance was introduced, Christian Europeans were allowed to hold important positions in the government, and secular education was vigorously established, providing fertile ground for the introduction of Western culture. Economically, it gradually bid farewell to the traditional economic model, formed extensive economic exchanges with European countries, and began to integrate into the capitalist market system.
After the death of Muhammad Ali, Western powers began to infiltrate the Nile Valley, and Egypt's power center gradually manifested itself in a historical direction from Cairo to Europe. Western capital entered Egypt in large numbers, and the Cairo-Alexandria railway was the first railway built outside of Europe. The right to excavate and manage the Suez Canal was ceded to France for a lease period of 99 years.
During ismaili's reign, he openly claimed to make Egypt a European country, not an African country. Imitations of Western civilization gradually became fashionable in Egypt. European-style architecture abounds, with a large number of Westerners flocking to Egypt for more than 80,000 people. Western immigrants not only worked in the technical field, but also in the military and political departments.
However, ismaili's goal was not achieved. The government was heavily indebted and the fiscal situation deteriorated sharply, so it borrowed heavily from the West to cede control of the Suez Canal. Egypt embarked on a historical path of intricate Westernization and colonization.
In 1882, under the pretext of the murder of expatriates, the British sent troops to occupy Egypt, dissolved parliament, and from 1883 to 1914, the British consul general in Egypt became the supreme ruler of the Nile Valley. The Egyptian government became a political tool of the British colonial authorities, and Egypt effectively became a British colony.
The British colonial authorities established a modern model of government in Egypt and formulated a sound fiscal policy. Egypt's fiscal crisis has gradually eased, and the political order has stabilized.
The political environment of the colonial rule of the Western powers is fertile ground for the breeding of nationalism. The awakening of the Egyptian people's wisdom was first manifested by the emergence of modern political thought, which was first manifested by the rise of Islamic modernism.
Advocating Western culture and advocating the humanistic spirit, Islam is no longer regarded as the foundation of faith and history of Egyptian society, and the glory of the pharaonic era and the Mediterranean civilization of the classical era have become the common pride of all Egyptians. This period bears many similarities with the European Renaissance, and can also be called a new cultural period in the course of Egyptian history.
In 1918, Saad Zagrel, a central figure in Egypt's national liberation movement, sought to achieve Egypt's full independence through negotiations with Britain. It was rejected by the British government.
In February 1922, the British government signed an agreement with the Egyptian government to formally recognize Egypt as an independent sovereign state, while retaining the four British privileges in Egypt.
In March 1922, Sultan Fouad changed his name to King.
In 1923, a new constitution with 170 articles and an electoral law were officially promulgated. The new constitution gave the king a wide range of powers, above parliament and the constitution, which was in a relatively weak position and religious politics was excluded.
The period 1923-1952 was the constitutional era in Egyptian history, also known as the liberal era.
The formulation of the Constitution and the convening of parliament constitute important external forms of the constitutional system, and the power struggle between many political parties is the political basis of the constitutional system. The specific historical environment in which the Egyptian people are deeply opposed to the British colonial authorities, the struggle for Egypt's national liberation and the establishment of a modern nation-state with complete sovereignty are the common political goals of many modern political parties.
In 1936, the Wuffo government signed an agreement with the British colonial authorities. Egypt gained further independence and enjoyed autonomous diplomatic rights; the size of the British garrison could not exceed 10,000 people; the abolition of consular jurisdiction and the special protections enjoyed by foreign nationals in Egypt; and the British pledged to support Egypt's membership of the League of Nations.
When World War II broke out in 1939, King Farouq and his cabinet took a German-leaning position, trying to rely on the Axis powers to get out of British control.
In 1946, the Egyptian government negotiated with the British colonial authorities, and the two sides agreed to withdraw British troops from Egypt over the next three years, and Britain signed a mutual defense treaty with Egypt.
At the beginning of the 20th century, democracy, science, and industrialization became trends, replacing traditional Egyptian religious conservatism and political authoritarianism with Western liberalism, and replacing monarchical dictatorship with representative government, which was regarded as a historical choice for building a modern state.
However, the serious lag in the level of Economic and Social Development in Egypt, coupled with the specific historical environment of colonial rule, determines the distorted state of the modern political model in Egypt.
In the early days of liberalism, the power struggle between many political parties and the king was a prominent phenomenon in Egyptian politics.
In the late liberal era, the muslim Brotherhood, with its strong religious overtones, became the main political force in popular politics to challenge elite politics.
The period 1945-1948 was the heyday of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood declared: "Our fundamental goal is to liberate islamic land under foreign power and to establish a free Islamic state in Islamic land." "The Muslim Brotherhood is gradually transforming into a radical political organization that embraces violence.
Egypt in 1945-1952 was in a state of utter chaos, and its prominent problems were the tyranny of the king, the corruption of political parties, and the falsehood of parliamentary politics.
In July 1952, the Liberty Officers led by Nasser staged a coup d'état to take control of Cairo. It was announced that King Farouq had been deposed and Crown Prince Foad II was installed on the throne. It was for the famous "July Revolution".
In June 1953, the Revolutionary Command Commission announced the abolition of the monarchy, the removal of Fouad II, the confiscation of royal property, and the entry of Egypt into a republican era. Nasser became president.
In 1954, the Nasser regime signed an agreement with the British government in which the British army promised to withdraw from the Suez Canal Zone within the next 20 months, and the British army retained the right to defend the Suez Canal during a state of emergency, and the two sides recognized the Suez Canal as an international waterway.
In June 1956, the last British army withdrew from Port Said, ending the 74-year British occupation from 1882.
In July 1956, Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal. Subsequently, Britain, the United States and France froze bank deposits in Egypt. In October of the same year, Israeli troops invaded the Sinai Peninsula, and Britain and France attacked Port Said, and the Second Middle East War broke out. With the intervention of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Nations, Britain and France declared a ceasefire, Israel agreed to withdraw its troops, and the Second Middle East War ended.
In 1957, the Egyptian government announced the abrogation of the 1954 treaty with Britain. It marked the end of the era of Egyptian colonialism and the triumph of the national revolution. The Egyptians have since truly become masters of their homeland.
After the end of the Second Middle East War, Nasser was greatly impressed in the international community and won widespread support in the Arab world through solidarity with and support for the anti-imperialist struggle of the Arab peoples. He became the leader of all the Arabs.
In Nasser's time, the prominent feature of Egyptian party politics was the long-term one-party system. The Liberation Congress, the Democratic League, and the Arab Socialist League, as the only legitimate political organizations, were controlled by the Nasser regime and were the political tools of the authoritarianism of the Nasser era.
In 1962 Nassay owed the regime to promulgate the National Charter. It marks the beginning of Egypt's historical path toward Arab socialism.
In 1965, the Egyptian army was in trouble in the Yemeni war. In 1967, the Third Middle East War ended with Egypt's defeat, and the Sinai Peninsula was occupied by Israeli forces, controlling Egypt's main oil-producing regions. Egypt's leadership in the Arab world no longer exists.
In 1968, a large-scale student and worker demonstration broke out in Egypt. Demand those responsible for the defeat of the war, freedom of expression, freedom of the press and political democracy. Foreshadowed the imminent arrival of a profound crisis in the authoritarian political model of Nasser's time.
(To be continued below)
