The end of World War II marked the transition to a new era not only for Europe but also for the Middle East. Many countries gained their independence after the mandates granted to Western powers expired. Lebanon in 1943, Syria in 1945, Jordan in 1946 and Libya in 1951. The Arab countries founded the Arab League in March 1945 to better organize themselves.
The independence of the Arab states in the Middle East, however, did not lead to the decline of British influence in the region. The British hoped that they could maintain their influence there, given their withdrawal from their colonies in other parts of the world, such as from India in 1947. They felt that in order for their country to continue to be considered a major world power, they had to keep the primaries in the Middle East. With this in mind, many military personnel were pressing British governments to place greater importance on defense in that region than in Europe. It was to some extent an existential issue to maintain their influence at a high level in the Middle East.
The British, however, were faced from 1948 with the radicalization of Arab nationalism, which threatened the pro-British regimes in the region. In 1952 King Farouk of Egypt was overthrown by the military under General Mohamed Negib, who in 1953 was declared president of the country. In 1954, however, he was overthrown by his partner, Gamal Abdel Nasser, a key architect of the 1952 coup.
Nasser marked Egypt’s turn to radical nationalism, coming into conflict with British interests in the region. With a strongly anti-Western rhetoric, he set as his goal the removal of British forces from their base at Suez, which he achieved in 1954. He did, however, accept the signing of the Baghdad Pact – a defense coalition under the auspices of the United Kingdom , formed in 1955 with the participation of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan – as an initiative directed against his country. Then, he approached the Soviet Union. This move resulted in the cancellation of loans he had received from the United States and the United Kingdom for the construction of the Aswan Dam.
After consolidating himself in power, Nasser proceeded to draft a new Constitution for Egypt. The approval of the new Constitution, which allowed for the operation of a single party, as well as his candidacy as president, were put to a referendum, which was held on June 23, 1956. As reported by “Kathimerini” of June 26, “out of 5,697,467 voters in the elections for the election of the new president of the republic, Colonel Nasser received 5,496,225 votes, i.e. 98.6%. […] Following the referendum, Egypt now has a new Constitution, which will only be partially implemented at present. In order to fully implement the new regime, elections should be held and the National Assembly convened in November. In the meantime, General Abdel Nasser will rule the country alone.”
Column editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigoni-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
