Sadat era
Encyclopedia
Nasser era
Nasser era refers to the period of Egyptian history spanning from the 1952 Revolution, through the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser to his death in 1970. Nasser was the first Egyptian ruler of Egypt in over 2000 years and his rule heralded a new period of modernization, and socialist reform in...
in 1970, through Sadat's assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. Sadat's presidency saw many changes in Egypt's
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
direction, reversing some of the economic and political principles of Nasserism
Nasserism
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...
by breaking with Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to make Egypt an ally of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, initiated the peace process with Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, re-instituting the multi-party system, and abandoning socialism by launching the Infitah
Infitah
The Infitah was Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's policy of "opening the door" to private investment in Egypt in the years following the 1973 October War with Israel...
economic policy.
The October War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
of 1973 to liberate Egyptian territory occupied by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, making Sadat a hero in Egypt and led to negotiations with Israel
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States...
, culminating in the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty which restored the Sinai to Egypt but saw Egypt estranged from most other Arab countries, and Sadat assassinated several years later.
Early years
After Nasser's death, another of the original revolutionary "free officersFree Officers Movement
In Egypt, the clandestine revolutionary Free Officers Movement was composed of young junior army officers committed to unseating the Egyptian monarchy and its British advisors...
," Vice President Anwar el-Sadat, was elected President of Egypt. Nasser's supporters in government settled on Sadat as a transitional figure that (they believed) could be manipulated easily. However, Sadat had a long term in office and many changes in mind for Egypt and by some astute political moves was able to institute a "corrective revolution", (announced on On 15 May 1971) which purged the government, political and security establishments of the most ardent Nasserists
Nasserism
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...
. Sadat encouraged the emergence of an Islamist movement which had been suppressed by Nasser. Believing Islamists to be socially conservative he gave them "considerable cultural and ideological autonomy" in exchange for political support.
Following the disastrous Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
of 1967, Egypt waged a War of Attrition
War of Attrition
The international community and both countries attempted to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. The Jarring Mission of the United Nations was supposed to ensure that the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 242 would be observed, but by late 1970 it was clear that this mission had been...
in the Suez Canal zone. In 1971, three years into this war Sadat endorsed in a letter the peace proposals of UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
negotiator Gunnar Jarring
Gunnar Jarring
Gunnar Valfrid Jarring was a Swedish diplomat and Turkologist.Jarring was born in Brunnby, Höganäs Municipality, Skåne County , Sweden. He earned a Ph.D. from Lund University in 1933 with his dissertation Studien zu einer osttürkischen Lautlehre...
which seemed to lead to a full peace with Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
on the basis of Israel's withdrawal to its pre-war borders. This peace initiative failed as neither Israel nor the United States of America accepted the terms as discussed then.
To provide Israel with more incentive to negotiate with Egypt and return the Sinai to it, and also because the Soviets had refused Sadat’s requests for more military support, Sadat expelled the Soviet military advisers from Egypt and proceeded to bolster his army for a renewed confrontation with Israel.
October 1973 war
In 1971, Sadat concluded a treaty of friendship with the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, but a year later ordered Soviet advisers to leave. Soviets were engaged in detente with the United States and discouraged Egypt from attacking Israel. Sadat favored another war with Israel in hopes of regaining the Sinai peninsula and reviving a country demoralized from the 1967 war. He hoped that at least a limited victory over the Israelis would alter the status quo. In the months before the war Sadat engaged in a diplomatic offensive and by the fall of 1973 had support for a war of more than a hundred states, including most of the countries of the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
, Non-Aligned Movement
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...
, and Organization of African Unity. Syria agreed to join Egypt in attacking Israel.
Egypt's armed forces achieved initial successes in the Crossing and advanced 15 km, reaching the depth of the range of safe coverage of its own air force. Having defeated the Israeli forces to this extent, Egyptian forces, rather than advancing under air cover, decided to immediately penetrate further into the Sinai desert. In spite of huge losses they kept advancing, creating the chance to open a gap between army forces. That gap was exploited by a tank division led by Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
, and he and his tanks managed to penetrate onto Egyptian soil, reaching Suez City. In the mean time, the United States initiated a strategic airlift to provide replacement weapons and supplies to Israel and appropriate $2.2 billion in emergency aid. OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
oil ministers, led by Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
retaliated with an oil embargo against the US. A UN resolution supported by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviet Union called for an end to hostilities and for peace talks to begin. On 5 March 1974 Israel withdrew the last of its troops from the west side of the Suez Canal, and 12 days later Arab oil ministers announced the end of the embargo against the United States. For Sadat and many Egyptians the war was much more a victory than a draw, as the initial Egyptian successes restored Egyptian pride and led to peace talks with the Israelis that eventually led to Egypt regaining the entire Sinai peninsula.
Domestic Policy and the Infitah
Sadat used his immense popularity with the Egyptian people to try to push through vast economic reforms that ended the socialistic controlsArab socialism
Arab socialism is a political ideology based on an amalgamation of Pan-Arabism and socialism. Arab socialism is distinct from the much broader tradition of socialist thought in the Arab world, which predates Arab socialism by as much as fifty years...
of Nasserism
Nasserism
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...
. Sadat introduced greater political freedom and a new economic policy, the most important aspect of which was the infitah
Infitah
The Infitah was Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's policy of "opening the door" to private investment in Egypt in the years following the 1973 October War with Israel...
or "open door". This relaxed government controls over the economy and encouraged private investment. While the reforms created a wealthy and successful upper class and a small middle class, these reforms had little effect upon the average Egyptian who began to grow dissatisfied with Sadat's rule. In 1977, Infitah policies led to massive spontaneous riots ('Bread Riots')
1977 Egyptian Bread Riots
The Egyptian 'Bread Riots' of 1977 affected most major cities in Egypt from January 18-19, 1977. The riots were a spontaneous uprising by hundreds of thousands of lower class people protesting World Bank and International Monetary Fund-mandated termination of state subsidies on basic foodstuffs...
involving hundreds of thousands of Egyptians when the state announced that it was retiring subsidies on basic foodstuffs. Infitah has been criticized as bringing "wild rents, land speculations, inflation, and corruption."
During Sadat's presidency Egyptians began to receive more of their income from abroad. Between 1974 and 1985, more than three million Egyptians—construction workers, labourers, mechanics, plumbers, electricians as well as young teachers and accountants—migrated to the Persian Gulf region. Remittances from these workers allowed families in Egypt to buy "refrigerators, TV sets, video recorders, cars and flats."
Liberalization also included the reinstitution of due process and the legal banning of torture. Sadat dismantled much of the existing political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...
and brought to trial a number of former government officials accused of criminal excesses during the Nasser era. Sadat tried to expand participation in the political process in the mid-1970s but later abandoned this effort. In the last years of his life, Egypt was wracked by violence arising from discontent with Sadat's rule and sectarian tensions, and it experienced a renewed measure of repression including extra judicial arrests.
International Relations and the Camp David Accords
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
of the United States to President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
to enter trilateral negotiations at Camp David.
The outcome was the historic Camp David accords, signed by Egypt and Israel and witnessed by the US on 17 September 1978. The accords led to the 26 March 1979, signing of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, by which Egypt regained control of the Sinai in May 1982. Throughout this period, US–Egyptian relations steadily improved, and Egypt became one of America's largest recipients of foreign aid. Sadat's willingness to break ranks by making peace with Israel earned him the enmity of most other Arab states, however. Egypt was suspended from the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
, and in 1977 it fought a short border war
Libyan-Egyptian War
The Egyptian–Libyan War was a short border war between Libya and Egypt in July, 1977.On July 21, 1977, there were first gun battles between troops on the border, followed by land and air strikes...
with Libya.
Islamic revival
In his first public speech after Egypt's defeat at the hand of the Israel, Sadat's predecessor Abdul NasserGamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
called for religion to play a more important role in society. The line is said to have drawn `an exceptionally enthusiastic roar of applause` by the Egyptian audience, and three years later when the 1970s began, religiosity was ascendant in Egypt (as in much of the Muslim world). Beards on men and hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
on women became more popular. Religious programs appeared on state TV and radio. Islamic preachers (such as Sheikh Muhammad Metwally Al Shaarawy
Muhammad Metwally Al Shaarawy
Muhammad Metwally El-Shaarawy was an Egyptian Muslim jurist. -Early life:El-Shaarawy was born in Dakadous village, Mit Ghamr, Ad Daqahliyah, Egypt on April 15, 1911. He is a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib. He got married while he was in elementary school. He has three sons and two...
) began to take prominence as symbols of popular Egyptian culture. Novels, plays, science-fiction, philosophy books singing the praises of Islam, often by converts from secularism. (An example being My Itinerary from Doubt to Belief, an autobiography by a very popular Egyptian writer, Dr. Mustafa Mahmud, who had formerly been a staunch believer in scientific positivism
Positivism
Positivism is a a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information....
, human engineering, and materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
. Another prominent ex-secularist convert was Khalid Muhammad Khalid The revival led to greater attendance in prayer and growth of non-state-controlled neighborhood mosques, but also to at least come conflict with the minority Coptic Christians of Egypt, an example being Islamist castigation of Muslim participation in the all-Egyptian spring holiday Sham el-Nessim. The picnicking festival, which has pre-Islamic roots, was attacked as a means for bringing about the `destruction of Islam in Egypt.`"
Observers trace the revival to disenchantment with Arab Nationalism
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...
, as exemplified by Egypt's "shattering" 1967 defeat ; the perceived victory of the 1973 war
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
with its pious battle cry of Allahu Akbar
Takbir
The Takbīr or Tekbir is the Arabic term for the phrase ' . It is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression...
(`Land, Sea and Air` had been the slogan of the 1967 war); and "to the missionary zeal" of Saudi
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
Wahhabism
Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
, "fueled by petrodollar
Petrodollar
A petrodollar is a United States dollar earned by a country through the sale of petroleum. The term was coined by Ibrahim Oweiss, a professor of economics at Georgetown University, in 1973...
s in the wake of the oil shock of 1974-5
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
."
Islamist impact
Another change Sadat made from the Nasser era was a bow towards the Islamic revival. Sadat loosened restrictions on the Muslim Brotherhood, allowing it to publish a monthly magazine, al-Dawa, which appeared regularly until September 1981 (although he did not allow the group's reconstitution). In 1971, the concentration camps where Islamists were held were closed, and the regime began to gradually release the imprisoned Muslim Brothers, though the organisation itself remained illegal; the last of those still behind bars regained their freedom in the general amnesty of 1975.Sadat also considered Islamists, particularly al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is an Egyptian Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Egyptian governments...
, a "useful counterweight" to his Marxist and Arab leftist opposition, student groups being particularly vocal and active. From 1973 to 1979 al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is an Egyptian Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Egyptian governments...
grew (in part with help from the Sadat regime) from a minority group to being "in complete control of the universities" with the leftist organizations being driven underground.
In the late 1970s, he began calling himself `The Believer President` and signing his name Mohammad Anwar Sadat.` He ordered Egypt's state-run television to interrupt programs with Salat
Salat
Salah is the practice of formal prayer in Islam. Its importance for Muslims is indicated by its status as one of the Five Pillars of Sunni Islam, of the Ten Practices of the Religion of Twelver Islam and of the 7 pillars of Musta'lī Ismailis...
(call to prayer) on the screen five times a day and to increase religious programming. Under his rule local officials banned the sale of alcohol except at places catering to foreign tourists in more than half of Egypt's 26 governates.
However, Islamists came to clash with Sadat who supported women's rights and opposed compulsory hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
. Most particularly they opposed what they called his "shameful peace with the Jews," aka the Camp David Accords
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States...
with Israel. By the late 1970s the government turned against Islamism. In June 1981, after a brutal sectarian Muslim-Copt fight in the poor al-Zawaiyya Al Hamra district of Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya was dissolved by the state their infrastructure was destroyed and their leaders arrested."
According to interviews and information gathered by journalist Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, screenwriter, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law...
, the radical Islamist group Egyptian Islamic Jihad was recruiting military officers and accumulating weapons, waiting for the right moment to launch "a complete overthrow of the existing order" in Egypt, killing the main leaders of the country, capturing the crucial headquarters of regime institutions, spreading news of the Islamic coup, which they hoped would unleash a popular uprising against secular authority all over the country."
In February 1981, Egyptian authorities were alerted to El-Jihad's plan by the arrest of an operative carrying crucial information. In September, Sadat ordered a highly unpopular roundup of more than 1500 people, including many Jihad members, but also the Coptic Pope
Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria
Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria is the 117th Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark the Evangelist of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria...
and other Coptic clergy, intellectuals and activists of all ideological stripes. All non-government press was banned as well. The round up missed a Jihad cell in the military led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli
Khalid Islambouli
Khalid Ahmed Showky Al-Islambouli was an Egyptian army officer who planned and participated in the assassination of Egypt's third president, Anwar Sadat, during the annual 6th October victory parade on 6 October 1981...
, who succeeded in assassinating Anwar Sadat that October.
Sadat was succeeded
Mubarak era
Mubarak era refers to the 29 year long presidency of Hosni Mubarak, the period of Egyptian history spanning from October 1981 when President Anwar Sadat, Mubarak's predecessor, was assassinated, though February 2011, when Mubarak was overthrown by a revolution.-Politics:On 6 October 1981, President...
by his Vice president Hosni Mubarak.
See also
- Nasser eraNasser eraNasser era refers to the period of Egyptian history spanning from the 1952 Revolution, through the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser to his death in 1970. Nasser was the first Egyptian ruler of Egypt in over 2000 years and his rule heralded a new period of modernization, and socialist reform in...
- Mubarak eraMubarak eraMubarak era refers to the 29 year long presidency of Hosni Mubarak, the period of Egyptian history spanning from October 1981 when President Anwar Sadat, Mubarak's predecessor, was assassinated, though February 2011, when Mubarak was overthrown by a revolution.-Politics:On 6 October 1981, President...
- InfitahInfitahThe Infitah was Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's policy of "opening the door" to private investment in Egypt in the years following the 1973 October War with Israel...
- Assassination of Anwar SadatAssassination of Anwar SadatThe Assassination of Anwar El Sadat occurred on 6 October 1981. Anwar El Sadat, the President of Egypt, was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Egypt's crossing of the Suez Canal. A fatwā approving the assassination had been obtained from Omar Abdel-Rahman, a...
- Egyptian Revolutionary Command CouncilEgyptian Revolutionary Command CouncilThe Revolutionary Command Council was the body established to supervise Egypt and Sudan after the Revolution of 1952. It initially selected Ali Maher Pasha as Prime Minister, but forced him to resign after conflict over land reform. At that time, the Council took full control of Egypt...
- History of modern EgyptHistory of Modern EgyptThe definition of modern history has varied in accordance to different definitions of Modernity. Some scholars date it as far back as 1517 with the Ottomans’ defeat of the Mamlūks in 1516–17...
- List of modern conflicts in the Middle East