Editing Gamal Abdel Nasser (section)

== Road to presidency ==

=== Disputes with Naguib ===
[[File:Nageeb & nasser.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Two smiling men in military uniform seated in an open-top automobile. The first man on the left is pointing his hand in a gesture. Behind the automobile are men in uniform walking away from the vehicle|Nasser (right) and [[Mohamed Naguib]] (left) during celebrations marking the second anniversary of the 1952 revolution, July 1954]]
[[File:Nasser and Naguib Saluting.tif|thumb|alt=Five men in military uniforms standing in a row, with the three in the middle saluting|Nasser and Naguib saluting at the opening of the [[Suez Canal]]]]
[[File:Gamal Abdel Nasser on the Muslim Brotherhood (subtitled).webm|thumb|right|alt=Nasser laughing at the Muslim Brotherhood for suggesting in 1953 that women should be required to wear the hijab and that Islamic law should be enforced across the country.|Nasser laughing at the Muslim Brotherhood for suggesting in 1953 that women should be required to wear the hijab and that Islamic law should be enforced across the country.]]
In January 1953, Nasser overcame opposition from Naguib and banned all political parties,<ref name="Aburish46-7">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|pp=46–47}}</ref> creating a one-party system under the Liberation Rally, a loosely structured movement whose chief task was to organize pro-RCC rallies and lectures,<ref name="Kandil22">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=22}}</ref> with Nasser its [[secretary-general]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=23}}</ref> Despite the dissolution order, Nasser was the only RCC member who still favored holding parliamentary elections, according to his fellow officer [[Abdel Latif Boghdadi (politician)|Abdel Latif Boghdadi]].<ref name="Aburish46-7" /> Although outvoted, he still advocated holding elections by 1956.<ref name="Aburish46-7" /> In March 1953, Nasser led the Egyptian delegation negotiating a British withdrawal from the Suez Canal.<ref name="Aburish51">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|p=51}}</ref>

When Naguib began showing signs of independence from Nasser by distancing himself from the RCC's land reform decrees and drawing closer to Egypt's established political forces, namely the Wafd and the Brotherhood,<ref name="Kandil27">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=27}}</ref> Nasser resolved to depose him.<ref name="Aburish51" /> In June, Nasser took control of the interior ministry post from Naguib loyalist [[Sulayman Hafez]],<ref name="Kandil27" /> and pressured Naguib to conclude the abolition of the monarchy.<ref name="Aburish51" />

On 25 February 1954, Naguib announced his resignation after the RCC held an official meeting without his presence two days prior.<ref name="Kandil32">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=32}}</ref> On 26 February, Nasser accepted the resignation, put Naguib under house arrest,<ref name="Kandil32" /> and the RCC proclaimed Nasser as both RCC chairman and prime minister.<ref>{{Harvnb|Nutting|1972|p=60}}</ref> As Naguib intended, a mutiny immediately followed, demanding Naguib's reinstatement and the RCC's dissolution.<ref name="Kandil32" /> While visiting the striking officers at Military Headquarters (GHQ) to call for the mutiny's end, Nasser was initially intimidated into accepting their demands.<ref name="Kandil33">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=33}}</ref> However, on 27 February, Nasser's supporters in the army launched a raid on the GHQ, ending the mutiny.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=34}}</ref> Later that day, hundreds of thousands of protesters, mainly belonging to the Brotherhood, called for Naguib's return and Nasser's imprisonment.<ref name="Kandil35">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=35}}</ref> In response, a sizable group within the RCC, led by Khaled Mohieddin, demanded Naguib's release and return to the presidency.<ref name="Aburish51" /> Nasser acquiesced, but delayed Naguib's reinstatement until 4 March, allowing him to promote Amer to Commander of the Armed Forces—a position formerly occupied by Naguib.<ref name="Aburish52">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|p=52}}</ref>

On 5 March, Nasser's security coterie arrested thousands of participants in the uprising.<ref name="Kandil35" /> As a ruse to rally opposition against a return to the pre-1952 order, the RCC decreed an end to restrictions on monarchy-era parties and the Free Officers' withdrawal from politics.<ref name="Kandil35" /> The RCC succeeded in provoking the beneficiaries of the revolution, namely the workers, peasants, and petty bourgeois, to oppose the decrees,<ref name="Kandil36">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=36}}</ref> with one million transport workers launching a strike and thousands of peasants entering Cairo in protest in late March.<ref name="Kandil38">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=38}}</ref> Naguib sought to crack down on the protesters, but his requests were rebuffed by the heads of the security forces.<ref name="Kandil39" /> On 29 March, Nasser announced the decrees' revocation in response to the "impulse of the street".<ref name="Kandil39">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|p=39}}</ref> Between April and June, hundreds of Naguib's supporters in the military were either arrested or dismissed, and Mohieddin was informally exiled to [[Switzerland]] to represent the RCC abroad.<ref name="Kandil39" /> [[King Saud]] of [[Saudi Arabia]] attempted to mend relations between Nasser and Naguib, but to no avail.<ref name="Aburish53">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|pp=52–53}}</ref>

=== Assuming chairmanship of RCC ===
{{Main|Attempted assassination of Gamal Abdel Nasser}}
[[File:Liberation organization in Alexandria invitation to Nasser speech 26-10-1954.jpg|thumb|alt=A letter written in Arabic with the seal of the RCC at the top|Liberation organization in Alexandria invitation to Nasser speech 26 October 1954]]
[[File:Nasser mansheya incident.oga|thumb|Sound recording of 1954 assassination attempt on Nasser while he was addressing a crowd in Manshia, [[Alexandria]]. ]]
On 26 October 1954, Muslim Brotherhood member Mahmoud Abdel-Latif [[Attempted assassination of Gamal Abdel Nasser|attempted to assassinate Nasser]] while he was delivering a speech in Alexandria, broadcast to the Arab world by radio, to celebrate the British military withdrawal. The gunman was {{convert|25|ft|m}} away from him and fired eight shots, but all missed Nasser. Panic broke out in the mass audience, but Nasser maintained his posture and raised his voice to appeal for calm.<ref name="Aburish55">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|pp=54–55}}</ref><ref name="Rogan228" /> With great emotion he exclaimed the following:

<blockquote>My countrymen, my blood spills for you and for Egypt. I will live for your sake and die for the sake of your freedom and honor. Let them kill me; it does not concern me so long as I have instilled pride, honor, and freedom in you. If Gamal Abdel Nasser should die, each of you shall be Gamal Abdel Nasser ... Gamal Abdel Nasser is of you and from you and he is willing to sacrifice his life for the nation.<ref name="Rogan228">{{Harvnb|Rogan|2011|p=228}}</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Nasser and RCC members welcomed by Alexandria, 1954.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A man standing in an open-top vehicle and waving to a crowd of people surrounding the vehicle. There are several men seated in the vehicle and in another trailing vehicle, all dressed in military uniform|Nasser greeted by crowds in Alexandria one day after his announcement of the British withdrawal and the assassination attempt against him, 27 October 1954.]]
The crowd roared in approval and Arab audiences were electrified. The assassination attempt backfired, quickly playing into Nasser's hands.<ref name="Aburish54">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|p=54}}</ref> Upon returning to Cairo, he ordered one of the largest political crackdowns in the modern history of Egypt,<ref name="Aburish54" /> with the arrests of thousands of dissenters, mostly members of the Brotherhood, but also communists, and the dismissal of 140 officers loyal to Naguib.<ref name="Aburish54" /> Eight Brotherhood leaders were sentenced to death,<ref name="Aburish54" /> although the sentence of its chief ideologue, [[Sayyid Qutb]], was commuted to a 15-year imprisonment.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brown|2000|p=159}}</ref> Naguib was removed from the presidency and put under house arrest, but was never tried or sentenced, and no one in the army rose to defend him. With his rivals neutralized, Nasser became the undisputed leader of Egypt.<ref name="Rogan228" />

Nasser's street following was still too small to sustain his plans for reform and to secure him in office.<ref name="Aburish56">{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|p=56}}</ref> To promote himself and the Liberation Rally, he gave speeches in a cross-country tour,<ref name="Aburish56" /> and imposed controls over the country's [[Egyptian newspapers|press]] by decreeing that all publications had to be approved by the party to prevent "sedition".<ref name="AtiyehOweiss331–2">{{Harvnb|Atiyeh|Oweis|1988|pp=331–332}}</ref> Both [[Umm Kulthum]] and [[Abdel Halim Hafez]], the leading Arab singers of the era, performed songs praising Nasser's nationalism. Others produced plays denigrating his political opponents.<ref name="Aburish56" /> According to his associates, Nasser orchestrated the campaign himself.<ref name="Aburish56" /> [[Arab nationalist]] terms such "Arab homeland" and "Arab nation" frequently began appearing in his speeches in 1954–55, whereas prior he would refer to the Arab "peoples" or the "Arab region".<ref>{{Harvnb|Jankowski|2001|p=32}}</ref> In January 1955, the RCC appointed him as their president, pending national elections.<ref name="Aburish56" />
[[File:Copts-with-Nasser-1965.jpg|thumb|President Nasser receives a delegation of Christian bishops from [[Dakahlia Governorate|Dakahlia]], [[Qena]], [[Qus]] and [[Sohag]] (1965)]]
Nasser made secret contacts with Israel in 1954–55, but determined that peace with Israel would be impossible, considering it an "expansionist state that viewed the Arabs with disdain".<ref>{{Harvnb|Aburish|2004|p=239}}</ref> On 28 February 1955, Israeli troops [[Operation Black Arrow|attacked]] the Egyptian-held Gaza Strip with the stated aim of suppressing [[Palestinian fedayeen]] raids. Nasser did not feel that the Egyptian Army was ready for a confrontation and did not retaliate militarily. His failure to respond to Israeli military action demonstrated the ineffectiveness of his armed forces and constituted a blow to his growing popularity.<ref name="Rasler38">{{Harvnb|Rasler|Thompson|Ganguly|2013|pp=38–39}}</ref><ref name="Dekmeijan44">{{Harvnb|Dekmejian|1971|p=44}}</ref> Nasser subsequently ordered the tightening of the [[Israeli passage through the Suez Canal and Straits of Tiran|blockade on Israeli shipping through the Straits of Tiran]] and restricted the use of airspace over the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] by Israeli aircraft in early September.<ref name="Rasler38" /> The Israelis re-militarized the [[Auja al-Hafir|al-Auja Demilitarized Zone]] on the Egyptian border on 21 September.<ref name="Dekmeijan44" />

Simultaneous with Israel's February raid, the [[Baghdad Pact]] was formed between some regional allies of the UK. Nasser considered the Baghdad Pact a threat to his efforts to eliminate British military influence in the Middle East, and a mechanism to undermine the [[Arab League]] and "perpetuate [Arab] subservience to Zionism and [Western] imperialism".<ref name="Rasler38" /> Nasser felt that if he was to maintain Egypt's regional leadership position he needed to acquire modern weaponry to arm his military. When it became apparent to him that [[Western world|Western countries]] would not supply Egypt under acceptable financial and military terms,<ref name="Rasler38" /><ref name="Dekmeijan44" /><ref name="Kandil45-6">{{Harvnb|Kandil|2012|pp=45–46}}</ref> Nasser turned to the [[Eastern Bloc]] and concluded a {{currency|320 million|USD}} armaments agreement with [[Czechoslovakia]] on 27 September.<ref name="Rasler38" /><ref name="Dekmeijan44" /> Through the [[Egyptian-Czech arms deal|Czechoslovakian arms deal]], the balance of power between Egypt and Israel was more or less equalized and Nasser's role as the Arab leader defying the West was enhanced.<ref name="Dekmeijan44" /> The arms deal led to increased unease in the United States, where Nasser was compared to [[Benito Mussolini]] and [[Adolf Hitler]], causing it to strengthen its relations with Israel and become more wary of Egypt as a result.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McAlexander |first1=Richard J. |date=18 November 2010 |title=Couscous Mussolini: US perceptions of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the 1958 intervention in Lebanon and the origins of the US–Israeli special relationship |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14682745.2010.482960?role=button&needAccess=true&journalCode=fcwh20 |journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=363–385 |doi=10.1080/14682745.2010.482960 |s2cid=153604066 |access-date=4 March 2023 |issn=1468-2745}}</ref>

=== Adoption of neutralism ===
[[File:Nasser-Faisal-Husayni at Bandung.png|thumb|upright|alt=Six men seated on a rug. The first two men from the left are dressed in white robes and white headdresses, the third and fourth men are dressed in military uniform, and the last two are wearing robes and headdresses|Nasser and [[Ahmad bin Yahya|Imam Ahmad]] of [[Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen|North Yemen]] facing the camera, Prince [[Faisal of Saudi Arabia]] in white robes in the background, [[Mohammad Amin al-Husayni|Amin al-Husayni]] of the [[All-Palestine Government]] in the foreground at the [[Bandung Conference]], April 1955]]

At the [[Asian–African Conference|Bandung Conference]] in [[Indonesia]] in late April 1955, Nasser was treated as the leading representative of the Arab countries and was one of the most popular figures at the summit.<ref name="TanAcharya12">{{Harvnb|Tan|Acharya|2008|p=12}}</ref><ref name="Dekmeijan43">{{Harvnb|Dekmejian|1971|p=43}}</ref> He had paid earlier visits to [[Pakistan]] (9 April),<ref>{{Harvnb|Ginat|2010|p=115}}</ref> India (14 April),<ref>{{Harvnb|Ginat|2010|p=113}}</ref> [[Burma]], and [[Afghanistan]] on the way to Bandung,<ref name="Jankowski65-6">{{Harvnb|Jankowski|2001|pp=65–66}}</ref> and previously cemented a treaty of friendship with India in Cairo on 6 April, strengthening [[Egypt–India relations|Egyptian–Indian relations]] on the international policy and economic development fronts.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ginat|2010|p=105}}</ref>

Nasser mediated discussions between the pro-Western, pro-Soviet, and neutralist conference factions over the composition of the "Final Communique"<ref name="TanAcharya12" /> addressing colonialism in Africa and Asia and the fostering of global peace amid the [[Cold War]] between the West and the [[Soviet Union]]. At Bandung, Nasser sought a proclamation for the avoidance of international defense alliances, support for the independence of [[Tunisia]], [[Algeria]], and [[Morocco]] from [[French colonialism|French rule]], support for the [[Palestinian right of return]], and the implementation of UN resolutions regarding the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]]. He succeeded in lobbying the attendees to pass resolutions on each of these issues, notably securing the strong support of [[China]] and India.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ginat|2010|p=111}}</ref>

Following Bandung, Nasser officially adopted the "positive neutralism" of [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavian]] president [[Josip Broz Tito]] and Indian Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] as a principal theme of Egyptian foreign policy regarding the Cold War.<ref name="Dekmeijan43" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Cook|2011|p=66}}</ref> Nasser was welcomed by large crowds of people lining the streets of Cairo on his return to Egypt on 2 May and was widely heralded in the press for his achievements and leadership in the conference. Consequently, Nasser's prestige was greatly boosted, as was his self-confidence and image.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ginat|2010|pp=111–112}}</ref>

=== 1956 constitution and presidency ===
[[File:Nasser voting constitutional referendum.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=A man wearing a suit inserting a piece of paper into a box. He is being photographed by cameramen|Nasser submitting his vote for the referendum of the proposed constitution, 23 June 1956]]
With his domestic position considerably strengthened, Nasser was able to secure primacy over his RCC colleagues and gained relatively unchallenged decision-making authority,<ref name="Jankowski65-6" /> particularly over foreign policy.<ref name="Jankowski67">{{Harvnb|Jankowski|2001|p=67}}</ref>

In January 1956, the new [[Egyptian Constitution of 1956|Constitution of Egypt]] was drafted, entailing the establishment of a single-party system under the National Union (NU),<ref name="Jankowski67" /> a movement Nasser described as the "cadre through which we will realize our revolution".<ref>{{Harvnb|Alexander|2005|p=126}}</ref> The NU was a reconfiguration of the Liberation Rally,<ref name="Ansari84">{{Harvnb|Ansari|1986|p=84}}</ref> which Nasser determined had failed in generating mass public participation.<ref name="Peretz242">{{Harvnb|Peretz|1994|p=242}}</ref> In the new movement, Nasser attempted to incorporate more citizens, approved by local-level party committees, in order to solidify popular backing for his government.<ref name="Peretz242" /> The NU would select a nominee for the presidential election whose name would be provided for public approval.<ref name="Jankowski67" />

Nasser's nomination for the post and the new constitution were put to [[1956 Egyptian referendum|public referendum]] on 23 June and each was approved by an overwhelming majority.<ref name="Jankowski67" /> A 350-member [[People's Assembly (Egypt)|National Assembly]] was established,<ref name="Ansari84" /> elections for which were held in July 1957. Nasser had ultimate approval over all the candidates.<ref name="Peretz241">{{Harvnb|Peretz|1994|p=241}}</ref> The constitution granted [[women's suffrage]], prohibited discrimination by sex, and entailed special protection for women in the workplace.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sullivan|1986|p=80}}</ref> Coinciding with the new constitution and Nasser's presidency, the RCC dissolved itself and its members resigned their military commissions as part of the transition to civilian rule.<ref name="Dekmejian45">{{Harvnb|Dekmejian|1971|p=45}}</ref> During the deliberations surrounding the establishment of a new government, Nasser began a process of sidelining his rivals among the original Free Officers, while elevating his closest allies to high-ranking positions in the cabinet.<ref name="Jankowski67" />