The Strengths and Weaknesses of Mao Zedong of China - Essay Example

Born three years after the first Arab Congress in Paris, Gamal Abdel Nasser became one of the most significant players in the field of Arab nationalism. His version of pan-Arabism known as Nasserism had gained great support and many followers in the Arab World, during the period between the 1950s and 1960s. Even though his aureole as leader of the Arabs had been tarnished by the humiliating defeat in the Six Day War of 1967, for many Arabs Gamal Abdel Nasser is still a symbol of the Arab dignity and glory.

Because of the heavy indebtedness of Egypt to European powers, in 1882, in order to protect its financial interests in Suez Canal, Great Britain undertook a military intervention in the region. The British troops entered Alexandria and the Canal Zone and defeated the Egyptian army at the battle of Tel el-Kebir. Reaching Cairo, the British took control over the country and dismissed the national government and militaries. Formally Egypt remained an Ottoman’s province until 1914 when Britain declared a protectorate over the country and deposed the last khedive.

“Between 1882 and 1906, a local nationalist movement for independence, spurred by British actions, was taking shape. The first political parties were founded. After the First World War, Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party led the Egyptian nationalist movement, gaining a majority at the local Legislative Assembly. When the British exiled Zaghlul and his associates to Malta on March 8, 1919, the country arose in its first modern revolution. Constant revolting by the Egyptian people throughout the country led Great Britain to issue a unilateral declaration of Egypt's independence on February 22, 1922.

” (Jankowski, James. Egypt: A Short History, p.112, 2000) A new constitution, based on a parliamentary representative system was implemented in 1923. In 1936 was signed the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, concluded under the pretext of the possible Italian invasion of Egypt.