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EVENT: The Free Officers, a group of elite members of the military, led a bloodless coup against King Farouk, seizing power in what became known as the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
CONSOLIDATION: This was the first step in consolidating Nasser’s power. While he did not take power immediately after this, it laid the foundation for his rise to power a few years later.
EVENT: Nasser’s radio station “The Voice of the Arabs” was established in order to decrease western influence by broadcasting about Arab issues. This radio station was massively successful, becoming part of many people’s daily lives.
CONSOLIDATION: Nasser retained control over the radio station, and used it to influence the beliefs of the people choosing what they can, and can not, listen to on a daily basis. This was especially effective because there were few other radio stations available.
EVENT: The Suez Crisis occurred when Nasser attempted to nationalize control of the Suez Canal, which while on Egyptian territory, had been run by British and French companies. Fearing Nasser’s control of the canal, a vital part of shipping routes, Israel, France, and Great Britain worked together to invade Egypt. The United States moved to stop this action. In the end, forces were forced to withdraw and the crisis is considered a major military victory for Egypt.
CONSOLIDATION: This event gave Nasser immense amounts of popularity and legitimacy as he was seen as being capable of fending off attacks from Western powers. This allowed him to consolidate power both domestically and internationally.
EVENT: After feeling that there might be a possible overthrow of the Syrian government, Syrian officials approached Egypt to join together and become the United Arab Republic. This state merged the two, and existed for three years under Nasser’s leadership in Cairo before disbanding.
CONSOLIDATION: The UAR embodied the spirit of Pan-Arabism, uniting multiple Arab countries to become one. This furthered Nasser’s consolidation of power by granting him access, at least temporarily, to a larger, more powerful country.
EVENT: Egypt, needing to maintain a powerful international position, responded to Israeli expansion into Arab territories by working to amass a strong military force. Despite being warned, an Israeli attack caught Nasser off-guard and the war ended in just six days.
CONSOLIDATION: This negatively affected Nasser’s consolidation and maintenance of power because it severely weakened his, and Egypt’s, legitimacy as leaders of a pan-arabic movement.
EVENT: Following the military defeat of the Six-Day War, Nasser reportedly attempted to resign as president of Egypt. However, mass demonstrations broke out among the people, causing Nasser to retake his position as president.
CONSOLIDATION: Despite the military defeat, this shows Nasser’s strong cult of personality. Despite attempting to take accountability for the losses, many people still believed in the pan-arabic ideology.
EVENT: Nasser dies of a heart attack. His successor, Anwar Sadat, successfully led Egypt for multiple years after but did not achieve the Pan-Arabic goals of Nasser.