Rise of Egyptian Communism, 1939-1970Selma Botman examines the virtually unknown history of communism in Egypt during the twentieth-century. In an original and well-documented study, the author has traced the development of the revolutionary left using political court cases, interviews with political activists, and literature from the communist movement itself. In the post–World War II period, Egyptian communists operated in an environment of extreme secrecy and periodic repression. While the communist movement never became a mainstream political force or had realistic capabilities for overthrowing the royalist regime, its importance and influence were much larger than its numbers imply. Egyptian Marxists had a significant ideological impact on Egyptian society, especially among the intelligentsia and to a lesser degree among trade unionists. Moreover, they were present at key moments of nationalist, student, and working-class militancy. The revolutionary left also contributed to the destabilization of the constitutional monarchy and the worn-out Wafd Party, the premier nationalist organization in Egypt, and helped pave the way for the emergence of Gamal Abdul Nasser and the Free Officers movement of 1952. |
Contents
The Roots of Egyptian Communism | 1 |
A Portrait of the Communist Movement | 17 |
The Historical Development of the Egyptian | 33 |
Unification and Division in the Communist | 69 |
Communism and the Military Regime | 115 |
The Significance of the Egyptian Communist Movement | 149 |
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Common terms and phrases
Ahmad Hamrush al-Haraka al-Shafii Alexandria antifascist Arab army arrested Azharites became British Cairo Committee cultural democratic demonstrations DMNL DMNL's Duwayk economic Egyp Egyptian communist movement Egyptian Communist Party Egyptian political Egyptian society EMNL established factory forces foreign Free Officers Movement Fuad Mursi Gamal Abdul Nasser Henri Curiel Ibid ideas ideological independence interview with Muhammad Iskra Ismail Sabri Abd Jewish Jews Kafr al-Dawwar Kamil Khalid Muhyi al-Din labor leaders leadership leftist litical Louis Awad Marxist ment militancy military Misr Muhammad Sid Ahmad munist Mursi Muslim Brotherhood Naguib National Liberation newspaper opposition organization Palestine Paris peasants Personal interview police political activity political parties popular radical recruited regime revolution revolutionary left Rifaat al-Said Saad Zaghlul Sabri Abd Allah Sadiq Saad Sharif Hatata Sidqi social socialist Soviet Union strike struggle tian tion trade union Vanguard Wafd Wafd Party Wafdist women workers World Yusuf Darwish