In July 1952, King Farouk was dethroned. He was
also exiled by a group of nationalist army officers under General
Mohammed Naguib, who captured power and transformed Egypt into
a Republic in 1953. Soon, General Gamal Abdul Nasser replaced
Naguib as the leader of the Revolutionary Command Council (R.C.C.),
as well as the Premier. In July, 1954, the new Premier concluded
an agreement with Britain, providing for Britain’s evacuation of
the Suez Canal. A leading role was played by Nasser, in the formation
of the United Arab Republic (U.A.R.); he signed a pact with the
Syrian President Al-Quathy in February 1958.
Persia (Iran)
A nationalist revolution took place in Persia during
the post-war years. Riza Pahlavi established a Nationalist
government, with himself as Minister of War. In 1923, he became
the Prime Minister. He convened a special National Assembly (Majlis)
in 1925, which elected Riza Pahlavi as Shah of Persia, with the
right of succession to his heirs. Thus he became the titular, as
well as the real head of the state. In 1934, Riza Shah changed the
name of the country from Persia to Iran.
During World War II, Iran declared itself as neutral.
In 1941, Iran was divided between the Russian Zone Occupation and
the Anglo-American Zone. Shah Pahlavi of Iran was deposed in favour
of his young son Mohammed Riza Pahlavi in September 1941.
He signed a treaty of alliance with Great Britain and USSR on January
29, 1942. Though Great Britain withdrew its troops in 1946, the
USSR refused to do so. Only after the U.N. prevailed upon the USSR,
it recalled its forces from Northern Iran. In 1949, Parliamentary
democracy, under the premienship of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh,
was introduced in Iran. However it did not last for long. In 1953,
an uprising enabled the Shah to regain the royal ascendancy.
The United Arab Republic (UAR)
The Syrian President Al-Quathy proclaimed
in Cairo the Union of Egypt and also that Syria was part
of the United Arab Republic "with one flag, one army,
one people". General Nasser was elected the President of the
Republic.
Federation of Jordan and Iraq
In February 1958, the Arab Federation of Jordan
and Iraq was founded. Later, Saudi Arabia joined the federation
and Yemen joined the United Arab Republic. While the United Arab
Republic was "neutralist", the Federation was pro-Western.
Arab League and Arab Unity
The Arab League was created on March 22, 1945,
to develop friendship among the Arab states - Syria, Jordan, Iraq,
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Egypt. These Arab states pledged
to render mutual help in political, financial, cultural and other
affairs of common interest. The headquarters of the League was Cairo.
In 1958, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco joined the Arab League.
The League accomplished much in the economic and cultural field
and fostered much co-operation between these states.
