Black Saturday Research Paper

On January 26, 1952, squads of right-wing extremists stormed into Cairo that led to riot in the streets in response to the battle that occurred at the headquarters of the Ismailia gendarmerie the day before (Gordon 1992, 26). The government was inept in handling of the situation and had no available allies to assist them. The next day, the country was under martial law, the constitution was suspended, the Wafd was dismissed, and the guerillas were arrested (Abdel-Malek, 39). The event known as “Black Saturday” and the virtual collapse of government with five changes of prime ministers enticed the Free Officers to move ahead on their plan to initiate a coup (Hopwood 1982, 37).
A final straw was when King Farouk ordered the governing board of

It became a state driven social movement with Nasser at the helm. The first six weeks of the new government saw a series of reforms that included the elimination of the government’s summer recess to Alexandria, ending the subsidization of private automobiles for cabinet ministers, and the abolition of the titles of bey and pasha (Gordon 1992, 62). The 1952 revolution was a major transformation of power that led to land reform, industrialization, gender reforms to the point of state sponsored feminism and economic reforms. In addition, the focus of change was also on agrarian reform by redirecting capital investment to industry (Abdel-Malek, 40). For the nation to develop, the economy had to switch focus on industrial production. In order to industrialize, the nation needs capital and conditions for industrialization. It cannot be carried out if markets are open to goods from the outside. Since the time of Muhammad Ali, there had not been large scale industrialization to this caliber. The rise of the Free Officers to power brought a promise of economic development and social reform. The government declared tax reforms, pay raises for the military and ten to thirty percent decreases in rent (Gordon 1992, 62). The Free Officers supported the development of national capitalism and an Egyptian controlled economy rather than being controlled by imperialist interests (Gorman 1992,