What were the impact of President Nasser’s social policies in Egypt between 1953 and 1967?

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For Egypt, the 20th century was a time of great change. Egypt only gained independence from the British in 1922, when Fuad became king. However, many were unhappy with the way Fuad, and later his son Farouk ran the country and it sparked a historic uprising in the early 1950s, resulting in Gamal Abdel Nasser becoming President and declaring Egypt a Republic. Nasser’s presidency in Egypt presented a new, modern way of life to the public, leading to a period of profound economic and political change, not only in Egypt, but throughout the Arab world. During his time, Nasser revolutionized the economy and education, as well as improving the lives of the general public, particularly women. Through the close analysis of primary sources, and further research into historians’ work the influence of Nasser’s policies on the people will be evaluated.

Before 1953, Egypt’s economy was in disarray as the country was overpopulated and in copious debt due to British occupation policies. The aftermath of World War Two saw waves of civil disturbance and political instability in Egypt, continuing throughout the 1940s and the early 1950s. When Nasser became President he took it upon himself, not only to regain relationships overseas, but to bring his own country back to order, his first area of dramatic reform targeting landownership. In September 1945, Makram Ebeid, the Egyptian Finance Minister presented the government with a fully drafted bill aimed at enhancing the percentage of fertile land possessed by small landowners; giving more land to those who owned less than fifty acres. Abdel Rahman Al-Rafei Pasha further supported this in 1948, however it was evident that the inequalities remained because in 1950 more than one third of all fertile land was owned by just 0.5% of the Egyptian population. As Tarek Osman has recognized, Nasser’s reforms meant that by the end of 1955, of

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