The Land reform had of course a big impact on the Society, as the rich upper class of major land owners did not exist anymore and so the simple farmer obtained more power. Furthermore and even more important is the fact that it decreased the poverty of the peasants. However some Historians argue that the Land Reform did not have such big impact on Egyptian Society in the long run, as a big part of the people employed in the agricultural sector moved away from it as industrialisation proceeded. But it definitely started the move towards a bigger middle class, which continued especially under the next president Sadat.
This industrialisation however has its origin in Nasser‘s days as well. Egypt was underwent some major economic changes under Nasser. Before the 1952 revolution Egypt's economy was dominated by private capital. But Nasser started to reorganise the economy in socialist terms, giving more power to the state which started to organise the economy. The first step towards this was the Land Reform which gave the government more power as it was organising the agricultural sector now. The second step was the nationalisation of many foreign owned enterprises, beginning with the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company on the 26.July.1956. The process continued and between 1955 and 1957, the Egyptian government under Nasser nationalised all foreign-owned banks and insurance companies as well as a string of foreign-owned manufacturing companies and forced all foreign agencies and representations to move to Egyptian ownership. Another factor helping to increase Egypt‘s economic capacity was the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The projects aim was to prevent the river‘s floating, generate electricity and provide water for agriculture.
Also the project was completed in July 1970 and did not reach full capacity until 1976 power generation already began in 1967. At its peak the dam produced half of all electricity produced in Egypt and is therefore a major factor in the economic growth that took place under Nasser. However the dam and the nationalisation of the Suez Canal were not only from economic importance, they became symbols for a new and more powerful Egypt. The nationalisation of the Suez Canal and especially the short military conflict in which Egypt resisted Britain, France and Israel until they had to stop their attack because of international pressure, gave the Egyptian people new confidence and for them this was the final sign for the decolonialisation of Egypt. Furthermore Nasser, through his policies, laid the foundation for more welfare and economic growth in Egypt, although this took effect after his rule.
But Nassers policies were not all positive for the Egyptian Society. For example the persecution of the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the dark chapters of Nassers rule. The organisation was founded in 1928 and was a transnational movement. Although they supported Nasser at the beginning of his rule they represented his biggest opposition in later years. On the 26.October.1954 a Muslim Brother tried to assassinate Nasser while he was delivering a speech. Shortly after that the biggest political crackdown in the history of Egypt began. Thousands were arrested and suffered torture, some died in custody and many members of the Muslim Brotherhood were kept in concentration camps. Although Said K Aburish argues that Nasser did not know about the inhuman conditions he kept his prisoners in, the process of outlawing and persecuting the Muslim Brotherhood from January 1954 onwards through up questions in society. Why is a state running under the banner of Islamic Socialism persecuting and torturing members of a Islamic organisation? But the far bigger impact for society was the direct impact through the persecution, as the Muslim Brotherhood was the biggest organisation in Egypt and so many Egyptians needed to go into the underground.
Another Factor that changed Egyptian society was the nationalisation of the media and the sponsoring of radio Cairo‘s news program ‘Voice of the Arabs‘. ‘Voice of the Arabs‘ broadcasted 16 hours a day throughout the Middle East and became the most popular news show. It gave the people, as the name already states an arab version of the news. ‘Voice of the Arabs‘ probably was the biggest tool for to spread Nassers propaganda, not only in Egypt but throughout the whole arab world. The music played was martial and the message clearly anti colonial and for the dignity of the common arab and pan-Arabism. The propaganda was so powerful that the British asked Nasser to stop his propaganda against the Baghdad Pact which is seen as an acknowledgement if not outright concession to Nasser‘s emerging pan-Arabism.
This propaganda also opened the Egyptians to Nasser‘s ideas and policies and moved them especially towards Arab unity.
One of his policies, had great impact on society and maybe even caused the biggest change. In January 16.1956 Nasser announced a new constitution, giving women the right to vote. Although he banned all feminist groups together with all other political organisations, women were probably never better off than under Nasser. They gained the right to vote and the right to run for election and were also equally treated in the areas of work and education.
This caused a great change in the Egyptian society towards the equality of women and their general acceptance. And also Nasser‘s reform of the educational system affected society, as they had much better educated people, although this came to full effect only under Nasser‘s successor Sadat, who was able to use newest technology and advanced weapon systems in the Yom Kippur war in 1973 because of the better educated and skilled Egyptians.
All in all it can be said that Nasser‘s policies caused great changes in Egyptian society. Nasser transformed Egypt into a more confident, industrialised, educated country, he stopped the exploitation of agricultural workers and gave women more rights than they had in any other Arab state. Although many of these changes did not occur during his time and his methods are very questionable he still laid the foundations for a new Egypt.
Bibliography
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Revolution_of_1952#After_the_Revolution (7.9.2008)
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Said K Aburish; “Nasser-The Last Arab“ ,Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (April 27, 2004)
Abdel Malek, Anouar (1968). Egypt: Military Society. New York: Random House.
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Annotations:
: This was a very useful source, as it describes the details that the Land Reform contained in much depth and even states some of its effect on Egyptian society. The author of this article used a proper recognition of his sources.
: This was a very good source as well, as it deals exactly with what I was looking for. It was the only website that had information on it about the role of women under Nasser.
