United Arab Republic (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

United Arab Republic الجمهورية العربية المتحدة Timeline: Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum OTL equivalent: Egypt, Syria, Sudan and South Sudan
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:  Walla Zaman Ya Selahy
Location of United Arab Republic (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum) Location of the United Arab Republic
Capital		Cairo
Other cities		Alexandria; Damascus; Aleppo; Khartoum
Official languages		Arabic
Ethnic groups		Arabs; Kurds; Assyrians; Turkmen; Dinka; Nuer; Bari; Azande
Religion		Islam; Christianity; Druze
Demonym		Ittihadi; Ittihadi Arabian; UAR
Government		Federal state; Constitutional presidential republic
-	President	Mohamed Morsi
-	First Vice President	Hadi al-Bahra
Legislature		National Assembly of the United Arab Republic
Establishment
-	Treaty of Union between Egypt and Syria	February 22, 1958
Area
-	Total	3,718,028 km2  1,435,539 sq mi
Population
-	estimate	200,249,465
Currency		Ittihadi pound (ABP)
Time zone		EET (UTC+2)
Internet TLD		.ab المتحدة.
Calling code		+20

The United Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية المتحدة al-Jumhūriyyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah, UAR) is a transcontinental country spanning from the northeastern corner of Africa to the western corner of Asia. Most of its territory of 3,718,028 sq km lies within North Africa and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Libya and the Central African Republic to the west, Kenya and Ethiopia to the southeast, the Congo to the southwest, and Uganda to the south. Asian part of the UAR is bordered the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Palestine, Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus and Northern Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea.

The UAR is the largest country in Arab world and northern Africa. It is the second most populous country in Africa behind Nigeria, with an estimated population of 200,249,465 by 2023; about 170,000,000 people living in the African part of the UAR alone. It is also the most populous country in the Middle East and the 8th most populated in the world. The great majority of its over 117 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 100,000 sq km, where the only arable land is found. The large regions of the Sahara Desert, which constitute most of the UAR's territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of the Ittihadi citizens live in urban areas in its African part, with most spread across the densely populated centers of greater Cairo, Alexandria, Damascus, Khartoum and Aleppo.

The UAR is considered to be a regional power in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world, and a middle power worldwide. It has the 17th largest oil reserves in the world, mostly in the Sudan, and the third largest in Africa. With one of the largest and most diversified economies in the Middle East, the UAR has the second-largest economy in Africa. The UAR is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the World Youth Forum. Both predecessors of the UAR, Egypt and Syria, were the founding members of the United Nations and the Arab League.

Politics and government

The Heliopolis Palace, located in Heliopolis, Cairo, is the primary workplace of the President of the United Arab Republic.

The United Arab Republic is formally a federal republic, divided into three regions (أقطار ʾaqṭār, singular قطر quṭr): Egypt, Syria and the Sudan. However, the regions are only nominal as the 1971 Constitution provides greater autonomous authority to the governorates (محافظات muḥāfaẓāt, singular محافظة muḥāfaẓah) directly below the regions. The head of state and government of the United Arab Republic is President, which directly elected by the people every five years and can be re-elected for the second term. The legislature of the UAR, the National Assembly, is unicameral and responsible for passing laws, approving government appropriations and debating policy.

The buildings of the UAR National Assembly
Cairo	Damascus	Khartoum

The executive branch consists of the President (رئيس الجمهورية Raʾīs al-Jumhūriyya), two Vice Presidents, and the Council of Ministers. The constitution provides the president the right to appoint ministers, to declare war and state of emergency, to declare amnesty, to ratify treaties, to issue laws when the Assembly is in recess and exercise necessary powers in times of emergencies. The President also shares powers with the Council of Ministers in which they together formulate the state's general policy and oversee its implementation.

The legislative branch of the UAR is the unicameral National Assembly (مجلس النواب Majlis an-Nuwwab). The Assembly is consisted of 503 seats (312 from Egypt, 91 from Syria and 100 from the Sudan) which are directly elected by the people to serve a five-year term. The Assembly enacts laws, approves the general policy of the State, the general plan for economic and social development and the general budget of the State, supervises the work of the government, and has the power to vote to impeach the President of the Republic by a majority of two-third of all members.

The High Court of Justice building in downtown Cairo.

The judicial branch of the UAR is composed of the civil and criminal courts, military courts, security courts, and religious courts, which adjudicate matters of personal status such as divorce and inheritance. There are three levels of courts in the UAR: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highest tribunal. Islamic jurisprudence is the principal source of legislation, but the legal code is derived largely from the Napoleonic Code. Religious courts, which run and licensed by the Ministry of Justice, handle questions of personal and family law. Marriage and personal status are primarily based on the religious law of the individual concerned.

History

Contemporary Egypt (1952–present)

Revolutionary Egypt (1952–1954)

Muhammad Naguib (L) and Gamal Abdel Nasser (R), the leaders of 1952 revolution.

On July 22, 1952, a group of Egyptian military officers called the Free Officers Movement toppled King Farouk. Led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Free Officers turned Egypt into a republic on June 18, 1953; Naguib became its first president. The Sudan, which had legally united into the Kingdom of Egypt and the Sudan in 1951, was granted self-government in March 1953 by the Egyptians and British. Immediately, all political parties were dissolved and banned, including the Muslim Brotherhood which opposed secular tendencies of the new republic.

Nasser greeted by crowds in Alexandria a day after the assassination attempt against him, October 27, 1954.

The crackdown of other political parties and the creation of single-party system under the Liberation Rally led by Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser led to the disputes between him and Naguib. On October 26, 1954, an assassination attempt presumably done by the Brotherhood was directed at Nasser during a rally in Alexandria. Nasser not only survived, but proceeded to continue his speech to the panicked audiences, which broadcasted to the Arab World by radio. The crowd roared in approval and Arab audiences were electrified, making him more popular figure among the Arabs across the Middle East.

This led to the regime acting against the Brotherhood, executing Brotherhood leaders on December 9. Nasser then forced Naguib to resign on November 14, 1954 for the latter's leniency toward the Brotherhood; Naguib was put into house arrest. The assassination attempt also put Nasser at confrontation with King Abd al-Ilah of Hejaz whom he suspected had secretly funded the Brotherhood. Nasser became the president of Egypt following Naguib's resignation.

Gamal Abdel Nasser era (1958–1970)

Emergence of Nasserism (1954–1957)

Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970), the second President of Egypt (1954–1958) and first President of the United Arab Republic (1958–1970).

As president, Nasser pushed for rapid implementation of land reform. Prior to 1952, less than six percent of Egypt's population owned more than 65% of the land in Egypt, while at the top and less than 0.5% of Egyptians owned more than one-third of all fertile land. During the presidency of Nasser, cultivated land in Egypt increased by almost a third. Nasser's socialist policies also expanded the public sectors of Egypt, further transferring the country's wealth previously accumulated by the rich elite to the state and small-sized businesses.

Arab nationalist terms such "Arab homeland" and "Arab nation" frequently began appearing in Nasser's rhetoric during this period. When the United States held up military sales in reaction to Egyptian neutrality on the Soviet Union, Nasser turned toward the Eastern Bloc and concluded an arms deal with Czechoslovakia in September 1955. Egypt participated in the Bandung Conference on April 18–24, 1955 in Indonesia. During the summit, Nasser advocated neutrality between the West and the Soviet Union and called for the end of colonialism in Asia and Africa.

Nasser's independent foreign policies and socialist domestic policies were culminated to the American-British withdrawal from funding Egypt's infrastructure projects. To fund the public works, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal on July 26, 1956. The nationalization escalated tension with the United Kingdom and France, which froze Egyptian assets and put their armies on alert. Israel, which its cargo shipments have been subjected to the Egyptian control since 1948, also felt a need to reopen the Straits of Tiran leading to the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping as well as to strengthen its southern border from an increasingly hostile Egypt. The crisis resulted in the invasion of Egypt on October 29, 1956 by the United Kingdom, France, and Israel.

Smoke rises from oil tanks beside the Suez Canal hit during the initial Anglo-French assault on Port Said, November 5, 1956.

Despite being overwhelmed by the invading forces which have achieved several of their military objectives, Nasser has won international supports, achieving the political victory he needed over the invaders. The United States, under the administration of President Joseph P. Kennedy, condemned the invasion, and supported UN resolutions demanding withdrawal and a United Nations emergency force to be stationed in Sinai. Kennedy believed the American reluctance to stop the invasion will be resulting backlash in the Arab world might win the Arabs over to the Soviets.

Egyptian-Syrian unity (1957–1958)

By the end of December 1956, British and French forces had totally withdrawn from Egyptian territory, while Israel completed its withdrawal in March 1957 and released all Egyptian prisoners of war. By 1957, the invasion had elevated Nasser as the undisputed leader of the Arabs. The Pan-Arab sentiment has swept over the Arab World, especially Syria. Republican elements of the Syrian Army and the Ba'ath Party supporters launched a coup on February 1957, ousting the 22-year-old King Faisal which had installed by the Hashemites in 1949. Syrian republican government was restored by the army under the civilian presidency of Shukri al-Quwatli.

Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Shukri al-Quwatli of Syria signing unity pact to establish the United Arab Republic, February 1958.

Afif al-Bizri, a Soviet sympathizer, became the army's chief of staff in aftermath of the coup. Suspicion that a communist takeover had occurred in Damascus grew larger, prompting neighboring Jeddah Pact countries to consider militarily intervening in Syria. Turkey had already deployed its troops along the Syrian-Turkish border. In support of Syria, Nasser dispatched troops to northern Syria. Amid the euphoria generated by Egypt's military intervention, the leftist parties pushed for the union with Egypt. Syrian delegates, led by al-Bizri, met Nasser at Cairo on January 11, 1958, asking for Syrian-Egyptian unity without consulting Quwatli.

Angry to be bypassed by the military, Quwatli sent Foreign Minister Salah al-Din al-Bitar, a Ba'ath, to join the discussions in Cairo. Al-Bitar convinced Nasser that Syria was at the verge of communist takeover as shown by al-Bizri's autonomous act. Nasser ultimately agreed to the union, but insisted that Syria should adopts Egyptian socio-economic institutions, including its single-party system. Syria's political leaders accepted the terms reluctantly under a mounting popular pressure. On February 22, 1958, the United Arab Republic was established. Quwatli resigned from the presidency and Nasser became the president of the new union.

Nasser addressing the crowd in Damascus, 1960

The provisional constitution adopted on March 5, 1958, establishing the UAR as unitary, instead of federal, state. Rather than became of an union of equals, Nasser centralized the UAR government and filled Syria's top political and military positions with Egyptians. In June 1960, Nasser reformed the Syrian economy to more in line with the strong Egyptian public sector. In August 1961, Nasser abolished regional governments in favor of centralization. Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj, the president of Northern Executive Council, was appointed as vice president and relocated to Cairo.

Centralization of powers (1958–1963)

Gamal Abdel Nasser (L) and Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj (R) in Latakia, March 1959

On August 13, 1961, Nasser sent his confidant Ali Sabri to take control in Damascus. When power struggle ensued between Sarraj and another vice president, Abdel Hakim Amer, Sarraj allied with Sabri in deposing Amer. Sabri replaced Amer as vice president on September 20, 1961. Sarraj reconsolidated his rule in Syria as a personal fiefdom, maintaining a police state with Nasser's blessings. With these level of centralization, the Ba'ath Party in Syria increasingly strayed apart from Nasser and demanded a federal union and multi-party elections, but was cracked down by Sarraj's secret police.

By 1962, Syria was completely swallowed up by the Egyptian political domination. As the result of political oppression, the underground Ba'ath Party was also divided between the Arab nationalists, who want to reform the UAR from within even it means Nasser should be ousted, and the regionalists, who want Syria to secede from the UAR and emphasize the socialist character of the party. During a secret Ba'ath party conference at Baghdad in 1963, Michel Aflaq, the party's general secretary, addressed Ba'ath members to affirm their loyalty to the UAR, albeit with strong anti-Nasser overtone.

A meeting between President Nasser and Michel Aflaq, the Ba'ath Party leader, in 1963 which also attended by two notable Syrian leaders of the UAR, Vice President Salah al-Din al-Bitar (1L) and Deputy Minister of War Lu'ay al-Atassi (2L).

Increasing Egyptian dominance led the disgruntled members of Syrian society to plot a secessionist coup. Some army officers had turned around from Nasser's Pan-Arabism to Antoun Saadeh's Pan-Syrianism. Pro-Hashemite conservatives, who previously despised Syrian nationalism, has joined force with the Syrian branch of Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). On January 29, 1963, the troops led by Lt. Colonel Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi attempted to seize control of important buildings and military posts in Damascus. Despite its opposition to Nasser, the Ba'ath Party called its members to rally behind Cairo and reject the so-called "Free Syria conspiracy"; the coup was effectively defeated after Nasser dispatched reinforcement on January 30.

Nasser recognized the Ba'ath Party's support during the critical moment against a secessionist coup and rewarded their loyalty by appointing al-Bitar, the leader of the party's pro-Nasser faction, as vice president of the UAR on February 3, 1963. The party remained illegal in the UAR, but political suppression by Sarraj against them was personally stopped by Nasser. Nasser also appointed two Ba'ath politicians to the ministerial portfolios, signaling Nasser's increasing trust to the Ba'ath politicians. The Ba'ath party cells within the UAR military played an important part in purging pro-Lebanon elements among the Syrian officers between 1964 and 1965.

Expansion of influences (1963–1967)

Nasser being sworn in for a second term as the UAR president on March 25, 1965

To detach themselves from both NATO and the Warsaw Pact, a bloc of national leaders, including Nasser, Sukarno of Indonesia, Subhas Chandra Bose of India, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Josip Broz Tito of Illyria, founded the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1961. It intended to solidify international non-alignment and promote world peace amid the Cold War, end colonization, and increase economic cooperation among developing countries. In 1964, Nasser was made president of the NAM and held the second conference of the organization in Cairo. In July 1962, Algeria became independent of France. As an ardent political and financial backer of the Algerian independence cause, Nasser saw its independence as a personal achievement.

In the 1960s, Nasser introduced new laws provided workers with a minimum wage, profit shares, free education, free health care, reduced working hours, and encouragement to participate in management. The government ownership of business reached 42 percent and the National Union was renamed the Arab Socialist Union (الاتحاد الاشتراكي العربي al-Ittiḥād al-Ishtirākī al-ʿArabī, ASU). With these measures came more domestic repression, as thousands of Islamists were imprisoned, including dozens of military officers. Despite an ever increasing repression, Nasser remained popular; he was re-elected to the second term by a popular referendum as the only candidate in 1965.

Umm Kulthum (1898–1975), Ittihadi singer and actress who was widely popular in the Arab World from the 1940s to the 1970s.

During Nasser's presidency, the UAR, like its predecessor Egypt, saw a golden age of culture, especially in theatre, film, literature and music. Ittihadi musical artists were widely known abroad, such Abdel Halim Hafez and Mohammed Abdel Wahab. Even in the belligerent Israel, singer and diva Umm Kulthum was widely popular as in other parts of the Middle East. Actors such as Faten Hamama and Rushdi Abaza as well as literary figures such as Naguib Mahfouz and Tawfiq el-Hakim and comedian Ismail Yassin dominated the Arab World in their respective fields. Albeit controlled by the government, Ittihadi filmmaking industry was highly productive during the 1960s, releasing over 100 films yearly.

Shortly after the UAR establishment, Crown Prince Imam Badr of Mutawakkilite Yemen met Nasser at Damascus in late February 1958, asking for Yemen, which had already signed a defense pact with Egypt, to join the union. Unlike in the case of Syria, Yemen rather joined with the UAR in a loose confederation which eventually dissolved in 1961. When the republican rebels ousted newly-enthroned Badr, the UAR instead supported the rebels during the Yemeni civil war. Despite several military actions and peace talks, the war succumbed into a stalemate by the mid-1960s. Eventually, the UAR pulled its troops from Yemen in 1965. The UAR also supported similar, although failed, revolts in Nejd in 1963 and in Palestine in 1964.

June War and dawn of Nasserism (1967–1970)

Israeli conquest of Sinai, June 7–8, 1967

After the Suez Crisis, there were numerous minor border clashes between Israel and the UAR, especially at the latter's Asian part. The clashes reached a climax in April 1967, when the Ittihadis shot an Israeli armored tractor plowing in the demilitarized zone south-east of Lake Tiberias, which was considered contested land. A full-scale aerial battle erupted in April 7, 1967, only ended after the Soviet had intervened. In May 1967, the Soviet intelligence misinformed that the Israelis intended to invade Syria, prompted Nasser to oust the UN forces stationed in Sinai. As Sinai was re-militarized, Nasser announced the closure of Straits of Tiran on May 22, provoking Israel to declare war.

On June 5, Israel launched a series of pre-emptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields. Within three days, Israeli forces had conquered the Sinai Peninsula. However, as northern Israel was shelled by Ittihadi planes from Syria, Israel diverted its forces to protect the northern front, resulting in a stalemate. On June 25, 1967, a ceasefire was signed after twenty days of fighting. Nasser resigned in shame as a result of this humiliating outcome, though he was later reinstated following rallies against his resignation. Nasser then began to relax political atmosphere in the country. He called for the restoration of civil liberties, more legislative independence, fundamental structural changes to the ASU, and an anti-corruption crusade.

Nasser's funeral procession attended by five million mourners in Cairo, October 1 , 1970

Meanwhile in the Sudan, Pan-Arabist Colonel Gaafar Nimeiry, commanding the Khartoum Garrison at the time, deposed anti-UAR Ismail al-Azhari's government on May 25, 1969. Along with four other officers, Nimeiry founded and chaired the Revolutionary Command Council. He launched a program to overhaul the Sudan's economy by nationalizing banks and enterprises, as well as implementing some land reforms. On December 27, 1969, Nasser and Nimeiry signed a defense pact, forming a loose confederation called the Federation of Arab Republics (اتحاد الجمهوريات العربية‎ Ittiḥād al-Jumhūrīyāt al-‘Arabīyah), with a unified military command.

Following the war, the UAR launched what became known as the War of Attrition along the Suez Canal. Hostilities lasted until August 1970, when they came to an end with another ceasefire, with no territorial changes and no peace talks. In June 1970, Nasser had reluctantly agreed to an American plan that would lead to peace talks with Israel. However, at the end of Arab League summit on September 28, 1970, Nasser suffered a massive heart attack. He died few hours later at age 52, after being transported back to Cairo. On October 1, at least five million mourners marched through Cairo in Nasser's funeral procession. Thousands of people also poured into the streets of major cities across the Arab world, expressing their grief.

Anwar Sadat era (1970–1981)

Power struggle and the October War (1970–1974)

Anwar Sadat, the second President of the United Arab Republic (1970–1981).

Nasser's close associate, Vice President Anwar Sadat, ascended to the presidency following the former's death. However, Sadat was not favored among the Nasserists; another Vice President, Ali Sabri, was also close to Nasser and represented the left-wing current of UAR government. Power struggles between the two were eventually ended with Sabri's imprisonment in 1971 following the purge of staunch Nasserists and Ba'athists in the government and secret police by Sadat. Sabri was replaced as vice president by Ziad al-Hariri as a representative of the Syrians in Cairo.

On October 6, 1973, Sadat launched the October War to reclaim territories occupied by Israel since 1967. Ittihadi forces crossed the Suez Canal and launched an offensive from the Golan Heights. The UAR advanced into the Sinai and initially made gains in northeastern Israel. Israel quickly made a counter-offensive, penetrating deep into Syria and advancing towards Suez City. The conflict sparked an international crisis between the Americans and the Soviets, both of whom intervened. The second UN-mandated ceasefire halted military action on October 25. While the war ended with a military stalemate, it presented Sadat with a political victory.

Anwar Sadat (R), with Gaafar Nimeiry (L), visited Khartoum to address the public shortly after the Sudan's entry into the UAR, February 1974.

Facing oppositions from both the Islamists at the right and the communists at the left, the Sudan's Nimeiry sought a greater alliance with Sadat and the UAR by the early 1970s. In 1973, Nimeiry held a referendum to formalize the admission of the Sudan into the UAR. With a turnout of 89.8%, 97.6% of the voters approved the Sudan to join the union, albeit a suspicion of vote rigging in the southern provinces. The UAR parliament voted to accept the Sudan's entry on January 12, 1974. The Sudan was allocated 100 seats to the Assembly in Cairo and Nimeiry became one of Sadat's vice presidents.

Further readings

• John, R. St. (2021, January 11). Gamal Abdel Nasser. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gamal-Abdel-Nasser