Egypt’s foreigners

For foreigners and the Egyptian aristocracy, the 1952 July Revolution marked the beginning of the end of their rule. Gone were the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the influence of the British, Italians, Greeks, French, Levantines, and Turks. Now there was a disgruntled military in charge and it was led by a young and charismatic officer named Gamal Abdel Nasser. His first order of business was to change the nature and make-up of the government, most notably changing the country from a monarchy to a republic. As a way of minimizing foreign opposition, he assured those concerned that their interests would not be touched. After purging the government, he turned to land reforms breaking apart feudal farms and distributing the land among landless peasants. Then, after successfully nationalizing the Suez Canal in 1956, his government turned to the industrial, financial and commercial sectors, forcing the vast majority of foreigners, who had