History of the Republic of Egypt
On 22–26 July 1952, the Free Officers, a group of disaffected officers in the Egyptian army founded by Gamal Abdel Nasser, and headed by General Muhammad Naguib, initiated the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 with the overthrowing King Farouk, whom the military blamed for Egypt's poor performance in the 1948 war with Israel and lack of progress in fighting poverty, disease, and illiteracy in Egypt. In the following two years, the Free Officers consolidated power, and, following a brief experiment with civilian rule, abrogated the 1953 constitution, and declared Egypt a republic on 18 June 1953, Muhammad Naguib as Egypt's first President.
Arab Cold War
In 1952 King Farouk of Egypt was deposed by the Free Officers Movement under a program to dismantle feudalism and end British influence in Egypt. In 1953 the officers, led by Nasser, abolished the monarchy and declared Egypt a Republic. On 26 July 1956, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, following the withdrawal of an offer by Britain and the United States to fund the building of the Aswan Dam, which was in response to Egypt's new ties with the Soviet Union. Britain, France, and Israel responded by occupying the Canal but were forced to back off in what is known as the Suez Crisis. Nasser "emerged" from the crisis with great prestige, as the "unchallenged leader of Arab nationalism".