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Gemal Abdel Nasser
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Nasser was born in Alexandria on January 15, 1918. After school he
visited the Royal Military Academy where he graduated in 1938. There and
in his later service in the military forces of Egypt he built up a revolutionary
group called the "Free Officers". They wanted to overthrow the government,
which consisted of a small landowning class and the weak Egypt King Faruk
I. They also wanted to get rid of the British, who controlled everything.
On July 23, 1952 they staged a bloodless coup d'etat and ousted King Faruk.
After they had reached power they soon instituted radical measures. They
curtailed or nationalized landownership and banned opposition parties.
In 1953 the monarchy was abolished and a one-party republic proclaimed.
First it was headed by General Muhammad Naguib, but in 1954 Nasser assumed
power. In 1956 he caused the Suez channel crises.
Nasser died on Sept. 28, 1970 of a heart attack, his successor was Anwar
el-Sadat.
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