The Last King of the Nile
By the 1950s, Egypt was torn between nationalists, royalists, communists, the Muslim brotherhood, and an increasingly meddlesome Britain. The moment called for a leader with decisiveness and wisdom. King Farouk I was *not* this leader. This is the story of the last ruling monarch of Egypt.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to Bar Afrique, the show where we tell the unexplored stories of African independence. I'm Line Talla.
Sarah [:And I'm Sarah Masiyiwa. Line and I have spent many a night with a cocktail in hand talking about African decolonization. So we figured why not make a podcast out of it?
Line [:All right. Well, let's jump into the story for today. Today, we have no guest. It's just Sarah and I.
Sarah [:Which, is like, very cool.
Line [:I think it's very, very cool. So, today we are drinking Amarula cream liqueur, and the cocktail we made today is made of double cream, which is also called whipped cream, with vanilla ice cream. Amarula cream liqueur is inspired by the spirit of the marula tree. The marula trees cannot be cultivated, and only once a year at the peak of summer, the marula trees bear their sacred fruit. They also are protected under the South African law and cannot be farmed for commerce. The cream liqueur that we are drinking today was first introduced in 1989.
Sarah [:I think this is my favorite because it's a milkshake, but with alcohol.
Line [:It tastes really nice.
Sarah [:It's good, we're just drinking ice cream.
Line [:Basically!
Sarah [:Making a cocktail with ice cream and double cream, and that's a cocktail.
Line [:It tastes really, really good.
Sarah [:It's blended ice cream.
Line [:For those who want to try it. Make sure to try it. All right, Sara, what are we talking about today?
Sarah [:Well, before we do that, I have a question for you.
Line [:Oh, yeah.
Sarah [:Okay, so, on every episode, we bring on an African-born guest. If you could have any guest on this podcast, who would you have?
Line [:That is a really big question. Oh, my gosh.
Sarah [:I'm kind of embarrassed to tell you mine because I feel like it's really, like, revealing.
Line [:Okay, now that you're embarrassed, to tell me yours, you have to tell me. Who is it?
Sarah [:I don't want to. You say, yours first. Okay, we'll say it at the same time.
Line [:No, we can't because I'm still thinking about mine.
Sarah [:I'm going to give you 5 seconds.
Line [:No, just tell me yours.
Sarah [:No, because I feel like, I'm kind of embarrassed.
Line [:Why are you embarrassed?
Sarah [:Because it's not a smart people answer.
Sarah [:That's fine.
Sarah [:Yeah, no, but you say yours. I'm going to give you 5 seconds of silence. You figure it out.
Line [:Honestly, who would I love on our podcast? You know what? I would like Lupita Nyong'o on our podcast.
Sarah [:Good choice.
Line [:I would love her on our podcast, even though I know she bails out a of projects a lot, but I would really like her to be on this podcast.
Sarah [:Okay. Do you want to hear mine?
Line [:Yes.
Sarah [:Okay, mine is John Boyega.
Line [:Wait, that's a really good answer!
Sarah [:Thank you, I thought yours was really good as well. John Boyega and Lupita Nyong'o, if you're listening,
Line [:Just tell your agents to contact us. We would love to have you on our podcast. Yeah, I think it would be really fun.
Sarah [:Just reach out to us on YouTube or Spotify.
Line [:Alright, Sarah, tell us what we're talking about today.
Sarah [:Okay, today's story is kind of weird, but I want to tell it anyway. It's called The Last Kings of the Nile.
Line [:Okay. Where are you taking us?
Line [: Line [: Sarah [:So Egypt's really interesting, kind of unique, and I think, like, in the grand scheme of, like, what we talk about, because the question of whether or not Egypt was colonized is quite interesting. And kind of where I sit on the answer is that like in this specific time period of like the 1800s, 1900s, it was not. Egypt was not colonized by the British. In fact, Egypt was colonizing other countries. Famously, it colonized Sudan, which became South Sudan and Sudan. So kind of the back story, to kind of where we are and where we're starting is that like in the 1800s, if you're looking at Egypt, Napoleon has just left.
Line [:Right.
Sarah [:Right? And kind of in the power vacuum, what's interesting is this guy comes. He's an Albanian soldier.
Line [:Albanian soldier?
Sarah [:Albanian. Very interesting. Comes from Albania. They're still part of the Ottoman Empire. He's been sent to, in like the forces, to kind of take down Napoleon and that never quite realizes. He kind of rises through the ranks, maneuvers himself into a position to become so powerful that, you know, in a couple of decades, he becomes the king of Egypt.
Line [:From Albania?
Sarah [:He's from Albania. Yes, but I think like looking in like kind of the historical--
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:You know, the historical, like, the big picture of Egypt. They're still technically part of the Ottoman Empire. Egypt is traditionally not ruled by Egyptians. Right? So even if you looking at like Cleopatra, and like, you know, that kind of the pharaohs and stuff, you're kind of looking at people who are European. Like then. In fact, by that point, Egypt hadn't been ruled by an Egyptian for about a thousand years.
Line [:Oh, wow. I did not know that.
Sarah [:Yeah, you're kind of looking at like, a pattern of foreigners coming and kind of establishing these monarchies and these dynasties in Egypt.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:And that's what this guy does and he establishes what's called the Muhammad Ali Dynasty.
Line [:You said Muhammad Ali?
Sarah [:Yes. Yeah, I know. Not the boxer! Although I feel, at this point, that this episode would have been more interesting if Muhamman Ali the boxer had established a dynasty in Egypt. I wish that's the story I was telling, but it's not. So, yeah, in the beginning of the 1800s, the Muhammad Ali dynasty begins. They pull off some pretty impressive, like development plan. All right.
Line [:What year is that?
Sarah [:The is the beginning of the 1800s. So we're not looking on like 1800s to 1900s. But kind of towards the end of that century, what happens is that, you know, these kings that borrowed a ton of money to make those development agenda happen, and they also spend really extravagantly, they've gotten Egypt into, like, a really, really bad financial crisis and they turn to the Europeans to bail themselves out. The end. They turn to the Europeans, to a council which is headed by France and Britain. Kind of saying like, "we're in this bad position, we need some help," and France and Britain...
Line [:They say no?
Sarah [:They don't say no, which I always think would have been better. They kind of say, "You know us, we're always happy to help."
Line [:Oh, my God, of coursee they're happy to help.
Sarah [:They're like, "we're going to take control of your treasury."
Line [:Which does not sound like the beginning of a good story.
Sarah [:It's not, it's not a good story. It's the last king of the Nile. So the monarchy, spoiler alert, it ends.
Line [:Oh, shit.
Sarah [:But, yeah, so France and Britain kind of say, like, in response for, like, helping you in this moment, we're going to take control of the Treasury. They also forgive debt, which is huge for Egypt, which is kind of what they want. But the biggest thing and kind of what determines foreign policy over the next 100 years is they say we want control of the Suez Canal.
Line [:The French say that?
Sarah [:Yes, the French and the British. Which is huge, because at this point, the Suez Canal is, obviously, for anyone who doesn't know, it's one of the most important shipping channels in the world. So, it kind of is this channel that goes past Egypt. Tons of countries are using it and the French and the British, through, you know, what's called a European Council, are kind of like, in return for forgiving your debt, would like control of this thing. And it begins, essentially, what is a European invasion, predominantly by the British. The British are the ones who really take this opportunity. So end of the century, that's kind of the world that we're looking in. You have, you know, you have Egypt who are still technically not colonized, but they have now a British presence on the Suez Canal, which they're kind of uncomfortable. They don't love having it there but that's the position they have negotiated themselves into.
Line [:Right.
Sarah [:1900s, World War I starts. The Ottoman Empire is obviously on the losing side. Egypt doesn't really participate in that way.
Line [:It's not in it.
Sarah [:It's not in it. But what happens is kind of like, Britain kind of treats it like it's part of the Ottoman Empire and they're like, you know, "you're going to become a protectorate of Britain," right? In the same way that a lot of the Ottoman Empire did at the end of World War I. But that doesn't really work and literally by the 1920s, the Egyptian people are revolting. They're like, "we were not colonized. We don't really want to be part of this. Leave us out of it. We're independent."
Line [:So the British are trying to treat them as if they were they were colonized.
Sarah [:The Egyptians are quite strong in terms of making sure that doesn't happen and a large part of that is because of this like dynasty of Kings that's happening. 1930s, which is really the key moment in our story. 1936. There's a lot of back and forth between Britain and Egypt. There's a lot of, I think both sides, the monarchy of Egypt and the British, kind of believe that they're entitled to rule in this moment. They're like, "this is my country." And so a lot of the back and forth is kind of between the two of them.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:So the kind of compromise they come to in 1936 is that they're going signed this treaty which says that Britain must withdraw all their troops except for what's absolutely necessary to guard the Suez canal, which is 10,000 troops, and they can't exceed that.
Line [:That's still a lot.
Sarah [:I mean, it is. Yeah. It was less than what the British wanted.
Line [:Okay.
Sarah [:Yeah. So Britain has to, like, pull out their troops except for 10,000 people.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:In return, Britain kind of puts in this clause that says that if Egypt ever comes after, like under existential threat, Britain has the right, and I guess the obligation, to defend Egypt on its own behalf.
Line [:As in basically treating them as a colony.
Sarah [:Kind of. Britain is kind of like, "if you ever are in a position where you feel like you're about to be annihilated as a country, we'll intervene, we'll step in for you." What happens in 1936 is that the king of Egypt dies. He has a sudden heart attack and he dies. And his son, who's 16 at the time, takes over as the king of Egypt.
Line [:And this son is named?
Sarah [:He is King Farouk. Who are story's about today.
Line [:All right. King Farouk.
Sarah [:King Farouk. So, yes, he dies of a heart attack. His son, King Farouk, who's living in London, has to return to England, and he is immediately crowned king. So some back story on Farouk to kind of understand, you know, who this nation has been handed to.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:Farouk, he's kind of gifted in the study of language, but that's pretty much it. All respect to Farouk, traditional education is not his jam. He's in England at the time trying to get into different British schools, but not really succeeding. He tries to get into Eton. It doesn't really work. He's trying to take entrance exams.
Line [:So he's just gallivanting around England?
Sarah [:Yeah, he's kind of like mingling with the social scene. He's mingling with the royal family. He's a kid. He's a teenager.
Line [:Yeah, he's 16.
Sarah [:And he didn't expect his dad to die. You know, it's, like, very sudden. He also has, like, a huge penchant for gambling and spending sprees, which is, you know, the king of Egypt. Sure. Do what you need to do. I think it's also, like, his upbringing, because I always feel bad because I look at someone like King Farouk and I'm like, I do feel, in some ways, bad because I upbringing is very weird. Like he, you know, being raised by his dad, his father only you let him see his mother for one hour a day and that's it.
Line [:Hold on.
Sarah [:Yeah, It's just his dad is, like, very controlling.
Line [:One hour a day?
Sarah [:One hour a day.
Line [:Where is mom the entire day?
Sarah [:I guess she's maybe in another palace. I don't know. But he only has access to her for one hour a day. He also is not allowed to, like, mingle with outsiders. So he's only allowed to, you know, his only friends are his sisters.
Line [:And his dad is controlling all of this?
Sarah [:Yeah. His only friends are his sisters and an Italian electrician who works at the summer palace.
Line [:Okay.
Sarah [:That's his social scene.
Line [:That's kind of sad.
Sarah [:It is kind of sad. The upbringing was weird. I don't know. But anyway, Farouk, at 16, becomes the king of Egypt. He's massively popular when he comes to the throne. Like Pharaoh level popular. Like, no one can really understand it. His dad didn't have really that much popularity. But when he comes, like, people kind of feel like this is the new era of Egypt. Farouk is going to lead them into, I don't know, something.
Line [:What made them believe that?
Sarah [:I think it's a couple of different things. I think on one hand, there's a couple of things he did strategically, which worked. You know, he was, from the outside, quite like pious and religious. Which was very important. Like quite a few Egyptian people, you know, he was always attending mosque, all of that stuff. He also, like, married a middle class woman. And I think also a small part of this is because he famously has a not good relationship with the British.
Line [:Okay.
Sarah [:And people kind of feel like, they're like, good on Farouk. He's really kind of standing up to [the British].
Line [:Is it because they thought his father wasn't standing up to the British like that?
Sarah [:I don't think it's necessarily that. Farouk didn't like the ambassador to the UK.
Line [:Oh, okay.
Sarah [:And had quite a bad relationship with him. But it was, like, a weird dynamic because it was kind of like Farouk was just 16. He's like, I like Italian people. He's a kid. He's like, I like Italian people. The British are like, World War II is happening, liking Italians is not a good thing, kind of worry that he's going to like, go off, and, like, align with Mussolini.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:You know, but he just he doesn't get along with the British ambassador. He doesn't love them. And so initially, people kind of are like, "Oh, I think Farouk saw, like, the future."
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:They're like, forget independence. Like if you chose monarchy or get independence...
Line [:That is the craziest sentence I've ever heard.
Sarah [:Yeah, it's wild. They're like, they love him. They're like, "this is our guy." And Britain kind of sees his popularity and they're like, they kind of think Farouk is a bit of an idiot, but they have no choice but to work with him.
Line [:Yeah, because he's king now.
Sarah [:Yeah, he's king and he's a massively popular king. No one wants to take him down.
Line [:Right.
Sarah [:So, yeah. So that's really like the world that, like, we're in at this point. You know, you have Britain really overstepping at this point in this Suez canal but because of the threat of Italy and Mussolini, Egypt and Farouk kind of have to tolerate him, tolerate Britain and negotiate with them. World War II is on the horizon. You have a ton of internal conflict. So you have in Egypt, the nationalists, you have royalists, you have communists, and you have the Muslim Brotherhood. And they all kind of...
Line [:Have tension between each other.
Sarah [:Have tension between each other. But they all kind of vying for like, you know, they're kind of realizing that post World War II, yeah, there's kind of going to be this moment of defining what the future looks like. And I think the reason why I kind of wanted to do Egypt is like, you really look at Egypt in this moment as like definitive for, you know, the rest of the world is kind of looking at it. Most African countries have not achieved independence at this point, right? Egypt is not a colony. They're kind of looking at Egypt in terms of how were they negotiating with the British? How are they, essentially, creating boundaries which will lead to total independence?
Line [:Is are the British looking at them like an overseas territory?
Sarah [:Not really, because the British do have to negotiate with them. They kind of see at this point, like, Farouk as, like, you know, this necessary...they're like, kind of like, "he's 16 but if we get to him and we just manipulate him. We can do whatever we need to." But they can't really get things done without that step of going through Farouk, which is really interesting in Egypt in the 1940s. Anyway, kind of like wrapping up like where we are in the 1940s, Farouk is kind of entering his twenties. World War II comes around and Britain is like, "remember that clause we had? Rremember that clause when we said we would protect you over anything? We're going to protect you now." Right.
Line [:They just told them they're going to protect them.
Sarah [:And it's weird because Egypt is not a colony. They're kind of insisting, they're like, "we don't really want to be involved in World War II." They're insisting that they're neutral. They're like, "we don't really need this." But Britain is like, "no, no, no, don't worry. I got you," and brings a hundred thousand allied troops into Egypt.
Line [:Oh, my God.
Sarah [:Yeah. Which is becomes this, like
Line [:In addition to the troops that they already had on the Suez Canal.
Sarah [:Yeah and and that the justification is that, you know, they are defending Egypt against an existential threat because World War II was happening, but Egypt is kind of, like, we're not really involved in that.
Line [:We're not really involved at all.
Sarah [:Yeah, they kind of had nothing to do with it.
Line [:They just wanted a reason to go in there.
Sarah [:They did. They were like, this treaty thing...
Line [:Maybe we could use that to our advantage.
Sarah [:Yeah. So, that kind of where we'll end with, like, Winston Churchill, it's the 1940s and Winston Churchill kind of says, you know, like, don't worry Egypt, you are under British protection, which pisses Egyptian people off.
Line [:I mean, I understand, like you didn't even ask for it, they just kind of came in being like, okay, I'm going to protect you. But you didn't even ask for it.
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:This doesn't sound like it's going to turn out well.
Sarah [:It doesn't.
Line [:Okay. All right. We will be right back.
Line [:Let's continue as we drink this ice cream.
Sarah [:Back to Egypt. Things are pretty crazy in Egypt at the start of World War II. But there's this incident that kind of, like, pushes things over the edge. 1942. One of the things about King Farouk that is, like, very chaotic is like he changes prime ministers a lot. So he's kind of like constantly like shuffling the cabinet and being like, this prime minister is out, this one's in, this one's out, this one's in. It's chaotic.
Line [:For any particular reason or just because he can?
Sarah [:Because he's a teenager...
Line [:Oh, my God.
Sarah [:Ruling a country. That's the reason. But yes, that's kind of what Farouk's doing. Britain, kind of gets fed up with it. It's kind of the standoff between a prime minister that, you know, Britain wants and Farouk doesn't want and blah, blah, blah. And this incident happens in 1942 where, you know, Britain basically surrounds Farouk's palace with tanks, walks in, and presents him with a letter of abdication saying.
Line [:I thought Egypt was not colonized. In what way does that even make any sense to go into basically a free country, surround the palace with tanks, and serve an abdication letter?
Sarah [:I mean, these are the questions around this because at the end of the day, it's not a colony. And they had no right to do that. But that's what they did anyway, because they felt like they had the right. Right? And so they kind of present Farouk, they say, you know, you must abdicate right now. And Farouk is kind of in the process of signing the letter when one of his aides intervenes and was like, no, don't do this kind, you know, we have the protection. You don't need to do this. But the situation kind of gets known by the public. And the Egyptian people are very angry at the British. They're kind of like, how dare you? Not just come in, but like, how dare you, like, humiliate our king like this? And because Farouk is still very much on the side of the people and they kind of like you don't really have a right to do this. So it kind of starts like, the 1940s just kind of starts this season of real discontentment. You know, even though they come out of World War II relatively okay, there's this feeling that the British are meddling, the British are, you know, not here for good intentions. We want them out. You know, they're kind of, you know, breaching the spirit of this treaty. You know, all this stuff that makes Egyptians progressively become more and more angry with the British.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:But the truth is that, like, now, like, with hindsight, what we can look at is Farouk at this time as well and I guess the benefit of looking at it historically is that what people would at that time known is that Farouk himself is a bit of a sideshow. Right? Like, he gambles all the time. He's like, you know, he's spending a shit ton of money. There's this episode with Winston Churchill where, like, Farouk goes to one of the prisons of Egypt and gives a pardon to this... what do you call them? Someone who, like, robs you...a pickpocket. And he gets this pickpocket to teach him how to pickpocket other people. And he famously pockets Winston Churchill.
Line [:Wait, repeat that?
Sarah [:He pickpockets Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill and him have a meeting and Faruk steals Winston Churchill's watch.
Line [:For what reason?
Sarah [:Because he's a kleptomaniac.
Line [:Wait I can just imagine this 16-year-old literally releasing this man out of jail just so he can teach him how to pickpocket a prime minister from England?
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:He's such a kid.
Sarah [:Yeah. It's. It's not good. It's really not good. So, yes, that's what happening with Farouk. Kind of on the other side of this, we have this kind of movement occurring in Egypt, which is, you know, in the late 1940s. Egypt then gets involved in the Arab-Israeli War where they really, you know, feel like, you know, they need to make a stand for Palestine against Israel and do that quite boldly.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:Which is great but there was a boldness about the Egyptians that was not warranted. You know, they were like, within two weeks, we're going to be in the capital of Israel waving flags, right? Which is bold to win a war in two weeks but they felt like they could do it, you know?
Line [:Confidence comes from somewhere.
Sarah [:They could not do it. It was a dismal failure. It was terrible. It was very humiliating for the Egyptians. They massively lost that war. And kind of what happens is you have these soldiers coming home from this war who are looking at things and being like, how did we do so badly against Israel? Like, what? What the fuck? Like, what happened?
Line [:Yeah.
Line [:And one of the key parts of that is kind of this rumor that was circulating that the army hasn't been equipped with proper weaponry. The equipment they've been equipped with is is defective. Which like, you can go back and forth on whether or not that was true, right? What extent that was really true. But that's the narrative that these soldiers come back with that the government has not equipped them for this war and it's the government's fault.
Line [:That they lost the war.
Sarah [:That they have lost this war and at the end of the day, the government with Farouk kind of going back and forth with this prime minister and that prime minister, he's the government. And then kind of they decide that something's got to change. So you have this man called Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein who comes home, he's fought in Fallujah, and he's really shocked about the difference between how Egypt has been reporting what happened in the war and what was actually happening. Egypt's kind of saying these things like, oh, they took this city when in actuality they hadn't taken that city and he's like there's a massive disconnect happening. And him together with Mohammed Naguib, they bring together a few of the young officers and decide to form a clandestine network within the army with the goal of creating a new political order within Egypt and their main goal is actually to rid Egypt of the British. You know, they've breached this treaty. Why does Britain get a say in in whether or not we abdicate king? Why does Britain get a say in this thing and that thing. They're like, no, we're done...
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:get Britain out. But Nasaw is really interesting because he kind of thinks about it and he's like, You know who's worse than the British? Farouk.
Line [:I am screaming. Farouk?
Sarah [:He's like, you want to talk about imperialism? Farouk. He kind of like is able to divert this movement into making King Farouk the target instead because he's like, this man is really actually the symbolism of imperialism, this, you know, guy who's like, descendant of Albanians, and sending a ton of money and, he's not Egypt's.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:And Nassar really gets you know, they end up calling themselves the Free Officers. He gets them to really change focus and focus on Farouk. And they're like, we've got to take up Britain but we have to take out Farouk first. They kind of assume that it'll take a while to do it, but it ends up happening much sooner than we think it will.
Line [:I'm kind of curious to know what, like, that the catalyst was that, like, changed their mind from the British to Farouk.
Sarah [:I mean, it's a lot of things. Farouk obviously takes this huge blow in terms of like defective equipment, which is very important to the military. But there's also, I think, another incident that kind of sours people, too, which is that like it sounds so petty, but also really British. He, Farouk, when the bombings start during World War II, refuses to turn off the palace's lights.
Line [:What's the importance of that?
Sarah [:Which is that like, you know, when when there's bombings, they kind of identify targets based on lights.
Line [:Right.
Sarah [:Right. So, you know, the British royal family's infamously known for kind of standing behind their people by turning off all the lights.
Line [:Right.
Sarah [:Farouk is kind of like, nah,.
Line [:That's what happens when you put a kid on the throne.
Sarah [:Yeah, He's like, I'm not turning off the light.
Line [:Wow. That is so interesting.
Sarah [:Yeah, it's just things like that, which have kind of, like, over time, made him, you know, he's not super loved.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:Anyway. Farouk's government spends years, like, kind of negotiating with Britain, being like, you know, get out.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:Britain’s like, nah, bitch. Then Farouk's like, get out. And then Britain's like, no.
Line [:The British really don't want to leave Egypt.
Sarah [:They're like, we want the Suez Canal. In 1951, Farouk's government is kind of like we've had enough, and you've actually breached the 1936 Treaty, you've exceeded 10,000 troops, so they work with guerrilla groups to kind of start to attack British targets within the Canal Zone. For months, you know, these guerrilla groups, with support of Farouk's government, clash with the British army units and it's kind of getting month after month progressively worse. But when things really escalate and what's known as like the main movement of revolution in Egypt is in 1952.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:You know, the British troops bomb an Egyptian police compound and they kill 50 people, which is obviously not received well. The day afterwards, mobs form in Cairo and people start to destroy any kind of foreign property and it sparks a revolution. And quite incredibly so of just wanting the British out.
Line [:And all it is the British could have avoided if they just left those people alone.
Sarah [:I mean the British can avoid a lot of things, but anyway. Kind of in that moment. Nasser and Naguib are like, this is our moment. They're like, let's take Farouk out. So July 1952. Farouk is feeling confident enough that he leaves Cairo and goes to his holiday palace. I would love to have a holiday palace. Anyway.
Line [:I dream of having a holiday palace, a holiday villa, a holiday...something.
Sarah [:Anything. Anyway, Farouk leaves Cairo, goes to his holiday palace in Alexandria, July 20th. He invites a group of wealthy socialites for a night of gambling.
Line [:Oh, my God.
Sarah [:He gets a phone call. It's the prime minister. The prime minister tells Farouk that he's heard from a police spy, that there is a group of dissident officers who are operating covertly within the army and that that summer they are going to overthrow Farouk.
Line [:Huh.
Sarah [:I feel like anyone in the situation would be like, oh, shit, let me get out of the situation. Farouk responds to the prime minister is that he asks him to read out the list of officers involved. And when he hears their identities, he says, hahaha, a bunch of pimps, and he goes to gambling.
Line [:He doesn't take this thing seriously at all.
Sarah [:Nope. He just felt like those officers were too junior to pose any kind of threat to him.
Line [:Why do I feel like that's going to bite him in the ass?
Sarah [:Because it's going to bite him in the ass. So the three officers hear this and they're like, we weren't going to do it, but now that he thinks we're going to do it and hasn't responded...
Line [:Might as well just do it.
Sarah [:Might as well just do it. And they decide on, they have a meeting in two days. It's July 22nd and they decide that let's overthrow King Farouk tomorrow.
Line [:Damn.
Sarah [:And this plan is so uncertain that Farouk finds out that the plan is happening at 7 p.m. the next day and he's like, no, no, no, I got this.
Line [:Oh, he don't got it.
Sarah [:But in response, he orders the arrest of all the Free Officers, which doesn't do shit because they're like, we're about to overthrow the government.
Line [:This doesn't mean anything.
Sarah [:Yes, this means shit. Anyway, it's the day of the coup. It reminds me of, like, that Friends episode where they're like, they know that we know that they know that we know.
Line [:Everyone knows what's going on.
Sarah [:Everyone knows exactly the plan and yet no one does anything to stop the plot. Anyway, it's the day of the coup. The Free Officers do exactly what they say they're going to do and just like clockwork that night, July 23rd, they begin their coup. And it takes them 6 hours to take control of Cairo. But reminder that Farouk's in Alexandria at this point, so he realizes kind of how serious this is. He reaches out to the US and the UK for help. The UK says, nah, bitch, good luck.
Line [:I mean...
Sarah [:They're like, we hate you anyway. But yeah. So that doesn't work out.
Line [:Does the U.S. say no, too, yeah?
Sarah [:The U.S. in particular agrees to kind of be this negotiator, this mediator, between Farouk and the Free Officers. So July 24th rolls around. A representative of the Free Officers comes to Farouk and says, these are our terms, what we want to happen. Come negotiate with us.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:Farouk is kind of like, nah. The next day, July 25th, Farouk heads to his other summer palace in Alexandria in his red Mercedes, because he only drove red Mercedes, and he comes with 800 people to defend him. They're all Sudanese. It's just a whole thing that we don't have time to explore.
Line [:That is so interesting.
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:Okay.
Sarah [:And Farouk comes with his hunting rifle to defend himself. And when the Free Officers come, the shootout happens between them with the Free Officers trying to penetrate the palace. Farouk is himself trying to shoot at them. That happens. But eventually the U.S. on that day, you know, negotiates a cease fire.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:And by the morning of July 26, the Free Officers present Farouk with an ultimatum. They say: leave Egypt and abdicate the throne by 6 p.m. that day or get executed. And that's what he did.
Line [:He just left.
Sarah [:6 p.m. he was gone and he never returned to Egypt. He left.
Line [:He's still 16 at this point.
Sarah [:No, no, no. The years have passed a this point. That's how time works. Farouk takes power in 1936 and this happens in 1952, I believe.
Line [:Okay.
Sarah [:He's now, like, in his early thirties.
Sarah [:Early thirties.
Sarah [:But he abdicates the throne. He gives the power to his baby son. So Egypt is now technically ruled by a baby, who became King Faud II. But this was just really ceremonial. Egypt was ruled by Naguib, who became the first president of Egypt and Nasser later who became the second president.
Line [:Wow.
Sarah [:And the Free Officers, they abolished the monarchy and turned Egypt into a republic within a year. Egypt is like, it has everything. It has a monarchy. It has foreign intervention. It has royalists. It has communists, the Muslim Brotherhood. It's a melting pot of just everyone trying to figure out like, what is this country going to look like afterwards. And there's an argument to be made that, like, had Farouk not been such a shit show, things could have been very different. And kind of like looking at where everyone went from there. Now, Farouk went into exile in Monaco, where he lived until his death. Sad. This relevance of like the situation in Egypt was really huge. It was the end of a 150-year dynasty, which is the Muhammad Ali dynasty. And it was the lost monarchy of Egypt.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:It was also the first time in 2500 years that Egypt had been ruled by native Egyptians.
Line [:He was Albanian. He was descended from Albanians.
Sarah [:So when the Free Officers took over, they were native Egyptians. And Egypt kind of goes back after 2500 years.
Line [:That's crazy. 2500 years?
Sarah [:Yeah. It's huge.
Line [:Wow.
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:That's a really long time.
Sarah [:It's huge.
Line [:To basically be ruled by foreigners.
Sarah [:100%. Constant foreigners going back and forth. What's interesting is that Farouk's belongings in Egypt are then auctioned off to kind of raise funds for the state and then they really see that like the extent of what Farouk was doing.
Line [:Yeah.
Sarah [:I guess, you know, he had 2000 silk shirts. He had 10,000 silk ties. He had 50 walking sticks made of pure gold studded with diamonds.
Line [:Hold on. This isn't a real.
Sarah [:He had an autograph portrait of Adolf Hitler and the crown jewel.
Line [:Where does one get...
Sarah [:Obviously in person. The crown jewel is that Farouk had what is believed at the time to be the biggest porn collection in the world with hundreds of thousands of photos of naked people.
Line [:Wait, what was this man doing as he was...
Sarah [:He was collecting porn.
Line [:I don't know what to say. This isactually insane.
Sarah [:Really bizarre.
Line [:Oh, my God. That's actually really crazy.
Sarah [:Yeah. As for General Nasser, you know, he eventually becomes president and takes power and within two years negotiates the British exit from the Suez Canal.
Line [:Wow.
Sarah [:Which marks the first time since 1882 where there's no British presence, military presence in Egypt. And it doesn't come easily.
Line [:I'm sure.
Sarah [:But it happens. But...I feel like in this podcast, I would like a button for every time a nationalist hero becomes a dictator.
Line [:Honestly, I think we need that because it's such an interesting pattern that happens. Tell us about this dictator.
Sarah [:Nasser becomes a terrible dictator.
Line [:Oh, no.
Sarah [:Because he accomplishes everything he accomplishes. I know we should like take shots. Every time we realize someone is a dictator, we should take a shot. He sets up a military dictatorship, totally repressive. He bans all political parties.
Line [:Oh, my God.
Sarah [:3000 people are held in his concentration camps during his rule.
Line [:And for what?
Sarah [:To rule Egypt.
Line [:I will never, probably to the end of my days, understand this pattern and evolution into dictatorship. 3000 people in concentration camps. And for what?
Sarah [:Power.
Line [:That's insane.
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:Banning all political parties.
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:So he was like, I am the only one who is fit enough to lead Egypt where I want it to.
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:Nobody can oppose that.
Sarah [:That's exactly what happened. That's what a dictatorship is.
Line [:Shit.
Sarah [:Yeah, it's not good.
Line [:But it's so interesting because Egypt wasn't even like a colony, but they were still treated like one and the pattern they follow is still the one of a colony that got independence, which is so interesting.
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:Wow.
Sarah [:It's a weird story.
Line [:It really started with the British at the Suez Canal pretending to try to protect Egypt from World War II and now it's moving to this dictatorship. Wow.
Sarah [:Yeah.
Line [:Well. I hope you all enjoyed that story about Egypt.
Sarah [:We'll leave you on that silver note.
Line [:Thank you so much for listening. And we'll see you next time.
