The brief French Invasion of Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 had a great social

impact on the country and its culture. Native Egyptians became exposed to the principles
of the French Revolution and had a chance to exercise self-governance.[7] A series of civil
wars took place between the Ottoman Turks, the Mamluks, and Albanian mercenaries
following the evacuation of French troops, resulting in the Albanian Muhammad Ali
(Kavalali Mehmed Ali Pasha) taking control of Egypt. He was appointed as the Ottoman
viceroy in 1805. He led a modernization campaign of public works, including irrigation
projects, agricultural reforms and increased industrialization, which were then taken up
and further expanded by his grandson and successor Isma'il Pasha.

In 1866, the Assembly of Delegates was founded to serve as an advisory body for the
government. Members of the Assembly were elected from across Egypt and came to have
an important influence on governmental decisions.[8] Following the completion of the
Suez Canal by Khedive Ismail in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation
and trading hub. However, the country fell heavily into debt to European powers. As a
result, the United Kingdom seized control of Egypt's government in 1882 to protect its
financial interests, especially those in the Suez Canal.

Shortly after its political intervention, Britain sent troops into Alexandria and the Canal
Zone, taking advantage of Egypt's weak military. With the defeat of the Egyptian army at
the Battle of Tel el-Kebir, British troops reached Cairo, eliminated the nationalist
government and disbanded the Egyptian military. Technically, Egypt remained an
Ottoman province until 1914, when Britain formally declared a protectorate over Egypt
and deposed Egypt's last khedive, Abbas II. His uncle, Husayn Kamil, was appointed as
Sultan in his place.[9]

Between 1882 and 1906, a local nationalist movement for independence, spurred by
British actions, was taking shape. The Dinshaway Incident prompted Egyptian opposition
to take a stronger stand against British occupation. The first political parties were
founded. After the First World War, Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party led the Egyptian
nationalist movement, gaining a majority at the local Legislative Assembly. When the
British exiled Zaghlul and his associates to Malta on March 8, 1919, the country arose in
its first modern revolution. Constant revolting by the Egyptian people throughout the
country led Great Britain to issue a unilateral declaration of Egypt's independence on
February 22, 1922.[10]

The new Egyptian government drafted and implemented a new constitution in 1923 based
on a parliamentary representative system. Saad Zaghlul was popularly-elected as Prime
Minister of Egypt in 1924. In 1936 the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty was concluded. Continued
instability in the government due to remaining British control and increasing political
involvement by the king led to the ouster of the monarchy and the dissolution of the
parliament in a military coup d'état known as the 1952 Revolution. The officers, known
as the Free Officers Movement, forced King Farouk to abdicate in support of his son
Fuad.

On 18 June 1953, the Egyptian Republic was declared, with General Muhammad Naguib
as the first President of the Republic. Naguib was forced to resign in 1954 by Gamal
Abdel Nasser – the real architect of the 1952 movement – and was later put under house
arrest. Nasser assumed power as President and declared the full independence of Egypt
from the United Kingdom on June 18, 1956. His nationalization of the Suez Canal on
July 26, 1956 prompted the 1956 Suez Crisis.

Three years after the 1967 Six Day War, during which Israel had invaded and occupied
Sinai, Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War
allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972.
He launched the Infitah economic reform policy, while violently clamping down on
religious and secular opposition alike.

In 1973, Egypt, along with Syria, launched the October War, a surprise attack against the
Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. It was an attempt to
liberate the territory Israel had captured 6 years earlier. Both the US and the USSR
intervened and a cease-fire was reached. Despite not being a complete military success,
most historians agree that the October War presented Sadat with a political victory that
later allowed him to regain the Sinai in return with peace with Israel.

Sadat made a historic visit to Israel in 1977, which led to the 1979 peace treaty in
exchange for the complete Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. Sadat's initiative sparked
enormous controversy in the Arab world and led to Egypt's expulsion from the Arab
League, but it was supported by the vast majority of Egyptians. [11] A fundamentalist
military soldier assassinated Sadat in Cairo in 1981. He was succeeded by the incumbent
Hosni Mubarak. In 2003, the Egyptian Movement for Change, popularly known as
Kefaya, was launched to seek a return to democracy and greater civil liberties.