Draft:Socialism in Egypt: Difference between revisions

[[1950 Egyptian parliamentary election|In 1950, the Wafd were elected to power]] for the last time. al-Nahhas began a campaign of full Egyptian independence with the full withdrawal of British forces from the canal zone. In 1951, he abrogated the 1936 treaty, declaring the presence of British troops in Egypt from then on unlawful. [[Guerrilla warfare]] was unleashed on the canal, as small cadres of Egyptians join the battle against British imperialism. 80,000 Egyptian workers left their jobs in the British administration, as laborers refused to work in British factories and railway workers, customs officials, airline employees, and longshoremen re­fused to handle British supplies.{{Sfn|Botman|1988|pp=101–102}} There was high hopes for reform, as the new generation of Wafdists, dubbed the "Wafdist Vanguard", emerged as a left-wing faction within the party.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Joel |date=1989 |title=The False Hopes of 1950: The Wafd's Last Hurrah and the Demise of Egypt's Old Order |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/163074 |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=193–214 |jstor=163074 |issn=0020-7438}}</ref>{{Sfn|Botman|1988|pp=44–45}} However, political squabbling both within the party and the cabinet failed to produce adequate reforms, specifically regarding the land situation.{{Sfn|Gordon|1989|pp=209–210|ps=Internal party dynamics played the major role in the Wafd's failure in its last term of rule. Internecine conflicts turned the Wafd and, in turn, the government into a battleground, sapping the party's strength at a time when it lacked an active, authoritative leader. Feuding between party leaders revolved around two primary struggles, the first between rivals who hoped to succeed Mustafa al- Nahhas as party chief, the second between veteran Wafdists and newer party members who sought greater influence and championed a program of reform. A less direct bid for power, but in the long run a greater threat, the exuberance of the reformers challenged the complacency of a party rooted in patron tradition. When the Wafd refused to budget, it forfeited its claim to publi and paved the way for its own demise.}}