Modern Egypt:

Modern Egypt:
The modern history of Egypt is marked by Egyptian attempts to achieve political independence first from the Ottoman Empire and then from the British. In the first half of the nineteenth century Muhammad Ali an Albanian and the Ottoman viceroy in Egypt attempted to create an Egyptian empire that extended to Syria and to remove Egypt from Turkish control. Ultimately he was unsuccessful and true independence from foreign powers would not be achieved until midway through the next century.

Foreign including British investment in Egypt and Britain's need to maintain control over the Suez Canal resulted in the British occupation of Egypt in 1882. Although Egypt was granted independence in 1922, British troops were allowed to remain in the country to safeguard the Suez Canal. In 1952 the Free Officers led by Lieutenant Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser took control of the government and removed King Faruk from power. In 1956 Nasser as Egyptian president announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal an action that resulted in the tripartite invasion by Britain France and Israel. Ultimately however Egypt prevailed and the last British troops were withdrawn from the country by the end of the year.

No history of Egypt would be complete without mentioning the Arab-Israeli conflict which has cost Egypt so much in lives territory and property. Armed conflict between Egypt and Israel ended in 1979 when the two countries signed the Camp David Accords. The accords however constituted a separate peace between Egypt and Israel and did not lead to a comprehensive settlement that would have satisfied Palestinian demands for a homeland or brought about peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Thus Egypt remained embroiled in the conflict on the diplomatic level and continued to press for an international conference to achieve a comprehensive agreement.

Mubarak is the current president of Egypt. He served actively in the army. He was the chief-commander of the air force during the1973 war (also called Yom Kippur War). Actually, the successful performance of the air force in that war is accredited to him.
He was promoted as an Air Marshal in 1974. In 1975, President Sadat chose him as his vice-president and he remained as such until Sadat s assassination in 1981. He was also made secretary-general of Sadat's National Democratic Party.

Mubarak was elected president on 13 October 1981. He soon declared his commitment to Sadat's peace path. He also released the political detainees who were imprisoned by Sadat.

In the early years of his rule, Mubarak worked hard to restore severed relations with Arab states and maintain good relations with the United States and the Soviet Union, later Russia.

Domestically, he introduced economic reforms and granted more political and press freedoms to the society. In recent years he also encouraged a privatization scheme planned by the government to reactivate the economy.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Mubarak was challenged by terrorist attacks launched by fundamentalist groups.

In 1995, Mubarak escaped an assassination attempt in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, while he was attending an African meeting. In the aftermath of the attack, Mubarak adopted a hard-line position against extremists until he successfully uprooted terrorism.

He also supported and took part in the US-led Gulf war in 1990 against Iraq, which was reaped by the successful liberation of Kuwait.
Also under his rule, Egypt supported and sponsored peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.

Mubarak also showed moral support for the US anti-terrorism efforts following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001.

Mubarak was reelected 3 times by referenda in 1987, 1993 and 1999 with landslide votes supporting him.

2011 Egyptian revolution

Now a days Egypt pass to freedom world by youth hands . 2011 Egyptian revolution  took place following a popular uprising that began on 25 January 2011. The uprising, in which the participants placed emphasis on the peaceful nature of the struggle, mainly comprised a campaign of civil resistance, which featured a series ofdemonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience, and labour strikes. Millions of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Despite being predominantly peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters. The campaign took place in Cairo,Alexandria, and in other cities in Egypt, following the Tunisian Revolution that saw the overthrow of the long-time Tunisian president. On 11 February, following weeks of determined popular protest and pressure, Mubarak resigned from office.

Grievances of Egyptian protesters were focused on legal and political issues including police brutality, state of emergency laws, lack of free elections andfreedom of speech, uncontrollable corruption, and economic issues including high unemployment, food price inflation, and low minimum wages. The primary demands from protest organizers were the end of the Hosni Mubarak regime and the end of emergency law; freedom, justice, a responsive non-military government, and a say in the management of Egypt's resources. Strikes bylabour unions added to the pressure on government officials.

There were up to 840 deaths reported, and over 6,000 were injured. The capital city of Cairo was described as "a war zone," and the port city of Suez was the scene of frequent violent clashes. The government imposed a curfew that protesters defied and that the police and military did not enforce. The presence of Egypt'sCentral Security Forces police, loyal to Mubarak, was gradually replaced by largely restrained military troops. In the absence of police, there was looting by gangs that opposition sources said were instigated by plainclothes police officers. In response, watch groups were organised by civilians to protect neighbourhoods.

International response to the protests was initially mixed, though most called for some sort of peaceful protests on both sides and moves toward reform. Most Western governments expressed concern about the situation. Many governments issued travel advisories and made attempts to evacuate their citizens from the country.^[25] The Egyptian Revolution, along with Tunisian events, has influenceddemonstrations in other Arab countries including Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, andLibya.

Mubarak dissolved his government and appointed military figure and former head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Omar Suleiman as Vice-President in an attempt to quell dissent. Mubarak asked aviation minister and former chief of Egypt's Air Force, Ahmed Shafik, to form a new government. Mohamed ElBaradeibecame a major figure of the opposition, with all major opposition groups supporting his role as a negotiator for some form of transitional unity government. In response to mounting pressure, Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in September.

On 11 February Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak would be stepping down as president and turning power over to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The junta, headed by effective head of state Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, announced on 13 February that the constitution would be suspended, both houses of parliament dissolved, and that the military would rule for six months until elections could be held. The prior cabinet, including Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, would continue to serve as a caretaker government until a new one is formed.Shafik resigned on 3 March, a day before major protests to get him to step down were planned; he was replaced by Essam Sharaf, the former transport minister