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British Concoction or Bilateral Decision? Revisiting the Genesis of Soviet-Egyptian Diplomatic Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Rami Ginat
Rami Ginat
Affiliation:
Rami Ginat is Doctor of History at Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
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Extract

Diplomatic relations between Egypt and the USSR were established in August 1943. The motives behind the Egyptian government's decision to take this step have so far remained obscure. In fact, this subject has not yet been probed thoroughly or systematically and has not been given appropriate attention by either Soviet or Middle Eastern research. Studies dealing with Soviet-Egyptian relations or with Soviet policy toward the Middle East tend to allude only briefly to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cairo and Moscow in 1943. The explanation for this lack of interest is probably the widespread belief among scholars that Soviet interests and political activity in the Middle East during the Stalinist period were marginal, focusing mainly on nurturing local communist parties. These studies have held that a full-fledged Middle Eastern policy crystallized gradually only after Stalin's death in March 1953.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , February 1999 , pp. 39 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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References

Notes

1 See, for instance, Hamrūsh, Ahmad, Qissat Thawrat 23 Yūliyū, vol. 2 (Cairo: Maktabat Madbuli, 1983)Google Scholar; Bennigsen, A., Henze, P.B., Tanham, G.K., and Wimbush, S.E., Soviet Strategy and Islam (Basingstoke and London: Macmillan, 1989), 26CrossRefGoogle Scholar; El-Hussini, Mohrez M., Soviet-Egyptian Relations, 1945–85 (Basingstoke and London:Macmillan, 1989), xvii, 37Google Scholar; Laqueur, Walter, The Soviet Union and the Middle East (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959), 123Google Scholar; Shemesh, Haim, Soviet-Iraqi Relations 1968–1988 (Boulder, Colo., and London: Lynne Rienner Publisher, 1992)Google Scholar; Behbehani, Hashim S.H., The Soviet Union and Arab Nationalism 1917–1966 (London and New York: Kegan Paul, 1986), 54.Google Scholar

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3 Laqueur, , The Soviet Union and the Middle East, 121–22.Google Scholar

4 ibid., 123.

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6 Hamrūsh, Qissat Thawrat 23 Yūuliyū, 61.

7 Spector, Ivar, “Program of Action of the Communist Party of Egypt,” Middle East Journal 10, 4 (1956): 427Google Scholar; Yodfat, , Arab Politics, 1–4Google Scholar; Lenczowski, George, “Soviet Policy in the Middle East,” Journal of International Affairs 8, 1 (1954): 52–54.Google Scholar

8 “Rezolytsii VII Vsemirnogo Kongressa Kommunisticheskogo Internatsionala,” Moscow, 1935, 27–28, in Bulletin, Institute for the Study of the USSR, vol. 15, no. 3 (March 1968), 31.

9 In November 1928, the USSR recognized the complete independence and sovereignty of the new state of Yemen in a treaty of friendship and trade signed in Sana, the capital of Yemen. Trade agreements had also been signed with Turkey, Persia, and Afghanistan. Earlier than that, in 1924, Moscow had established diplomatic representations with Hejaz and did the same in 1926 with the newly united Nejd-Hejaz (which became Saudi Arabia in 1932). The relations between the two countries reached their climax in 1932, when Prince Faysal made an official visit to the USSR. Nevertheless, Soviet missions were withdrawn from both countries in 1938 as a result of lack of activity. See Ginat, , The Soviet Union and Egypt, 6Google Scholar; Roʿi, Yaacov, “Soviet Views on the Middle East, 1919–1939,” in The Great Powers in the Middle East, 1919–1939, ed. Dann, Uriel (New York and London: Holmes & Meier, 1988), 305.Google Scholar

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11 ibid. See also El-Hussini, Soviet-Egyptian Relations 27. See more on the short-lived Soviet-German non-aggression pact in Deutscher, Isaac, Stalin (Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1972), 426–50.Google Scholar

12 It was only several months earlier, in May 1941, that the USSR had recognized the anti-British Iraqi regime led by Rashid ʿAIi al-Ghylani. See Behbehani, , Arab Nationalism, 54.Google Scholar

13 Roʿi, Yaacov,From Encroachment to Involvement (Jerusalem: IUP, 1974), 3.Google Scholar

14 El-Hussini, , Soviet-Egyptian Relations, 27.Google Scholar

15 The new American policy concerning that part of the world was intended to strengthen and stabilize the existing regimes, to stop the spread of communism and Soviet influence, and to protect major American economic interests in the Middle East, especially the development and exploitation of petroleum resources. This new policy, known as the Truman Doctrine, was announced on 12 March 1947. See Ginat, ,The Soviet Union and Egypt, 94–95Google Scholar; Safran, Nadav, From War to War (New York: Pegasus, 1969), 92–100Google Scholar; Roʿi, Encroachment, 66–67; Laueur, , The Soviet Union and the Middle East, 136–37, 191Google Scholar; McGhee, George, Envoy to the Middle World (New York: Harper & Row, 1983), 18–20.Google Scholar

16 See, for instance, Nahhas Pasha's words to Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to London, in Maisky, Ivan,Memoirs of a Soviet Ambassador (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968), 373, 384–86.Google Scholar

17 See, for instance, Ginat, The Soviet Union and Egypt; Roʾi, Encroachment; idem, Soviet Decision Making in Practice (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1980)Google Scholar. See also Shulman, M.D., Stalin's Foreign Policy Reappraised (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1985).Google Scholar

18 E1-Hussini, Soviet-Egyptian Relations, xvii.

19 Heikal, Mohamed, The Sphinx and the Commissar (New York and London: Collins, 1978), 50.Google Scholar

20 On Soviet-Egyptian economic and political relations in the decade following the end of World War II, see Ginat, The Soviet Union and Egypt. See also al-MursI, al-ʿAlāqāt al-Misriyya al-Sufyātiyya, 241 -54.

21 See a copy of the memorandum submitted to King Farouk by Prime Minister Nahhas Pasha on 14 March 1943, in telegram 304 from British Embassy, Cairo, 27 March 1943, FO371/35589, J1684. See also al-Mursi, al-ʿAlāqāt al-Misriyya al-Sufyātiyya, 44.

22 Dispatch 50 (C.S.178.C/3/37) from Sir M. Lampson, Cairo, 16 January 1938, FO371/22001, J356/256/16.

23 Dispatch 817 (C.S.178.C/1/38) from M. Lampson, Cairo, 8 July 1938, FO371/22001, J2821/356/16.

24 Dispatch 968 (C.S.I78/2/38) from Bateman, British Embassy, Cairo, 15 August 1938, FO371/22001, J3352/356/16.

25 Dispatch 1253 (C.S.I78/3/38) from Bateman, Cairo, 26 November 1938, FO371/22001, J4489/356/16.

26 See telegram 304. See also al-Mursi, , al-ʿAlāqāt al-Misriyya al-Sufyātiyya, 44–46.Google Scholar

27 Telegram 3862 from Lampson, Cairo, 8 December 1941, FO371/27511, J3855/3855/16.

28 Telegrams 3880 and 3843 from Lampson, Cairo, 9 and 11 December 1941, FO371/27511, J3866/3855/16 and J3937/3855/16.

29 Maisky, , Memoirs of a Soviet Ambassador, 371Google Scholar. According to Nikolai Novikov, the first Soviet minister to Cairo, Nahhas Pasha, Egypt's prime minister, who held a meeting with him a few weeks after his arrival in Cairo, confirmed that it was Egypt that initiated the establishment of diplomatic relations with the USSR. See Novikov, N.V., Vospominaniya Diplomata Zapiski: 1938–1947 (Moskva: IPL, 1989), 153Google Scholar. See also Hamrūsh, , Qissat Thawrat 23 Yūliyū, 61.Google Scholar

30 Telegram 613 from Lampson, Cairo, 25 March 1943, FO371/35589, J1398. According to Fuʾad al-Mursi, who based his conclusion on official documents of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, it was Maisky who initiated this move. However, al-Mursi stressed that both Egypt and the USSR had their own motives to promote this dialogue. Egypt, said Mursi, was motivated first and foremost by its economic interests, and also hoped that the USSR would support its struggle internationally for independence. As for the USSR, said al-Mursi, diplomatic relations with Egypt could have increased the number of countries in the Middle East that recognized communist Russia. Diplomatic representation of the USSR in this sensitive region adjacent to its borders could have served Soviet interests. See al-Mursi, al-ʿAlaqat al-Misriyya al-Sufyātiyya, 50–51.

31 Telegram 613 from Lampson, Cairo, 25 March 1943, FO371/35589, J1398.

32 Ibid.

33 Ibid.

34 Telegram 431 from Cairo, 26 February 1943, FO371/35589, J986. cUthman appreciated that Maisky's offer was apparently unofficial. About a week later, the Foreign Office instructed its embassy in Cairo to ask the Egyptian government to find out whether Maisky's approach was made on instructions of his government and was not a purely personal intervention. See telegram 380 from Foreign Office to Cairo, 4 March 1943, FO371/35589, J986/954/16.

35 Telegram 431.

36 Telegram 458 from Lampson, Cairo, 3 March 1943, FO371/35589, J1032.

37 See record of conversation between Hasanain Pasha and T. Shone, in telegram 250 from British Embassy, Cairo, 9 March 1943, FO371/35589, J1377.

38 Ibid.

38 See telegram 304.

40 Ibid.

41 See minutes submitted with FO371/35589, J1398, 26 March 1943, FO371/35589, J1401 in telegram 614 from Lampson, Cairo.

42 Ibid.

43 Telegram 457 from Lampson, Cairo, 3 March 1943, FO371/35589, J1032.

44 Telegram 614 from Lampson, Cairo, 22 March 1943, FO371/35589, J1401. Words in the same spirit were said by Lampson in a later conversation with Hasanain which took place in early May. See telegram 944 from Lampson, Cairo, FO371/35589, J2082.

45 Telegram 614.

46 Telegram 708 from Lampson, Cairo, 9 April 1943, FO371/35589, J1604.

47 Telegram 606 from Foreign Office to Cairo, 9 April 1943, FO371/35589, J1604.

48 Telegram 625 from Foreign Office to Cairo, 13 April 1943, FO371/35589, J1604.

49 On the internal political crises in Egypt in 1943, see Vatikiotis, P.J., The History of Modern Egypt (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991), 354–55.Google Scholar

50 Telegram 781 from Lampson, 19 April 1943, FO371/35589, J1782/954/16.

51 Telegram 879 from Lampson, 2 May 1943, FO371/35589, J1942.

52 Ibid.

53 Telegram 891 from Lampson, Cairo, 3 May 1943, FO371/35589, J1971.

54 Telegram 915 from Lampson, Cairo, 6 May 1943, FO371/35589, J2029.

55 Telegram 891.

56 Telegram 760 from Foreign Office to Cairo, 5 May 1943, FO371/35589, J1971/954/16.

57 Telegram 952 from Lampson, Cairo, 9 May 1943, FO371/35589, J2086.

58 Vatikiotis, , The History of Modern Egypt, 349–55Google Scholar. See also Kedourie, Elie, The Chatham House Version and Other Middle Eastern Studies (Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 1984),217–18Google Scholar; Lapidus, Ira M., A History of Islamic Societies (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 624.Google Scholar

59 Vatikiotis, , The History of Modern Egypt, 350–51.Google Scholar See also Hourani, Albert, A History of the Arab People (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991), 355.Google Scholar

60 Quoted in Botman, Selma, The Rise of Egyptian Communism 1939–1970 (New York: Syracuse University Press, 1988), 33.Google Scholar

61 Ginat, , The Soviet Union and Egypt, 24–25Google Scholar. See also Botman, , The Rise of Egyptian Communism,35–58Google Scholar; Ismael, Tareq Y. and El-Saʿid, Rifaʿat, The Communist Movement in Egypt 1920–1988 (New York:Syracuse University Press, 1990), 32–59;Google ScholarʿAbbās, RaʾufHamid, al-Haraka al-ʿUmmāliyyafi Misr, 1899–1952 (Cairo: Dār al-Katib al-ʿArabi, 1968), 418–19Google Scholar; Heikal, , Sphinx and Commissar, 42–45.Google Scholar

62 On 30 March he invited Arab governments to send representatives to Cairo for consultations and discussions on the issue of Arab unity. See Porath, Yehoshua, In Search of Arab Unity 1930–1945 (London:Frank Cass, 1986), 258.Google Scholar

63 On the rivalry between King Farouk and Nahhas Pasha throughout the process of the establishment of the Arab League, see ibid., chap. 5.

64 Telegram 1071 from Lord Killearn, Cairo, 26 May 1943, FO371/35589, J2377.

65 Telegram 915.

66 Ibid.

67 Ibid.

68 Telegram 1071.

69 Telegram 1076 from Killearn, Cairo, 26 May 1943, FO371/35589, J2378/954/16.

70 See minute by Warner, Foreign Office, 21 June 1943, FO371/35589.

71 In the beginning of 1943, Makram ʿUbaid, the former finance minister in Nahhas's cabinet who resigned from the Wafdist Party and formed in July 1942 a new party called al-Kutla al-Wafdiyya almustaqilla, published his famous account known as the “Black Book” (al-kitāb al-aswad), which dealt mainly with the disclosure of Wafdist graft and corruption in government and politics. This account was a clear indictment of Nahhas Pasha. On the Nahhas-ʿUbaid power struggle, see Vatikiotis, , The History of Modern Egypt, 354–55.Google Scholar

72 See minute by Warner.

73 Telegram 1276 from Lord Killearn, Cairo, 22 June 1943, FO371/35589, J2378/954/16. On the Soviet rejection of Egypt's pre-conditions, see Maisky, , Memoirs of a Soviet Ambassador, 372.Google Scholar

74 Telegram 658 from British Embassy, Cairo, 9 July 1943, FO371/35590, J31O3. Detailed information about Maisky's visit in Cairo can be seen in Maisky, , Memoirs of a Soviet Ambassador, 372–73. See also a personal letter from W. K. Miles, British Embassy, Cairo, to Anthony Eden, FO, 15 July 1943, FO371/35590, J3864.Google Scholar

75 See the original copy of the letter in French in enclosure 1 to telegram 658. See also Maisky, , Memoirs of a Soviet Ambassador, 373–75.Google Scholar

76 See the full text of his letter in enclosure 2 to telegram 658. See also Maisky, Memoirs of a Soviet Ambassador, 373–75.

77 See full copy of the original letter in French in enclosure 1 to dispatch 505 from Killearn, Cairo, to Eden, FO, 5 May 1944, FO371/41358, J1643/1197/16. See also the content of Maisky's letter in Maisky,Memoirs of a Soviet Ambassador, 382.

78 See a full copy of the original letter in French in enclosure 2 to telegram 505.

79 Telegram 1631 from Killearn, Cairo, 26 August 1943, FO371/35590, J3683/954/16. Telegram 1713 from Shone, Cairo, 9 September 1943, ibid., J3887/954/16. See also Le Journal d'Égypte (Cairo), 7 September 1943, and Pravda (Moscow), 9 September 1943. Maisky, , Memoirs of a Soviet Ambassador, 384–89.Google Scholar

80 See minute by Scrivener, FO, 28 July 1943, FO371/35590, J403/954/16.

81 See personal letter from Miles to Eden, FO371/35590, J3864.

82 See personal letter from Anthony Eden to Miles, 30 July 1943, FO371/35590. On this issue, see also minute by P. Scrivener, Egyptian Department, FO, 24 July 1943, FO371/35590, J3864.

83 Telegram 1200 from Killearn, Cairo, 30 December 1943, FO371/41358, J202. Novikov was born in Leningrad in 1903 and was graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Oriental Studies in 1930. He joined the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in 1938 and a year later he became the director of the NearEast department there. See also Novikov, , Vospominaniya Diplomata Zapiski, 153–55.Google Scholar