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The Egyptian Socialist Party ( ar, الحزب الاشتراكي المصري) was a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
founded in 1921.
[Markaz Al-Buḥūth 'arabīyah Wa Al-Ifrīqīyah. ]
Shahādāt wa-ruʼá al-Juzʼ al-khāmis
'. Al-Qāhirah: Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
, Anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
and Reformism">Reformist
Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement.
Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...
elements. The party platform was published on August 29, 1921. The party began publishing the newspaper ''ash-Shebiba'' (الشبيبة). The party established a network of local branches in major cities around the country. It initiated work amongst trade unions and took part in organizing strikes. It also began educational activities for children of workers as well as trying to reach out to mobilize the peasantry.
A party conference held in July 1922 declared the
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
branch of the party as the party headquarters. On October 20, 1922, the party declared itself as the true representative of the Egyptian
working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
. Towards the end of the year the party counted with around 1,500 members (400 in Alexandria).
[Ismael, Tareq Y., and Rifʻat Saʻīd. ]
The Communist Movement in Egypt, 1920-1988
'. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1990. p. 21
The party sent Hosni al-Arabi to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, to negotiate a possible entry of the party to the
Communist International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...
. Al-Arabi returned to Egypt towards the end of 1921, with the instructions that the party would adhere to the
twenty-one conditions The Twenty-one Conditions, officially the Conditions of Admission to the Communist International, refer to the conditions, most of which were suggested by Vladimir Lenin, to the adhesion of the socialist parties to the Third International (Comintern ...
of the Communist International. A majority of the party
Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
(led by al-Arabi) approved the conditions in December 1922, and the name of the party was changed to Egyptian Communist Party ( ar, الحزب الشيوعي المصري). The party treasurer Rosenthal, who had opposed some of the conditions, was expelled and substituted by Ahmed al-Madani.
In 1923 the party was active in major
strike action
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...
s. The British authorities clamped down on the party. Many party cadres were arrested and party offices were closed. Anton Maroun, a prominent leader of the party, died in jail. Subsequently, the colonial authorities sponsored
yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...
trade unions to counter the socialists.
After the crackdown on the party, Marxist sectors continued to operate in cells.
See also
*
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
References
Sources
{{Authority control
1921 establishments in Egypt
1923 disestablishments in Egypt
Political parties established in 1921
Political parties disestablished in 1923
Comintern sections
Defunct communist parties in Egypt