Content deleted Content added
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
||
Line 128:
{{main|Egypt in World War II|North African campaign}}
The government of Egypt was legally neutral in World War II. The army was not in combat. In practice the British made Egypt a major base of operations against
The government of Egypt, and the Egyptian population, played a minor role in the Second World War. When the war began in September 1939, Egypt declared martial law and broke off diplomatic relations with Germany. It did not declare war on Germany, but the Prime Minister associated Egypt with the British war effort. It broke off diplomatic relations with Italy in 1940, but never declared war, even when the Italian army invaded Egypt. King Farouk practically took a neutral position, which accorded with elite opinion among the Egyptians. The Egyptian army did no fighting. It was apathetic about the war, with the leading officers looking on the British as occupiers and sometimes holding some private sympathies toward the Axis.<ref>S. K. Rothwell, "Military Ally or Liability? The Egyptian Army 1936–1942." ''Army Quarterly & Defence Review'' 128#2 (1998): 180-7.</ref> In June 1940, the King dismissed Prime Minister Aly Maher, who got on poorly with the British. A new coalition government was formed with the Independent [[Hassan Pasha Sabri]] as Prime Minister briefly, followed by [[Hussein Sirri Pasha (1894–1960)|Hussein Sirri Pasha]].<ref>John Marlowe, ''A History of Modern Egypt and Anglo-Egyptian Relations, 1800–1953'' (1954) pp. 313–15.</ref>
| |||