Young Egypt

A patriotic association of Egyptian youth established in October 1933.

In 1937, Young Egypt (Misr al-Fatat) became a formal political party in Egypt; in 1940, the name was changed to the Islamic Nationalist party (al-Hizb alWatani al-Islami); in 1949, it became the Socialist party of Egypt (Hizb Misr al-Ishtiraki).

The dominant figure in Young Egypt throughout its history was the lawyer/politician Ahmad Husayn. In the 1930s, the movement's program combined a vehement, anti-British Egyptian nationalism, an antiparliamentary outlook, an emphasis on the paramilitary training and mobilization of youth, and a call for greater social justice. Politically opposed to the Wafd, Young Egypt aligned itself with the anti-Wafdist forces centered around the Egyptian palace; its paramilitary squads of Green Shirts periodically fought with the Blue Shirts of the Wafd.

Although it was suppressed during World War II, it afterward dropped its paramilitary features while retaining, but relabeling, much of its prewar populism. Like all Egyptian political parties, it was abolished in January 1953, after the Free Officers, led by General Muhammad Naguib, seized power from the monarchy of King Farouk.

Bibliography

Jankowski, James. Egypt's Young Rebels: "Young Egypt,"1933 - 1952. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1975.

— JAMES JANKOWSKI