Egypt and the Soviet Union, 1953-1970
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Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1986 Egypt and the Soviet Union, 1953-1970 John W. Copp Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the African Studies Commons, History Commons, International Relations Commons, and the Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Copp, John W., "Egypt and the Soviet Union, 1953-1970" (1986). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3797. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.5681 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE thesis of John w. Copp for the Master of Arts in History presented April 7, 1986. Title: Egypt and the Soviet Union, 1953-1970 APPROVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE~IS COMMITTEE -------- --------- The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze in detail the many aspects of the Soviet-Egyptian friendship as it developed from 1953 to 1970. The relationship between the two is extremely important because it provides insight into the roles of both Egypt aand the Soviet Union in both the history of the Middle East and in world politics. The period from 1953 to 1970 is key in understanding the relationship between the two states because it is the period of the genesis of the relationship and a period in which both nations went through marked changes in both internal policy and their external relations. Data used in this study varies widely. It includes material from sources as diverse as diplomatic memoirs, press accounts in both English and Russian, statistical collections of both a military and an economic nature, and chronicles of cultural interaction. These sources were consulted in various research libraries throughout the United States. On the basis of the available sources it is possible to state that Egypt and the Soviet Union developed a broad relationship that included integration in the military, economic aid and trade, diplomatic cooperation, and cultural exchange. Both derived important but distinct benefits from their friendship. This study attempts to show what those benefits were, how the friendship developed, and why it developed as it did. EGYPT AND THE SOVIET UNION, 1953-1970 by JOHN W. COPP A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY Portland State University 1986 'ID THE OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH: The members of the Cornmittee approve the thesis of John w. Copp presented May 15, 1986. Grant Farr APPIOilED: Bernard Ross, Dean of Graduate Studies and Research ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of scholars and students had a great deal of influence on this manuscript at various stages during its preparation. Special thanks go to my advisor, Basil Dmytryshyn for his direction of my work and the cogent commentary with which he provided me. In addition, I wish to thank professors Seweryn Bialer, Leopold Haimson, and Robert Paxton of Columbia University who widened my understanding of history and the Soviet Union with their insights. I would also like to thank the large number of fellow graduate students who helped in the preparation of this work by commenting upon various portions of the manu script and through our discussions of Soviet and Middle Eastern politics. Particular mention should be made of Gary M. Garrettson, Anne E. Stein, Joan Elliot, and Cynthia Roberts, each of whom made particularly important contribu tions. Finally, I would like to thank two people without whom the preparation and production of this manuscript would have been much more difficult, Evgenii Beshenkovsky, whose bibliographic assistance was invaluable, and Patricia M. Copp, whose typing and editing made the final form of this manuscript possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii CHAPTER I THE QUIET NILE 1 II THE CZECH ARMS DEAL AND BEYOND: THE SOVIET- EGYPTIAN MILITARY RELATIONSHIP 31 III NOT BY ARMS ALONE: SOVIET-EGYPTIAN DIPLOMACY 71 IV THE SOVIET-EGYPTIAN ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP: HOW THE TIES WERE FORGED 188 V EGYPT AND THE SOVIET UNION: THE CULTURAL DIMENSION 221 VI THE LEVER AND THE FULCRUM: CONCLUSIONS 251 APPENDIX A: FIGURES 1-10 275 APPENDIX B: MAPS 1-4 285 BIBLIOGRAPHY 289 CHAPTER I THE QUIET NILE Historically there has been relatively little contact between Russia and Egypt. The period following the military coup in Egypt in 1952 and continuing until the death of Gamel Abdel Nasser in 1970 is an exception to this general rule. This interlude was a time of comparatively feverish interaction between the Soviet government in Russia and the Arab Socialist Union government of Nasser in Egypt. Re- lations on all levels between the two countries were tre- mendously broadened. An intimate diplomatic relationship developed that bound the fortunes of the United Arab Republic (Egypt) and the Soviet Union tightly together. Economic interaction increased to such an extent that the total commerce between the two nations was multiplied by a factor of more than twenty between 1951 and 1970. Soviet imports from Egypt increased by almost 4500 percent during that same period. Exports showed a somewhat slower rate of increase but still rose from 21.8 million rubles in 1951 1 to 326.9 million rubles in 1970. Cultural contacts between the two nations also became frequent during this period. Interaction in the cultural sphere ranged from contact between the Islamic elements in Soviet Central Asia and the Egyptian clergy to the exchange of films and cultural 2 centers. Even a cursory glimpse at the increased contact between the Soviet Union and Egypt shows how dramatic the change in relationship between the two was. The extremity of this change makes the relationship between the Egyptians and the Soviets an important target for an investigation into its new nature in order to try to discover the factors that precipitated it and to try to fathom its full extent. There are many plausible reasons for the Soviet Union to be interested in developing a closer relationship with Egypt. These range from Egypt's strategic importance to its cultural prominence - especially in the Arab world. Many of the factors that kindled Soviet interest in Egypt during this period were age old. Others developed from the growing conflict for power and influence between the Soviets and the United States that was going on at the time. The location of Egypt is of major import in any dis- cussions of its influence in world affairs. Egypt is the 2 geographic center of the Arab world; to the west and south of Egypt are located the Arab-speaking nations of Africa: Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, the Sudan and Tunisia; to the north and east are the Arab nations of Asia: Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and the two Yemens. Because of its location at the conjunction of Asia and Africa, Egypt plays an important role in the affairs of two of the major seas of the world. Egypt has excellent ports on both its t1edi t- 3 erranean and Red Sea coasts. Because of its access to two of the most strategically important bodies of water in the Middle East, Egypt necessarily must play an important role (either as an independent actor or as a pawn) in the affairs of the area that has been termed the "Crossroads of the World." Another important facet of the strategic importance of Egypt is its control of the mouth of the Nile, the longest river in the world. By controlling its mouth, Egypt domin ates the entire drainage basin of the Nile. This, in turn, allows Egypt an important voice in the affairs of the Sudan, Ethiopia and, at times, even Uganda. A third body of water that plays an important role in making Egypt one of the most strategically important nations of the world is the man-made Suez canal. The Suez canal, built by Egyptian labor under British and French direction in 1869, directly connects the Red and Mediterranean Seas. By providing a connection between the two, the Suez dras tically shortens the sea route from Asia to Europe. The elimination of the need for ships going in either direction to circumnavigate Africa makes the Canal one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Beyond its intrinsic strategic importance as the center of the Middle East, Egypt is strategically important because of its position in relation to the Soviet Union. Cairo and 4 Alexandria are located approximately 1000 miles directly to the south of Odessa, the Soviet Union's main Black Sea port. The region directly south of its borders has been of inter- est to the governments of Russia from the days of the Tsars until the present. Whether this interest is a result of a traditional Russian obsession for a warm water port, or simply because of the traditional significance of the area in world affairs, or possibly even because of ideological considerations is open to question. Whatever the case, the Russian interest in the area is unquestionable. Egypt's geopolitical importance alone would be enough to interest any nation desirous of expanding its influence. However, there are other factors that have drawn Soviet interest to Egypt. "Egypt has for more than a century been the bellwether of Arab attitudes, the symbol of Arab values, the embodiment 3 of Arab polarities.'' It is this position of preeminence that makes Egypt the most culturally important of all of the Arab nations. This situation exists, and has existed, despite the fact that Egypt is without a doubt the least ethnically Arab of all of the Arabic-speaking nations of the Middle East.