10 History Essay Topics on Egyptian Revolution of 2011

Topics and ideas
Posted on March 15, 2016

If you need 10 facts for your history essay on the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, consider the causes, casualties, and consequences listed below:

  1. In the decade leading up to the Egyptian revolution the opposition organizations decried the president’s power and held rallies demanding free presidential elections. In single candidate referendums president Hosni Mubarak was elected on three separate occasions. In 2005 he faced opposition for the first time in spite of banning the Muslim Brotherhood from entering as a candidate. The Muslim Brotherhood was the most popular opposition group in Egypt and preventing them from running in the election had upset many citizens. When president Hosni Mubarak was elected yet again his runner-up was charged with fraud and put in prison.
  2. In the year 2010 independent candidates who were associated with the Muslim Brotherhood did well in the legislative elections and had started to become the biggest contingent in the opposition party for the 2010 elections. Opposing parties were not victorious to the extent that they should have been due to vote rigging, something which caused serious demands for reevaluation.
  3. Protests began on January 25th. Inspired by Tunisia success, people began taking to the streets in order to protest unemployment levels, poverty, government corruption, and the autocratic rule. These protests were the first of their scale to take place in Egypt since the 1970s.
  4. Protesters began defying curfews and the government responded to them by blocking Twitter which was one of the keys used by organizers to coordinate the protests throughout the city. This didn’t only enrage the citizens but increased the national attention to this uprising. Within the first two days of the uprising Egypt blocked access to Facebook and the riot police began arresting and injuring protesters on the streets with tear gas water cannons and batons. In cities such as Alexandria and Cairo these practices were commonplace.
  5. The Muslim Brotherhood was a fierce opponent of the current government regime, officially banned in Egypt. But as soon as the uprising began they started to support the protest helping enhancing the logistics of rioters. The government attempted to block all Internet services in the country on the first Friday after the protests began. Twitter, Facebook, email, social networking, and text messaging being locked down. The protesters began to search for alternative means of getting on the internet and distributing information among themselves. That same day the military was called in to take over the law enforcement and the US made an announcement that the aid they provided to Egypt would be put to review because of the ongoing protests. The immediate response by the president Hosni Mubarak who had remained silent during the first week was to appear on state television and make the announcement that he would be dismissing part of his government but that he himself would not step down. Shortly after this announcement President Obama urged the Egyptian president to make reformation a reality.
  6. The reforms that president Hosni Mubarak attempted to introduce did very little to satisfy the enraged citizens who demanded that the president would step down. It was in February that the opposition was invited to talks with the Egyptian government, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood, who had previously been banned. At the same time the president announced that he would not resign in spite of the fact that widespread media reports stated that he might. The following day he stepped down and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces suspended the constitution and dissolved the legislative bodies of Egypt.
  7. A new constitution was set to be drafted during which time the military would maintain power for 6 months or until new elections could be held. The internal security services were dissolved the next month, which was considered as a victory by many Egyptian citizens due to the fact that this ministry was known for regularly using torture and violating the rights of political dissidents.
  8. In March the Egyptians approved a referendum which proposed constitutional changes to the election process, set up a time limit for president, and restrict the ability of the president to use emergency laws. This document helped pave the way for a transition to an elected government and a new constitution. Continued issues arose in spite of this progress and protesters began to call upon the government to investigate the president Hosni Mubarak finances and the finances of his sons. It was stated that Mubarak and sons had amassed a large fortune which was concealed in a foreign bank. Public prosecutors ordered the detention of the former president and his sons for further questioning. After this the sons were sent to prison in Cairo.
  9. The investigating commission had been tasked with looking into the clashes which occurred between the protestors and the police during this uprising. It was found that the majority of the fatalities suffered by the protesters were the results of the deliberate use of lethal force by the security services. The death toll was 365 people.
  10. A reconciliation agreement was signed in May and the former president Hosni Mubarak along with his sons were set to stand trial for charges of corruption, abuse of power, and authorizing the security forces to use lethal force in killing the protesters. Some police officers who were charged with killing protesters were released from prison on bail but still face charges in state courts. Protests continued in the face of certain government ministers being acquitted of their corruption charges. 700 senior police officers were fired due to the killing of protesters that took place in January. 1 week after this announcement the new cabinet was established and the interim government announced that elections will be held on November 28th of the same year and in that period more protesters gathered, were faced with repressive tactics, and killed by police forces. The government issued apologies for the continued deaths of protesters. The United States publicly criticized the violence against protesters and protesters.
  11. The first round of parliamentary elections did go forward in November as scheduled in spite of the unrest. It noted was that the Muslim Brotherhood had some of the highest totals. One year after the start of the protests the Muslim Brotherhood was elected as the new leading party for the country and the new president was elected.
    These should prove valuable for your planned paper. You may also check our 20 topics and 1 sample essay on Egyptian Revolution of 2011 with additional tips for history essay writing.

References:
Abdelmottlep, Mamdooh A. “The Egyptian Revolution: An Analysis of the Egyptian Police Response, The Way to the Egyptian Police Reform (Subjective Projection)”. FRCIJ 1.5 (2015): n. pag. Web.
Alexander, Anne, and Mostafa Bassiouny. Bread, Freedom, Social Justice. Print.
Amin, Galal A, and Wright, Jonathan. Whatever Happened to the Egyptian Revolution?. Print.
Baker, Mona. Translating Dissent. Print.
El-Bendary, Mohamed. The Egyptian Revolution and Its Aftermath. New York: Algora Pub., 2013. Print.
El-Nawawy, Mohammed, and Sahar Khamis. Egyptian Revolution 2.0. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Print.
Gunning, Jeroen, and Ilan Zvi Baron. Why Occupy a Square?. Print.

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