What Is Nasser's Response To British Imperialism

King Abdullah of Jordan and Nasser of Egypt both responded to British influence and colonialism by creating a nation, separate from Britain, that run on the same western and modernized principles with the hope of creating a reputation for themselves as a nation equal to Britain and other western nations. The British presence and control in Egypt caused Nasser to oust this foreign presence in attempt to create his own Egyptian nation, run only by the people of Egypt. Similarly, King Abdullah, after heading the Great Arab Revolt of the Ottoman Empire that the British urged him to start, planned to create a large Arab Kingdom, centered in Jordan, with a fair, westernized governmental system. Nasser, an Egyptian citizen who later became president,
noticed the unfair colonial presence of Britain in his country.
The British were bringing their culture into the country of Egypt, while heavily taxing the Egyptian people. Although Egypt seemed to be running its own country under Farouk, in actuality the British were in control of the country of Egypt. Nasser’s response to this, was to oust the British. The first step in doing so, was taking the Suez Canal back. The Egyptian people built the Suez Canal with their own hands—many died in the process—but the British had taken it as their own. The act of taking it back as the property of Egypt, gave the Egyptian people a national identity centered around the hard-work that their Egyptian ancestors had put into the Suez Canal, that was now theirs again. This was instrumental in separating the Egyptians from the British, because the Suez Canal gave the Egyptian people something to call their own whereas before, the British were in control of everything. Nasser also gave Egypt its own strong and independent army, that was before lead by a British general. This again showed Egypt emerging as a nation that was equal to the British, and other western nations. When he became president, Nasser
also decided to implement a more modern and western government, run by a president instead of a king. By this, Nasser further showed his belief in Egypt as a western nation, just like Britain, France, and the United States. Nasser’s hope that Egypt would be considered a western nation, was made a reality, with the Soviet Union’s involvement in the Cold War. The Soviet Union threatened to bomb the British if they did not pull out of Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries that had been permeated by their colonialism. When the British left Egypt, Nasser took credit for it and used it as proof to consummately argue that the Egyptian nation was as strong and powerful as the other western nations King Abdullah, the son of Hussein and leader of Jordan, responded to British influence in a similar way.
When Lawrence of Arabia and the British convinced Abdullah to lead the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire—to ensure that the Ottomans would not take back Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries that they had colonized—they sparked a nationalist disposition in Abdullah. After the Great Arab Revolt agains the Ottomans subsided, Abdullah was offered the kingship of Iraq, but he declined and became the leader of Transjordan. Contrary to the situation in Egypt, the British presence in Transjordan was not as prominent. However, the British still prevented Abdullah from having full control over his nation. As the leader of Transjordan, Abdullah set out to eliminate the archaic tribal governmental system, and create a westernized constitutional monarchy, drafting a constitution and electing a parliament. This marked the beginning of his separation from the British as his own strong nation. Abdullah also created a strong army for Transjordan, called the Arab Legion and began working to create international legitimacy for his country. He began negotiating with British to create his own independent nation, which finally occurred with the Anglo-Transjordanian treaty. As the leader of an independent nation, Abdullah changed the name of the nation from Transjordan to Jordan in attempt to further separate it from British control. Although Abdullah was assassinated before he
could expand his kingdom to Syria and Iraq to create a large Arab Kingdom, the nation of Jordan that he left behind served as an ample sentiment to Abdullah’s creation of Jordan as a strong and modernized nation, equal to and separate from the British. Nasser and King Abdullah responded to British imperialism and colonialism in similar ways, by separating their nations from British control and creating a strong and modernized nation equal to that of western nations. The goal of Nasser and Abdullah was not to expel the British out of hatred and create a nation that operated under different principles, rather they wanted to mirror the westernized governmental principles of the British and other western nations, in order to present themselves as a nation of equal strength and importance.