Some times it is obvious that the results of a revolution aren’t as wonderful as what was hoped. It is a time perhaps to bring in some new people and try some new things still within the framework of the revolution. We did an nineties stamp from Vietnam here, https://the-philatelist.com/2019/10/22/vietnam-1993-after-a-renovation-wondering-about-becoming-an-asian-tiger/ , when it faced similar issues. In Egypt, 20 years after the revolution that ended the Monarchy, new President Anwar Sadat was ready to put his stamp on Egypt. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The emblem on this stamp proports to be the coat of arms of Egypt. It is not, after the Monarchy the Coat of Arms gas been a depiction of the Eagle of Saladin. That doesn’t mean that this is a bad emblem. You see the Pan Arab Socialist emphasis on progress and science. You also see the call to Faith, part of the Corrective Revolution was Sadat lightening up on religious persecution and reaching out a hand to Islamist. Getting that balance is quite tricky. Even on the stamp it seems somewhat discordant.
Todays stamp is issue A395, a 20 Milliemes stamp issued by Egypt on July 23rd, 1972 when it was in a federation with Syria, Libya, and the Sudan. It was a two stamp issue remembering the 20th anniversary of the revolution. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.
Anwar Sadat was born in southern Egypt to a Nubian family of modest means. He was one quarter Sudanese on his mothers side. Thus he was significantly darker than most Egyptians. He was trained as an officer in the Egyptian Army and posted to Sudan, where he met the more senior future general Nasser. He was arrested and jailed by the British for trying to contact the Axis powers to conspire to rid Egypt of Britain. He participated in the revolution that ended the Monarchy and rose fast in Nasser’s government including ultimately the Vice Presidency.
After the death of Nasser in 1970, Sadat assumed the Presidency. Most figured him a short term caretaker but he had other ideas. He threw out the Soviet Army from Egypt as a non Muslim force was unwelcome and exerted too much influence on Egypt’s actions. He arrested the head of Nasser’s secret police and lightened up on the practice of the faith. He rejuvenated efforts at Pan-Arabism by introducing a Federation of Arab Republics. After agreeing in full to a UN proposal on the Israel occupied Sinai resulted in no movement with Israel he reformed the Army toward a new war. This was all packaged as a Corrective Revolution.
In 1973, the Egyptian Army crossed on to the Sinai smashing Israel’s fortifications. Though the war did not regain the Sinai it did energize Egypt and the wider Arab world. The near defeat shocked Israel and made them suddenly more willing to deal for peace. When the peace treaty was signed with Israel many Arabs viewed it as a betrayal. The new more capable Egyptian Army was the key tool in the defeat of the Jewish entity as they put it. Egypt was wrong they felt to sellout in exchange for only the occupied land in Sinai. The Federation with other Arab states ended and even the headquarters of the Arab League moved to Tunis, Tunisia. Sadat was assassinated 4 years later. There are debates whether the assassin was motivated by Nasserism or Islamism.
Well my drink is empty and so I will have to wait till tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.