On October 6, 1981, Anwar Sadat was assassinated during Cairo’s annual victory parade. Hosni Mubarak, Sadat’s handpicked vice president, came to power with a mandate for cautious change. Mubarak worked closely with Sadat since 1973 when he was an air force general and hero of the Yom Kippur War. Mubarak maintained a moderate tone during his first year as president, neither withdrawing from negotiations with Israel nor loosening ties with the United States. By retaining that steady course, he prevented any delay in the expulsion of the Israeli occupation forces from the occupied Sinai Peninsula in April 1982. At the same time, Mubarak tried to contain disaffections that had surfaced during Sadat’s final year in power. During Sadat’s reign, the privileged minority that dominated the private sector was officially overthrown. He also freed Sadat’s political prisoners and prosecuted vehemently the Islamic militants who planned Sadat’s assassination. Due to Egypt’s worsening economic problems, a quick solution was impossible. Mubarak, however, acknowledged Egypt’s economic weaknesses in his very first speeches. Discontented labor and religious groups continued to oppose various political, economic, and social policies. Labor strikes, food riots, and other instances of unrest were suppressed, and Islamic extremists were stymied in their efforts to undermine the regime.
During the 1980s, Egypt’s economy was weakened by falling oil prices and a decline in remittances from its three million foreign workers. The government relied heavily on foreign economic aid, leading to increased interference by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Egypt’s economic policies.
Here are some fascinating photos that will take you back to the 1980s in Egypt.
