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Young Nasser entered the Royal Military Academy, enjoyed the orderly life and worked hard. At 20 he graduated a 2nd lieutenant, but soon discovered that the rottenness of Egyptian political life extended to the officer corps. "They were ignorant, of bad character and lived only by fawning on their superiors ... I was shocked at the treatment of the soldiers."
Nasser gathered a few like spirits together and led a protest against the bullying seniors. But World War II sent them all scurrying off to guard the numerous bridges over the Nile waterways.
Egypt was neutral, but young Farouk was suspected of intriguing with the Axis. At a critical moment in 1942 when Rommel was only 40 miles from the delta, the British, fearing treachery in their rear, surrounded the Abdin Palace in Cairo, and a tough British ambassador presented Farouk with an ultimatum: put the pro-Allied Wafd in power or be exiled. Farouk signed the order, smiling: "You will live to regret this, sir."
Egyptian pride touched bottom. The Wafd never recovered from the charge of being a "tool of the British" and became the most corrupt of all parties. A Premier who was about to propose declaring war on the Axis was shot dead in the Senate Chamber. The Moslem Brotherhood grew to membership of 2,000,000 with secret cells (called families) and a terrorist organization. But none was so humiliated and infuriated by the Abdin Palace incident as Gamal Nasser and his proud young friends. At the Officers' Club in Cairo a committee was formed, the first step in the Free Officers' Movement which ten years later was to sweep Farouk and all his works out of Egypt.
Nasser began organizing the year of Abdin. "I watched the officers who came through the schools. I'd get them talking in groups. Then I'd pick the best man in the group and talk to him in private." He married the daughter of a respectable carpet merchant, lived a quiet life. He did not look like a conspirator. Appointed to the staff college, he ran a cribbing service for those who wanted to pass examinations for staff jobs. Says he: "They were obligated to us." Looking around for a nominal leader who would inspire respect, he found Mohammed Naguib, a pipe-smoking colonel of bluff honesty. Tacit support was given by the Moslem Brotherhood when Nasser promised the Mufti of Jerusalem that he would help out with the Arab defense of Palestine.
The Time to Act. But when the Arab defenses collapsed and the Egyptians were forced by Israeli strength to make an armistice in 1949, Moslem resentment smoldered, later flamed up. "Liberation guerrillas" attacked the British, by then withdrawn to the Suez Canal zone. Then they cut loose in Cairo, where they burned bars, restaurants, movie houses (all sinful in Moslem eyes) and hotels frequented by foreigners. Farouk's wobbly government began to cave in and a state of emergency was declared.