Egyptian Armed Forces in the context of "Abdel Fattah el-Sisi"

The Egyptian Army (Arabic: الجيش المصري, romanized: Al Gaish al Misry), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces, is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolition of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it was known as the Royal Egyptian Army.

The modern army was established during the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha (1805–1849), widely considered to be the "founder of modern Egypt". Its most significant engagements in the 20th century were in Egypt's five wars with the State of Israel (in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1967–1970, and 1973), one of which, the Suez Crisis of 1956, also saw it do combat with the armies of the United Kingdom and France. The Egyptian army was also engaged heavily in the protracted North Yemen Civil War, and the brief Egyptian–Libyan War in July 1977. Its last major engagement was Operation Desert Storm, the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, in which the Egyptian army constituted the second-largest contingent of the allied forces.

The Free Officers (Arabic: حركة الضباط الأحرار, romanized: Ḥarakat al-dubbāṭ al-ʾaḥrār) were a group of revolutionary Egyptian nationalist officers in the Egyptian Armed Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces that instigated the Egyptian revolution of 1952. Initially started as a small rebellion military cell under Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf, which included Gamal Abdel Nasser, Hussein Hamouda, Khaled Mohieddin, Kamal el-Din Hussein, Salah Nasr, Abdel Hakim Amer, and Saad Tawfik, it operated as a clandestine movement of junior officers who were veterans of the Palestine War of 1948–1949 as well as earlier nationalist uprisings in Egypt in the 1940s.

The nationally respected Arab-Israeli War veteran Mohamed Naguib joined the Free Officers in 1949. Naguib's hero status, and influence within the army, granted the movement credibility, both within the military and the public at large. He became the official leader of the Free Officers during the turmoil leading up the revolution that toppled King Farouk in 1952. The Movement was succeeded by the Revolutionary Command Council after the overthrow of Farouk that was later succeeded by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

The office of President of Egypt was established in 1953. The president is the head of state of Egypt and the Supreme Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces. The current president is Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has effectively controlled the country since the 2013 coup d'état, and was officially elected president in 2014.

Muhammad Hussein Tantawi Soliman (Arabic: محمد حسين طنطاوي سليمان, romanized: Muḥammad Ḥusayn Ṭanṭāwī Sulaymān; 31 October 1935 – 21 September 2021) was an Egyptian field marshal and politician. He was the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces and, as chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, was the de facto head of state from the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011 until the inauguration of Mohamed Morsi as president of Egypt on 30 June 2012.

Tantawi served in the government as Minister of Defense and Military Production from 1991 until Morsi ordered him to retire on 12 August 2012.

The 30 June protests occurred in Egypt on 30 June 2013, marking the one-year anniversary of Mohamed Morsi's presidency. The events ended with the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état after mass protests demanding the immediate resignation of the president. The rallies were partly a response to Tamarod, an ostensibly grassroots movement that launched a petition in April 2013, calling for Morsi and his government to step down. Tamarod claimed to have collected more than 22 million signatures by June 30, although this figure was not verified by independent sources. A counter-campaign in support of Morsi's presidency, named Tagarod ("Impartiality"), claimed to have collected 26 million signatures by the same date, but this figure was also unverified.

The movements in opposition to Morsi culminated in the June 30 protests that occurred across the country. According to the Egyptian military, which calculated the number of protesters via helicopter scans of demonstration perimeters across the country, the June 30 protests had 32 million protesters, making them "the biggest protests in Egypt's history." However, independent observers raised concerns that the Egyptian government exaggerated the actual number of anti-Morsi protestors, with some research determining that only around one to two million people protested across the country against Morsi.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF; Arabic: المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة, al-Maǧlis al-ʾAʿlā lil-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa, also Higher Council of the Armed Forces) is a statutory body of between 20 and 25 senior officers of the Egyptian Armed Forces, and is headed by President Abdel Fattah еl-Sisi and Lieutenant General Abdel Mageed Saqr. The council is convened only in cases of war or great internal emergencies.

As a consequence of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the SCAF assumed power to govern Egypt from departing President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011, and relinquished power on 30 June 2012 on the inauguration of Mohamed Morsi as president.

The 2012–2013 Egyptian protests (sometimes called the Hirak Uprising) were part of the crisis in Egypt including the June 2013 protests, the July 2013 coup d'état, and part of the post-coup unrest. They saw varying opposition against three contiguous heads of state; namely, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Muslim Brotherhood, and the de facto ruling Egyptian Armed Forces.

Beginning with the anniversary of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, small-scale protests took place in January demanding the military to step away from power. Those protests saw at least 7 protesters killed. Increasing violence, however, began in February 2012 with the massacre of Port Said, where 74 people (72 of which being Al-Ahly fans) were killed and hundred were injured by purported fans who were armed with knives, batons and swords, while the sparse security present stood idly. The lack of police intervention and alleged political involvement sparked a number of protests. Subsequent protests in March saw 1 killed after demands for the return of football matches for El Masry after the riots last month.

Presidential elections were held in Egypt between 26 and 28 May 2014. There were only two candidates, former Egyptian defence minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Egyptian Popular Current candidate Hamdeen Sabahi. El-Sisi won the election in a landslide victory, having received 97% of votes. The elections were marred by irregularities, repression of el-Sisi's political opponents, and suppression of free speech.

Before announcing his candidacy in the election, el-Sisi, who as Defence Minister also served as Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, was responsible for officially announcing the removal of president Mohamed Morsi from office in the aftermath of the June 2013 Egyptian protests. After Morsi's removal, Sisi installed a temporary interim government, but remained Egypt's Minister of Defence and assumed the role of the country's First Deputy Prime Minister. On 26 March 2014, he officially retired from the military, and announced that he would run as a candidate in the 2014 presidential election. The election, held between 26 and 28 May and which included only one opponent, was boycotted by some political parties, as well as many Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom & Justice Party, the Brotherhood itself having been previously declared a terrorist organization in December 2013.