In the period between 1922 and 1952, Egypt was given limited independence by the British government, and the Kingdom of Egypt was under heavy British influence. Convinced that the only way to end the British occupation of Egypt once and for all was to remove the Muhammad Ali dynasty from the throne and ultimately abolish the Egyptian monarchy, Egyptian nationalists and a few army officers, led by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser, attempted a coup d'état, initiating the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 and ultimately forcing King Farouk to abdicate.

On June 18, 1953, the Egyptian monarchy was formally abolished, and King Farouk's son, King Fuad II, was stripped of his royal titles. The Kingdom of Egypt was declared a republic, and General Muhammad Naguib was appointed Egypt's first president.

After a year, Naguib was forced to resign from his position by Nasser, who accused Naguib of behaving like a dictator and being supportive of the Sunni Islamist religious and sociopolitical movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood. Following Naguib's house arrest, Nasser was sworn in as Egypt's second President and served from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasserism is a socialist and nationalist ideology based on Nasser's pan-Arabist policies and beliefs and his opposition to imperialism.