The wars of Egypt of the XX century did not end with brilliant victories, despite their sometimes successful start.
The Egyptian army is numerous, its personnel totals almost half a million people. If we add a million reservists to the basic structure, then we can conclude about the huge military potential of this country. Such armed forces do not have any of the countries of the African continent or the Middle East.
Egypt’s wars with Israel have become an example of how to lose, with overwhelming superiority in manpower and technology. The first of them occurred already in 1948 and ended in defeat, which caused the discontent of officers with King Farouk. The underground organization created by Nasser and Naguib came to power in 1952. The new government achieved real sovereignty of the country by signing an agreement with Great Britain in 1954.
The outcome of Egypt’s next war with Israel in 1956 was also unsuccessful, however, it showed the continuity of Nasser’s policy towards this country.
The civil war in Yemen was accompanied by a steady increase in the number of Egyptian contingents. At the beginning of the intervention (1962), he amounted to 5 thousand military personnel, and by 1965 reached 55 thousand. Despite such an impressive presence, the effectiveness of military operations was low. 15 infantry divisions and two more (armored and artillery), not counting special forces soldiers, experienced a constant shortage of supplies. Officers complained about the topographic deficit, which indicates a low level of material and technical preparedness.
11 years after the second war of Egypt with Israel, the third, later called six-day, began. Having guessed the enemy’s intentions, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces, abbreviated as Tsahal) launched a series of preemptive attacks on Egyptian airfields, headquarters and communications centers. Part of the country's territory, namely the entire Sinai Peninsula, was lost (temporarily).
In 1969-1970, the confrontation with the main enemy went into a passive phase, called the "war of attrition". She did not reach her goal.
Next was the Doomsday War of 1973. The Egyptian army successfully crossed the Suez Canal and rushed to Jerusalem, but was stopped and turned back. The Israelis drove the enemy through the desert, then continued the persecution until they stopped a hundred kilometers from Cairo. Egypt was saved from complete defeat by the intervention of the USSR, which constantly and generously supplied arms to the regional ally.
Today, few people recall the 1977 North African conflict with Libya. He was fleeting and practically inconclusive for both sides.
The second corps of the army of Egypt took part in the operation "Desert Storm" on the side of the anti-Iraq coalition. He was not entrusted with responsible tasks, but where it was required to indicate a military presence, he completely coped with the task.
The misfortune of the Egyptian army, as well as of the whole country, was the catastrophic situation in the field of education. Of the three years spent in military service, an illiterate soldier learns to write and read for a year. It is difficult to expect that having mastered these, of course, useful skills, he will immediately be able to control modern weapons systems.
In January 2011, the world's leading news channels broadcast reports from which it could be concluded that there was a war in Egypt. In fact, the Islamic revolution took place, Mohammed Mursi came to power, who later became the legitimate president. The order in Cairo was supported by ground forces. If not for the decisive actions of the army command, a civil war could break out in the country.
In Egypt, 2013 was marked by yet another government coup. This time, the military overthrew Mursi, and the government was led by Adli Mansour, the chief constitutional judge. The Egyptian military continues to engage in domestic politics. Perhaps in this field they will achieve greater success than on the battlefields.