Timeline: One year since Egypt's Arab Spring

ON THE 17 DECEMBER, 2011 a Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest over mistreatment by local officials.

He later died from his injuries, but his actions sparked a series of protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and across the Middle East which became known as the ‘Arab Spring’ and led to the resignation of presidents Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi.

The Egyptian movement began on 25 January. Over 800 people were killed in violent clashes between police and protesters over the following weeks as thousands gathered in Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities calling for Mubarak’s resignation:

(Video via RussiaToday)

Pressure on Mubarak escalated when on 31 January the army announced its support for the “legitimate demands of honourable citizens” and said it would not use force against protesters – although protesters continued to die in clashes with security forces.

Within two weeks, 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak had resigned after 30 years in office. Mubarak has since gone on trial for corruption and the intentional killing of unarmed protesters. In the wake of his resignation, the military took control and despite pledging to oversee the transfer of power to an elected government, unrest arose again and again during 2011 over the slow pace of political reform.

Nationwide polls were recently held – the first parliamentary elections since Mubarak’s resignation – which put Islamists in the lead of the lower house, and a presidential election is planned before July this year. However, tensions remain between protesters and police amid concerns that the military will not cede control as they have pledged, but will seek to maintain some level of influence on the country’s rule and its new constitution.

Nobel laureate and secular political figure Mohamed ElBaradei criticised the recent violence against protesters, tweeting:

Targeted attacks on peaceful activists continue. Is the regime’s failure to provide security due to impotence or is it intentional?

Here, in photos, are the key points of the year that followed the outbreak of the Egyptian revolution on 25 January, 2011:

Timeline: One year since Egypt's Arab Spring

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25 January 2011
Police and demonstrators square off in Cairo on 25 January, 2011 - the first day of a Tunisia-inspired demonstration demanding President Mubarak's resignation. The #jan25 hashtag spread across Twitter as the protests escalated. Some used social networking sites to arrange where to meet fellow protesters. (AP Photo/PA Images)
26 January 2011
Riot police clash with anti-government activists in a second day of protests in the Egyptian capital. Hundreds are detained, including foreign journalists. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, PA File)
27 January 2011
Secular Egyptian opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei returns to Egypt. Meanwhile, thousands take part in mass protests in Alexandria, Cairo and Suez.The ruling National Democratic Party's headquarters are set alight and state TV is attacked. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis/PA Images)
28 January 2011
Egyptians surround the burned Bab Sharq police station in Alexandria as anti-Mubarak protesters gather again in Egypt's cities. (AP Photo/Ahmed Mohammed/PA Images)
28 January 2011
Mubarak makes his first TV appearance since protests erupted and announces he has dismissed his government - but refuses to step down and fails to appease protesters. More than 20 people have been killed in the violence by this date, and the government restricts internet access to try to prevent further protests being organised online. (AP Photo/Egypt TV/PA Images)
29 January 2011
A new government appointment suggests that Mubarak's son will not now be next in line for the presidency: Mubarak appoints his confidant and intelligence minister Omar Suleiman as his first-ever vice-president. Meanwhile, the death toll reaches 100. Looters break into the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and destroy two mummies. Civilians and soldiers move in to protect the building and its treasures from further damage. (AP Photo/PA Images)
30 January 2011
Hillary Clinton urges the president to facilitate an 'orderly transition' of power. Suleiman says that Mubarak has asked him to begin discussions with all Egypt's political parties which would consider constitutional reform. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis/PA Images)
31 January 2011
The army issues a statement in support of the protests, saying it will not use force to silence legitimate demands for democratic reform: "The presence of the army in the streets is for your sake and to ensure your safety and wellbeing. The armed forces will not resort to use of force against our great people." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis/PA Images)
1 February 2011
The largest march on Cairo so far against Mubarak's rule. Thousands also attend marches in Alexandria, Sinai and other Egyptian cities in support of the movement. The UN's Navi Pillay says she has unconfirmed reports that 300 have died in protest clashes with police and the army since the 25 January. Meanwhile, Mubarak says in a televised address that he plans to see out his term of office but would step down in September at the end of that term. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill/PA Images)
2 February 2011
Clashes break out between pro- and anti-Mubarak groups in Cairo. Crowds are defying the curfew and staying in the city square well into the night. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis/PA Images)
5 February 2011
The leadership of ruling party NDP including Mubarak's son Gamal Mubarak resign. The unrest is estimated to be costing Egypt around €228 million a day, with the tourist industry taking a particularly bad hit. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
6 February 2011
Suleiman holds landmark meetings with opposition members including the Muslim Brotherhood and agrees to create a committee that will consider consitutional amendments that will make it possible for mroe candidates to contest the presidency http://www.thejournal.ie/landmark-talks-in-egypt-as-unrest-continues-2011-2/ However, opposition groups say Suleiman isn't going far enough with his efforts. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill/PA Images)
7 February 2011
Wael Ghonim, centre, the 30-year-old Google executive who was a key organiser of the online campaign that sparked the first protest on 25 January addresses the crowd in Tahrir Square after being released from detention. Meanwhile, the new Egyptian cabinet announces a 15 per cent pay rise for public sector workers' salaries and pensions. Around 6m people are employed by the state. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
13 February 2011
The Egyptian army dissolves parliament, suspends the constitution and announces elections will be held in September. However, protesters refuse to leave Tahrir Square until their demands for a transfer of power to a democratically-elected government have been met. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla/PA Images)
11 February 2011
Thousands of protesters take to the streets of Alexandria after Mubarak's television appearance on 10 February in which he refused to step down. (AP Photo/ Tarek Fawzy/PA Images)
11 February 2011
Egyptians in Cairo celebrate the news of the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. In a very brief statement read by Suleiman, Mubarak announces he is stepping down and handing power over to the supreme council of the armed forces. Over 800 people have died in the protest-related violence since 25 January. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill, PA File)
11 February 2011
Egyptian General Mohsen el-Fangari salutes as he appears live on Egyptian TV to confirm that President Mubarak has resigned. He gave a military salute to the people who were killed during the demonstrations. (AP Photo/Egypt TV/PA Images)
11 February 2011
Crowds celebrate in Cairo. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
9 March 2011
Amnesty International condemns the army's use of force against Tahrir Square protesters, saying that soldiers used the "same old tactics of repression" in beating protesters while clearing the square. (Str/AP/Press Association Images)
8 May 2011
Clashes erupt between Muslim and Christian groups in Cairo following the burning of a Coptic church at the weekend amir rumours about a Christian woman being prevented from converting to Islam. Twelve people are killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra/PA Images)
29 June 2011
Serious street clashes erupt between Cairo protesters and police amid growing dissatisfaction with military rule. Frustration in Egypt is growing over the continuing disruption of daily life. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, PA File)
3 August 2011
A video image taken from Egyptian State Television shows 83-year-old former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak laying on a hospital bed inside a metal cage in a Cairo courtroom at the opening of his trial on charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters during the uprising that ousted him from office. He was deemed fit to stand trial alongside his two sons in July. (AP Photo/Egyptian State TV/PA Images)
16 September 2011
The army council re-enacts Mubarak-era emergency laws in response to clashes outside the Israeli embassy which saw the Israeli ambassador was evacuated back to Israel. Human rights organisations such as Amnesty have raised concerns that the law is a step backwards for Egypt. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra/PA Images)
21 November 2011
The interim cabinet tenders its resignation over the violence against protesters. At least 24 people have been killed in three days of violence, with some reports blaming the use of tear gas for suffocating protesters. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill/PA Images)
28 November 2011
Egyptian women show their inked fingers after voting in Cairo, Egypt. Record numbers of people turn out to cast their votes. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
28 November 2011
Egyptian voters line up outside a polling centre in Assuit, Egypt as voting opens in the first post-Mubarak elections. Clashes continue between protesters and the military over the army concil's continuing rule: at least 42 people have died in the latest clashes. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra/PA Images)
20 December 2011
A general from the ruling military council defends the use of forces against protesters.The shocking photos and footage of violence against women protesters sparked a thousands-strong protest of women through Cairo in a demonstration against the attacks. Video footage recently released of the troops attempting to break up a protest showed soldiers dragging people by the hair and stripping one woman while kicking her in the head and stamping on her torso. (Amr Nabil/AP/PA Images)
3 January 2012
The third and final round of the lower house parliamentary elections are held on 3 January. An alliance between the Muslim Brotherhood and highly conservative Salafi group has taken almost 70 per cent in the first two rounds.
20 January 2012
Protesters chant slogans at a rally honoring those killed in clashes with security forces in Tahrir Square nearly a year after the 18-day uprising that ousted President Mubarak. Activists are trying to energise the public to demand that the ruling military step down. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra/PA Images)
23 January 2012
Almost one year to the day since the outbreak of an uprising that toppled Mubarak's regime, Egypt's newly-elected parliament speaker Saad el-Katatni addresses the parliament's inaugural session. Islamists dominate the 498-seat chamber that will oversee the drafting of a new constitution. (Khaled Elfiqi/AP/Press Association Images)
24 January 2012
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is wheeled into a courthouse in Cairo as the trial continues of the ousted Mubarak and five of his top security officers for complicity in the deaths of hundreds of protesters at the hands of security forces during uprising last year. The six could face the death penalty if convicted. (AP Photo/Mohammed al-Law/PA Images)

In pictures: The Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 >

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Celebrating the fall of Mubarak in February after an 18-day uprising. AP Photo/Khalil Hamra/PA Images

Egypt

Looking back in photos at the main events of the past year which saw Egypt’s president Mubarak forced out of office after 30 years in power.