In 1956, a dispute over the Suez Canal in Egypt led to international crisis... and war.
Two fading colonial powers, Britain and France, expected an easy victory over Egypt... but
were forced into a humiliating withdrawal, as the world's new superpowers flexed their
muscles.
It was a stark sign that the age of European imperialism was over, and that a new international
order had taken its place.
Little remembered today, the events of 1956 had huge consequences for Britain and France,
the Arab world, Israel, and the United States of America.
This is the story of the Suez crisis, whose fallout shaped world affairs for decades to
come.
In 1869, world navigation was transformed by the opening of the Suez Canal.
This 100 mile, man-made waterway through the Egyptian desert cut 5,000 miles off the voyage
from Europe to Asia, as ships no longer had to sail around Africa.
Its construction, overseen by French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, had taken 10 years,
and cost the lives of many thousands of Egyptian labourers.
The Suez Canal Company, which owned and ran the canal, was a private company owned by
its shareholders, including French, Austrian and Russian investors, as well as the ruler
(or Khedive) of Egypt, Ismail Pasha.
In 1875, to pay off his mountainous debts, the Khedive sold his 44% share in the Canal
Company to the British government.
As the world's greatest imperial and naval power, Britain had initially opposed the canal,
seeing it as a potential threat, but soon proved to be its greatest beneficiary: 80%
of the ships that used the canal were British, and it became a vital link to the British
Empire's eastern colonies, and 'the jewel in the crown'...
India.
And so control of the canal, and the security of Egypt, became a vital British strategic
concern.
In 1882, when Egyptian anger at European interference in their country exploded into a nationalist
revolt, led by Colonel Ahmad Ourabi, the British sent a military force to intervene.
The Egyptian army was swept aside, and Egypt effectively became a British protectorate
for the next 60 years.
British control of the Suez Canal was a major strategic advantage in both world wars.
But in the wake of victory in World War Two, the British Empire was in retreat.
India, Pakistan and Burma gained their independence.
There were revolts against British rule in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus.
Egypt had received formal independence in 1922.
But Britain continued to station troops there, and govern much of the country's affairs.
Only in 1947 did British troops withdraw to the so-called 'Canal Zone', under an earlier
deal with Egypt's King Farouk, that the British could keep bases there until 1956.
But Egyptians were turning against Farouk.
They blamed him for failing to prevent the creation of the Jewish state of Israel, and
for Egypt's defeat in the Arab-Israeli War that had followed.
They also blamed King Farouk for allowing British troops to remain in Egypt.
In the Canal Zone, British soldiers and civilians came under attack from the increasingly hostile
local population...
with riots, arson and gun battles – leading the British to impose martial law.
By 1952, a group of nationalist Egyptian army officers, known as the Free Officers Movement,
had had enough.
They seized power in a military coup.
King Farouk was forced to abdicate, and went to live out a luxurious exile in Italy.
The following year, Egypt was declared a republic.
Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser emerged as the new leader and president of Egypt – a committed
and charismatic Arab nationalist, determined to free Egypt from foreign influence.
In the 1950s, America and the West were engaged in a stand-off with the Soviet Union known
as the Cold War.
A so-called 'Iron Curtain' divided Europe, between communist east, and capitalist west..
Around the world, each side tried to win friends and limit the other's influence.
Egypt, the largest and most powerful Arab state, would be a valuable prize for either
side.
But which way would President Nasser turn?
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted to win over Nasser – but couldn't grant his
request for a major arms deal – they'd most likely be used against Israel, which had many
supporters in the US.
The US and Britain instead offered to fund construction of the Aswan Dam – the centrepiece
of Nasser's plan to modernise the Egyptian economy.
Britain also agreed to remove its troops from the Suez Canal Zone by June 1956.
But then, border tension between Israel and her neighbours boiled over, as the Israeli
army attacked Egyptian-controlled Gaza, killing 38 Egyptian soldiers.
The Gaza Raid made Nasser determined to rapidly strengthen and modernise Egypt's army.
Since the US wouldn't help, Nasser turned to the Soviet bloc, and signed a major deal
to purchase modern tanks and aircraft from communist Czechoslovakia.
The deal was seen as a huge triumph across the Arab world.
Nasser further antagonised America by establishing diplomatic relations with Communist China.
For Eisenhower, chasing an alliance with Nasser was proving a major headache, and the US and
British offer to fund the Aswan Dam was withdrawn.
It was a move that would prove to have serious, global repercussions... that neither Britain
nor America ever saw coming.
On 26th July 1956, Nasser stunned the world by announcing that, with immediate effect,
Egypt would nationalise the Suez Canal Company.
'We dug the Canal with our lives, our skulls, our bones, our blood' he declared.
'The money is ours and the Suez Canal belongs to us.
We shall build the [Aswan] Dam our own way.'
If Britain and America would not fund the dam, Nasser intended to fund it himself with
profits from the Suez Canal Company.
His speech received an ecstatic response from the people of Egypt.
Nasser's move was entirely legal – the Company's shareholders would be bought out at fair prices
– yet his decision would trigger an international crisis... war... and a new era in the balance
of world power.
In Britain, Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden responded with fury to what he saw as a major
attack on British national interests.
15,000 ships a year came through the Suez Canal.
And from the Middle East, they brought a vital resource that the British economy couldn't
survive without...
“...through it travels today about half the oil without which the industry of this
country, Western Europe, Scandinavia and many other countries too, couldn't keep going.
This is a matter of life and death to us all.”
Nasser, as Eden put it, had 'his thumb on our windpipe.'
As Britain's Foreign Secretary in the 1930s and World War Two, Eden had made his reputation
by opposing 'appeasement' - the policy of trying to maintain peace by giving in to the
demands of dictators.
But now, with poor health and frayed nerves clouding his judgement, he convinced himself
that Nasser was another Hitler or Mussolini – an Arab dictator that Britain had to face
down.
The Egyptian president, he decided, would have to go.
French Prime Minister Guy Mollet agreed with Eden's assessment.
He had an additional reason to want Nasser gone – France was fighting a bitter war
in its African colony of Algeria against nationalist rebels... trained and supplied by Nasser.
Britain and France now secretly began planning a military operation to seize control of the
Suez Canal, remove Nasser from power, and reaffirm their status as major global powers.
That summer, under pressure from the Americans, Eden agreed to host an international conference,
in a last effort to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.
“Lancaster House, London naturally attracted quite a crowd on the opening day of the Suez
Conference.
22 nations were represented.
Only two countries, Egypt and Greece, had declined the invitation to the fateful meeting...”
18 of the 22 nations supported Britain and France's position, that the Suez Canal be
returned to international ownership - a proposal turned down flat by President Nasser.
US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles told the British that – nevertheless - America
would not support an attack on Egypt...
Dulles strongly believed that military action against Nasser would push the entire Arab
world into the arms of the Soviets.
Besides, President Eisenhower was running for re-election, and would not welcome the
distraction.
It was a warning that Eden fatefully ignored.
Britain and France had already chosen
the path to war...
But it was not Britain or France that struck first against Nasser... it was Israel.
On 29th October, Israeli paratroopers landed in the Egyptian Sinai, seizing the strategic
Mitla Pass, and paving the way for an invasion by ground forces.
At the UN, Israel insisted it was acting in self-defence, against raids by Palestinian
fighters known as fedayeen, operating from bases in Gaza
and Sinai.
But there were no fedayeen bases in Sinai.
Britain and France, claiming to be acting on behalf of the international community,
issued an ultimatum to both sides: stop fighting within 12 hours, and withdraw all forces 10
miles from the Suez Canal – or they would intervene to enforce compliance.
Egypt was effectively been told to abandon the Sinai and the Canal.
Israel accepted the terms; Nasser refused.
So on 31st October, British and French aircraft, taking off from carriers in the Mediterranean,
and bases in Cyprus and Malta, began bombing Egyptian airfields, air defences and infrastructure.
But not all was as it seemed.
Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion had been considering an attack on Egypt for many
months.
He was encouraged by Moshe Dayan, the hawkish commander of Israel's armed forces.
Nasser, like all leaders of Arab states, did not view the new Jewish state as legitimate:
now receiving modern weapons from Czechoslovakia, he was seen as a potential threat to Israel's
survival.
They were also determined to end Egypt's blockade of the Straits of Tiran, which prevented Israeli
access to the Red Sea, and limited opportunities for trade.
France wanted to ally with the Israelis to get rid of Nasser.
But British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden was anxious about being seen as the aggressor.
So the French came up with an idea...
At Sèvres, near Paris, representatives of Britain, France and Israel met in secret to
plan a war:
Israel would invade Egypt – allowing Britain and France, posing as peacemakers, to issue
an ultimatum they knew only Israel would accept.
Then, claiming to be acting to safeguard the canal, they would invade Egypt and overthrow
Nasser - though they had no real plan for what to do once he was gone.
It would take years for the full details of this conspiracy to emerge.
On 5th November, after a week of bombing, and with Israeli troops winning the battle
in Sinai, British and French paratroopers were dropped onto targets around Port Said
and Port Fuad, at the mouth of the Suez Canal.
Once on the ground, they quickly seized Egyptian airfields and key infrastructure.
The next morning, under cover of air strikes and naval bombardment, British and French
landings began.
Fierce street-fighting raged throughout the day.
But the Egyptians were massively outgunned, and it proved a one-sided contest.
Around 600 Egyptian soldiers and police were killed – British and French deaths totalled
just 26.
Egyptian civilians suffered most – up to one thousand lost their lives, with many more
left homeless by air raids and shelling.
By the end of the day, the British and French were in control.
But they couldn't prevent the Egyptians sabotaging the Suez Canal itself.
They sank ships in its narrow channel, blocking the canal, and putting it out of action for
several months.
It wasn't hard to see that the British, French and Israelis were working together - and at
the United Nations, world opinion quickly turned against them.
For once, the US and Soviet Union were united in condemnation - a typically animated Soviet
Premier Nikita Khrushchev even threatened to fire rockets at Paris and London.
President Eisenhower thought the invasion had no moral or legal justification.
And he was furious with his British ally for going behind his back...
"The British and French Governments delivered a 12 hour ultimatum to Israel and Egypt now
followed up by armed attacks against Egypt.
The United States was not consulted in any way about any phase of these actions nor were
we informed of them in advance, as it is the manifest right of any of these nations to
take such decisions and actions it is likewise our right if our judgement so dictates, for
we do not accept the use of force as a wise or proper instrument for the settlement of
international disputes."
Eisenhower wanted international attention focused on Hungary, where Soviet troops were,
at that moment, brutally crushing a popular uprising.
Instead, Britain and France's reckless intervention was likely to push Arab states closer to the
Soviet Union.
In the UN Security Council, Britain and France used their veto to block resolutions that
criticised Israel's attack on Egypt, or their own intervention.
But with both world superpowers condemning their attack, they now faced a vote in the
General Assembly, and the threat of UN sanctions.
Britain's economy had been fragile before the crisis began.
Now, market fears caused the British currency to crash, threatening economic disaster.
Only a massive loan from the International Monetary Fund could save Britain, but Eisenhower
blocked any IMF aid until Britain agreed to a UN-backed ceasefire in Egypt.
Eden, facing growing opposition abroad, at home and from within his own government, had
few options.
Just two days after British troops landed in Egypt, they announced a ceasefire...
The French, abandoned by their ally, had no choice but to follow suit.
Within days, the UN's first major peacekeeping operation got underway, as Danish UN troops
arrived in Egypt to takeover from the British and French.
As they packed up, and re-embarked on their landing ships to return home - it was officially
'job well done' – but in truth, Suez had been a humiliating fiasco.
The political leadership had been reckless, the military objectives confused – and as
soon as international pressure had mounted up, the British had had no option but to abort
the entire mission.
That winter, under intense American pressure, Israeli forces also withdrew from Sinai.
The Suez Crisis forced Britain and France to accept that they were now second-rank powers.
No longer could they act as they wished on the world stage, without first considering
the view of the United States.
The lesson taken by the British was never again to jeopardise their so-called 'special
relationship' with America.
For France, the lesson was that Britain and America were unreliable allies, and their
interests were better served by closer ties within Europe.
Israel achieved some objectives – including the opening of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli
shipping – but with Nasser still in power, future conflict with Egypt and its other Arab
neighbours was almost certain: the Sinai War proved to be a precursor to the far more decisive
'Six Day War' fought a decade later.
British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden's career, and health, were ruined.
He resigned, but not before lying to Parliament about his knowledge of the secret deal with
Israel.
“...I wish my successor all good fortune.
God speed to you all.
Goodbye.”
President Nasser, feted as the hero of the Arab world for having stood up to European
imperialists, had in reality been saved by US and UN intervention.
But his modernising reforms, championing of the Arab cause, and opposition to foreign
intervention, mean his memory is still revered by Arabs across the Middle East.
The impact of the Suez Crisis on America was
perhaps the most far-reaching.
The collapse of British and French prestige amongst Arab nations meant the US would now
take the lead in countering Soviet expansion in the Middle East, and securing the West's
oil supplies.
The Suez Crisis would accelerate US involvement in this volatile region...
The consequences would stretch well into the 21st century.
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