I. Introduction – The Suez Canal became the subject of a major world crisis in 1956 when Egypt made it under their control. Being the only direct way of travel from the Mediterranean en route to the Indian Ocean, it was a vital path to the movement of trade for Europe, US, the Middle East and Asia. Before, it used to be a free passage to all countries engaged in trading, but later, Britain and France decided to control it for their commercial shipping and to colonize the area. However, the Egyptian government reacted to their move by taking the Suez Canal under their control. That was the start of the Suez Canal crisis wherein the Western powers at that time aligned themselves to grab control of the Canal. The big question now is – Why did Russia took its side in favor of the Egyptians?
A. How did the Suez Canal crisis really begin? When President Gamal Abdel Nasser had an arms deal with Czechoslovakia, the US declared withdrawal of assistance and funds for Egypt. In reaction to this treatment of the US and the refusal by Western powers to assist Egypt in funding the Aswan Dam in the Nile River, Nasser decided to nationalize the Suez Canal on July 1956. This nationalization move surprised the world and angered the British and French owners of the Suez Canal Company. In spite of Nasser’s promise to pay compensation to the Western stockholders for their loss in business, British, French and Israel plotted to take the canal back and overthrow Nasser from power.
B. How did the British and French take its course in retaliating to Egypt’s move of taking over the Suez Canal? When the then Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to nationalize the canal, his plan was to use the funds generated from operating the canal to settle the cost of constructing the Dam which was refused by the Western powers. His move angered the British and French joined forces to craft a scheme in retaliation to Abdel Nasser. They decided to align with Israel, a major enemy of Egypt for a long time. When attempts failed to reach a new form of international agreement over the control of Suez Canal, Israel accused Egypt of plotting an attack to their country, and marched across the Sinai Peninsula on way to the canal on October 29, 1956 together with Western powers. The British and French forces reinforced the Israeli troops in the battleground that led to the defeat of the Egyptian army in a short period of time. In a span of ten days, the British and French combined forces were able to occupy the Suez region completely. However, Egypt retaliated by sinking their forty warships in the canal that blocked all passage. Because of this, the United Nations interfered to resolve the conflict, and made all efforts to pressure the two European powers to stop the gunfire. On the other hand, many countries in the world condemned Britain and France for agitating the crisis. The US opposed their action claiming that it was violating the principle of self-determination. This was followed by voting for a resolution in the UN General Assembly by the US delegation demanding for an immediate withdrawal of troops in the Suez Canal. Soon, the UN police forces came in to clear the passage. Britain and France agreed to back down, and gave back to Egypt the control of Suez Canal in March 1957 as per agreement with the UN. Egypt agreed to the condition handed down by the UN that it is allowed to control the canal if they permit all vessels owned by all nations passing through it.
C. What is the significance of the Suez Canal crisis to the colonial powers? After the crisis, the tradition of colonizing countries and vital points done by Britain and France started to crumble. The two countries felt that they were defeated by a former colony that made them decide to give up their colonial empires in Africa. The colonization era which has been taking so long finally came to a close. However, the conflict that was present between Israel and Egypt was just starting. In the Six-day War that began on June 5, 1967, hostilities between these two countries again flared up. In the “Yom Kippur War” that started on October 16, 1973, armed conflicts that prevailed between Israel and Egypt were joined by other Arab nations. The war took only two weeks, but it was significant because it marked that oil was the reason for the first time why these countries had a conflict. Beginning in October 1973 and ending in March 1974, Arab nations implemented an oil embargo to the Western allies of Israel. In 1979, Israel and Egypt have finally decided to resolve their differences through a UN peace treaty.
II. Conclusion: When Britain and France aligned each other to plot overthrowing of Egypt in control of the Suez Canal, Nasser moved closer to the USSR thereby developing a good relationship with them. This is precisely the reason why the USSR took its stand in favor of Egypt during the Suez Canal crisis. Due to lack of a peace agreement among the powers involved in the 1956 war, the Six Day War in 1967 erupted.
Works Cited
Lucas, Scott. W. Divided We Stand: Britain, the US and the Suez Canal Crisis. Hodder &
Stoughton; new ed 1996.
Louis, William Roger and Owen, Roger. Suez 1956: The Crisis and its Consequences.
Oxford University Press, 1st ed.; Sept. 28, 1989.
Retrieved from: 1956 Suez Canal Crisis at
http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his135/Events/Suez56.htm
